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Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'
Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain by Abby Norman
9 reviews
idk_indigo's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.75
I really enjoyed this book! It was very informative, very enlightening. Some of the book’s Amazon reviews are quite negative, primarily because it’s a very self-reflective book. Norman acknowledges that this book is more of a dive into her personal experience & what research she has compiled in an effort to better understand her illness & her pain. Less of a know-all about endometriosis, which we see towards the end of the book when she is in the diagnosis stages of another chronic illness. The book talks about the author’s journey with chronic illness with an implied, “This is how it was for me. Others may relate, but I am not speaking for anyone else.” I appreciated the physician aspect; most physicians are trying their best, but they are also imperfect. It is a very true phenomenon that women’s pain is taken less seriously; this rings especially true for WOC & for disabled/chronically or mentally ill women. I enjoyed this book; definitely not a medical guidebook on endometriosis, but I don’t think it was ever trying to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexism, Excrement, and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Infertility, Abandonment, and Child abuse
smilagros's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
4.5✨
I listened to this on audio and then I decided to order the book on Pango. Reading this and highlighting made the entire experience really helpful. I do think that there were a lot of interesting facts about Endometriosis that I had no idea. What is really sad is that this book has so many similarities to my story. As I am getting ready to have my 4th surgery, this was a very interesting.
I listened to this on audio and then I decided to order the book on Pango. Reading this and highlighting made the entire experience really helpful. I do think that there were a lot of interesting facts about Endometriosis that I had no idea. What is really sad is that this book has so many similarities to my story. As I am getting ready to have my 4th surgery, this was a very interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Chronic illness, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma
abbystapleton's review against another edition
challenging
sad
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Vomit
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide attempt, Infertility, and Transphobia
kateped's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Eating disorder
shewantsthediction's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I didn't expect this book to go so deep into abuse, but I'm really glad it did. Emotional/physical neglect are so hard to put a finger on, but the way she described it made me feel so much less alone in my own childhood. I almost can't believe there's someone out there who had to "grow up" even faster than I did, with her being emancipated so young. Her audio narration reminded me quite a bit of the Youtuber bestdressed. The only thing I didn't really like about this book is she tended to ramble on too long, especially towards the end of the book, and referred to having sex for the first time as "losing her virginity." It was just a strange choice of words since she seemed so feminist in other respects. I was also quite curious about her autistic brother, but he was only briefly mentioned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
stguac's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
I feel like this title is a little misleading because throughout the book, no one had ever really asked Abby about her uterus. Frankly....most people seem indifferent to uteruses.
As someone with a uterus, as someone with possibly endometriosis, as someone unable to get doctors to take them seriously for these issues, this was a genuinely upsetting, miserable, triggering read. The book awoke a response in me i can only really describe as mourning because i don't think my sexual/reproductive health has ever been normal and yet it's always been dismissed by everyone around me (cis women, cis men, doctors...the third gender ofc) as not being that bad. Occasionally other trans people, including transmisogyny affected people, people who don't have uteruses, have commiserated with me, and I've really appreciated this, especially because i felt like other women who do have uteruses just...seem so dismissive of anyone who complains about menstruation. Like I'm not doing it right.
I hesitate to harp on the lack of inclusivity because this is more of a memoir than i expected. Abby Norman is an advocate, yes, but she's also a victim of the medical system abusing and neglecting her. Some of these interactions in the book are mind-numbing. Like it makes me want to black out with rage sometimes thinking that doctors can speak to patients sobbing in front of them with such hatred in their eyes. But the fact remains that this is the story of a white cis woman, and she does try to point out that things are exponentially more difficult for BIPOC and transgender people looking for a diagnosis. And as helpful as the book was for me, this was not my experience. No matter what, i cannot make this fit my life.
But maybe i don't need it to. Endometriosis is such a broad experience. It isn't just something you can check off as typical of the diagnosis. Some people will have all the typical symptoms. Others will have a bunch of perplexing symptoms maybe only tangentially related to their reproductive systems. The fact that the majority afflicted are cis women, that nonwhite women and trans people barely have access to medical care let alone the attention of a self important doctor, that trans women may be afflicted yet are overwhelmingly dismissed....all of this amounts to a disease of invisibility. Of pathology. Where it's all in your head. Stop complaining. Get back to work. If you didn't live the way you did, you wouldn't be this way. And so on.
I think books like these are important. Norman has not described the entire endometriosis experience. She is privileged in many aspects, but has suffered tremendously in others. And she's used her voice to try to get more research and eyes on people who normally don't get much attention. If you suspect you have endometriosis, please check this one out.
As someone with a uterus, as someone with possibly endometriosis, as someone unable to get doctors to take them seriously for these issues, this was a genuinely upsetting, miserable, triggering read. The book awoke a response in me i can only really describe as mourning because i don't think my sexual/reproductive health has ever been normal and yet it's always been dismissed by everyone around me (cis women, cis men, doctors...the third gender ofc) as not being that bad. Occasionally other trans people, including transmisogyny affected people, people who don't have uteruses, have commiserated with me, and I've really appreciated this, especially because i felt like other women who do have uteruses just...seem so dismissive of anyone who complains about menstruation. Like I'm not doing it right.
I hesitate to harp on the lack of inclusivity because this is more of a memoir than i expected. Abby Norman is an advocate, yes, but she's also a victim of the medical system abusing and neglecting her. Some of these interactions in the book are mind-numbing. Like it makes me want to black out with rage sometimes thinking that doctors can speak to patients sobbing in front of them with such hatred in their eyes. But the fact remains that this is the story of a white cis woman, and she does try to point out that things are exponentially more difficult for BIPOC and transgender people looking for a diagnosis. And as helpful as the book was for me, this was not my experience. No matter what, i cannot make this fit my life.
But maybe i don't need it to. Endometriosis is such a broad experience. It isn't just something you can check off as typical of the diagnosis. Some people will have all the typical symptoms. Others will have a bunch of perplexing symptoms maybe only tangentially related to their reproductive systems. The fact that the majority afflicted are cis women, that nonwhite women and trans people barely have access to medical care let alone the attention of a self important doctor, that trans women may be afflicted yet are overwhelmingly dismissed....all of this amounts to a disease of invisibility. Of pathology. Where it's all in your head. Stop complaining. Get back to work. If you didn't live the way you did, you wouldn't be this way. And so on.
I think books like these are important. Norman has not described the entire endometriosis experience. She is privileged in many aspects, but has suffered tremendously in others. And she's used her voice to try to get more research and eyes on people who normally don't get much attention. If you suspect you have endometriosis, please check this one out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Vomit, and Chronic illness
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
- Part memoir and part history of doctors dismissing "female problems," ASK ME ABOUT MY UTERUS is gripping and enraging. I'd wager that even if you don't have endometriosis in particular, you'll see your own experiences with the medical system reflected here (me. I did, it's me).
- Norman doesn't shy away from describing exactly what her pain - physical and emotional - feels like. This book is a tough read but I think many will find it cathartic to be seen on the page.
- Norman is careful to point out that not only women deal with uterine pain and illness, and also that not all women have uteruses, and the extra layer of fear and frustration this can add to trying to get diagnosis and treatment. She's also up front about how being straight, white, and cisgender framed her whole situation and afforded her more privilege throughout this process than others (and the flip side of that, of how being a traditionally feminine woman led to instances of dismissal).
- It's in the content warnings listed below, but I want to point it out here as well since it's not obvious from the summary - major content warnings for child neglect, eating disorders and suicide particularly in the chapters discussing Norman's childhood.
- Norman doesn't shy away from describing exactly what her pain - physical and emotional - feels like. This book is a tough read but I think many will find it cathartic to be seen on the page.
- Norman is careful to point out that not only women deal with uterine pain and illness, and also that not all women have uteruses, and the extra layer of fear and frustration this can add to trying to get diagnosis and treatment. She's also up front about how being straight, white, and cisgender framed her whole situation and afforded her more privilege throughout this process than others (and the flip side of that, of how being a traditionally feminine woman led to instances of dismissal).
- It's in the content warnings listed below, but I want to point it out here as well since it's not obvious from the summary - major content warnings for child neglect, eating disorders and suicide particularly in the chapters discussing Norman's childhood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
rosalind's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Vomit, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Grief and Child abuse
hollandvk's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexism, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Vomit, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Cancer
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