Meet Our QENDO Ambassadors: Danielle Findater
By Danielle Findater
Our QENDO Ambassadors are pretty amazing, they are empowered to speak up about endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS and inspire our community. Danielle Findater was diagnosed with Endometriosis in 2009. She immediately had an operation to remove the endometriosis from her bowel along with cysts on her ovaries. She then went onto have had a second surgery in 2011. Danielle is passionate about helping spread awareness around Endometriosis and that so many women are being dismissed when they question their symptoms. Danielle believes we should always trust ourselves when we don’t feel right.
I am Danielle, I am 34 from London living in Melbourne.
I was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2009. It was a long process being diagnosed with endometriosis and to be honest, if my health issues at the time hadn’t caused so many issues at work, who knows if it would have ever been discovered.
I used to work in Financial Compliance, it was whilst working for the French Investment Bank in London that I was constantly going to the doctor with bad stomach pains, nausea & breaking down at work because I just didn’t feel right.
It wasn’t until one day at work my team leader said, “enough is enough, your doctor isn’t doing anything” and she called an ambulance to come and get me from the office because I couldn’t move due to the pain.
At the time my female GP kept telling me it was just IBS & stress.
The fact I was in a volatile relationship and I didn’t particularly enjoy my job meant that I just accepted how I was feeling. Until the day came when the ambulance was called by my colleague, and it was then that she suggested I ask for an ultrasound to look for endometriosis.
She told me she had been through the same thing and when it was discovered she’d had it for so long she ended up having a hysterectomy, this obviously scared me.
During my hospital stay they just gave me pain killers, sent me home and told me I would have to ask the GP about having a scan. When I did this I remember her reaction so clearly, she laughed in my face and said “yeah ok, but it’s all in your head.”
A male Doctor did the scan and told me he specialised in endometriosis and was going to help. He diagnosed me and told me I had endometriosis all over my bowel and cysts on my ovaries.
I mention the gender of doctors as I assumed my female doctor would have been more helpful, but in this case it was a male doctor who was more helpful. Once he diagnosed me I never went back to the female GP again. I have never judged a doctor on their gender since.
The male GP explained that the reason I had been experiencing such a roller-coaster of emotion too was also that my hormones were playing havoc.
After my first operation I was good for about two years and then once again I started to feel exhausted constantly, emotional all the time and again just not right. I then went on to have a second operation and was given the mirena coil.
The mirena coil helped a lot, I didn’t have a period for 4 years (which felt strange) but I had no pain and no new endometriosis appeared. I had the coil removed in the end as the symptoms within the 4th year were quite unpleasant and it was coming to the end of its lifespan.
Since I’m sharing, the worst symptom the mirena gave me was the thick black hair in undesirable places. Sounds vain, but until you have hands like your dad when you’re a woman you won’t understand!
Since having my mirena coil removed I have been okay and have scans yearly to monitor my endometriosis.
I now live a completely different lifestyle in Australia to previously when in London. I work in health and fitness and I am more aware of when I need to rest. Most of all I have learnt to TRUST myself when I don’t feel right.
I see a therapist which I highly recommend for those who suffer mentally or emotionally. I have been diagnosed with Premenstral Dysphoric Disorder which is believed to be very common if you have endometriosis. Life can be hard as it is without the added stress of our hormones going ape sh*t.
I also have acupuncture alongside seeing a Chinese Medicine Practitioner to help with pain, emotions and hormonal acne.
I find tracking pain and emotion really helpful, doing this it has helped me establish the patterns of my feelings and work with my body. For example, I know the week before my cycle I am going to feel worse mentally and more than likely a bit wiped out, so thats when my therapy is scheduled. I give myself a bit of a break with training, I also make a conscious effort to move, meditate and do some mindfulness activities and things that make me feel good.
Of course these things are what helps me, but each woman is different but I think by tracking your cycle you can find what works for you.
I track them by keeping a diary of how feel each day and as time goes on I began to see patterns.
It has been a long road to finding what helps me and I continue to learn.
Fingers crossed I don’t need any surgery again in the future.
I am so grateful for this community and the opportunity to raise awareness so more women get the help they need and deserve. I hope by being part of this community I can help inspire women to trust themselves and to feel shameless about seeking the help they may need when it comes to their physical and mental health.
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