In this blog our Support Team Coordinator Dannielle will talk through how you can utilise the QENDO App to better communicate with your healthcare team and the positive changes this can have on your management of endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, infertility and pelvic pain.

Today, QENDO announced the launch of the QENDO App! Following extensive Beta testing from our wide, varied and inclusive community, the QENDO App will be available for immediate download from the app and Google Play stores.

This week we travel to the United States and meet Shamitris Kirby, adenomyosis advocate and creator of My Peach Fuzz, a blog sharing her experiences with diagnosis, treatment and ongoing management of adenomyosis, and a safe space for sharing resources for anyone experiencing pelvic pain. Here she shares her journey to diagnosis and why she’s a passionate advocate for anyone affected by adenomyosis.

You’ve met our incredible management team over the last few weeks on the blog, heard their stories and the experiences that are the drive for why they do what they do. But we thought it was important that you met our recently repatriated Vice President Jaime White, who returned to her hometown in New Zealand recently, to shine a light on her contributions to QENDO. Our Support Coordinator and Blog Coordinator Dannielle reflects on Jaime’s achievements and on behalf of all of Team QENDO says, thank you Jaime for you drive, compassion and ambition. You’ll always be part of Team QENDO.

Naturopath Bridget Backhouse understands the importance of treating chronic illness holistically, focusing not only on symptoms but the person as a whole to promote health and wellbeing. In this blog she takes us through some top tips for treating endometriosis holistically and why this approach is important. Bridget is a Victoria based naturopath and her practice Earthly Health Naturopathy has many areas of interest, including women’s health and all things endo, adeno and PCOS.

Meet our management team! The women behind QENDO’s management team are powerhouses of passion, ambition and hard work that translates into real change for anyone affected by endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS and infertility. Meet our treasurer Ash and read about her journey to diagnosis, becoming a QENDO volunteer, and championing health care in regional Australia.

After searching for answers for her pain for over six years, Isabella, was diagnosed with endometriosis, and adenomyosis. Looking for support, she found QENDO, a not for profit organisation supporting anyone affected by endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS or infertility. Inspired by the work of QENDO, Isabella was keen to make a difference in the lives of other sufferers, share her learnings and provide the support that was given to her upon diagnosis.

Introducing the faces behind our QENDO Management Team! This week President Jess shares her story and her drive to deliver change for those affected by endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS. 

Sharing your story is an act of both bravery and compassion, it is beneficial to the person sharing the story, as well as to the greater community. At QENDO we are proud to bring you the stories of our community, from anyone affected by endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS and infertility. Everyone’s story is unique, but in these stories we find common threads that bring us all together and empower us to move forward - raising awareness, pressing for change and inspiring action that can and will change things for those who come after us. Today on the blog Jodie shares her endometriosis journey to date.

Sharing your endometriosis story is an act of both bravery and compassion, your story can help inspire and empower others. At QENDO, we share the many voices of endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS and pelvic pain. This week we hear from our Ipswich Facilitator Hayley, who shares her diagnoses and how she found support through QENDO, and was empowered to give back to the community by becoming a volunteer for team QENDO.

Nurses, Midwives and healthcare professionals all play a special role in the lives of those who have a chronic health condition. On this International Nurses Day, and Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we at QENDO thought it would only be right to shine a spotlight on some of the amazing nurses, midwives and student nurses we have volunteering with us at QENDO. As well as take a moment to share the gratitude our QENDO community have for all of the nurses and midwives who have been there for them throughout various seasons of their lives.

At QENDO this Mother’s Day we are celebrating Mums of all varieties: from our own mothers who fought alongside us as we tried desperately to get our diagnoses, to those of us who have become Mums ourselves, sometimes after years of trying. We also celebrate those still on their fertility journeys, those who have lost children, those who have lost their mothers, those Mums growing their families. We see you, this day is for you too. In this blog two of our QENDO team share their perspective on motherhood, getting there, being here, and what the day means to them. Happy Mother’s Day from QENDO.

Physiotherapist Chantelle Bailey shares her endometriosis and painful bladder syndrome journey with QENDO, and some practical information about how you can manage these conditions with the help of a multidisciplinary team. 

We love our QENDO Ambassadors, they’re out there in YOUR community advocating for women with Endo, adeno, PCOS and infertility. Alicia Evans is the Sunshine Coast QENDO Ambassador and works in Administration/Accounts. She is also a qualified personal trainer. Currently 29 years old and recently diagnosed with stage 3 Endometriosis in 2018. Endometriosis has taken its toll on her health and vitality but she refuses to let it define her. She still enjoys crossfit training, the occasional triathlon, walking her pup and hiking local mountains. Despite the frustration of the disease, she feels very blessed to have met the amazing women in the QENDO community who have similar lives.

Times are tough and unprecedented, and we’re all spending a lot of time at home. For people with endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS, spending time at home, unable to leave for extended periods of time may be just another day at the office, many of us having experienced periods where our symptoms left us couch and bed bound. Sometimes our only constant companions have been those at home with us, and for team QENDO that includes our furry friends. The world right now is a stressful place, take a load off, have a cuppa, and meet some of our fabulous QENDO volunteers and their pets, and why they’re an important part of our chronic illness journeys. Only warm and fuzzies allowed in this space.

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.

April 19-25 is National Infertility Awareness Week, and at QENDO we are here to support all those affected by infertility, and shine a light on their stories, and on those health practitioners who make a positive contribution to this community through their practice. Caroline Anderson of Sage Naturopathics is one such practitioner. Originally an IVF nurse with a wealth of experiences in the world of fertility treatments, Caroline became more interested in why those who often heard those heartbreaking words “not pregnant” had unsuccessful cycles. This inspired her shift into naturopathy, a journey that she shares here.

National Infertility Awareness Week 2020 runs from the 19th - 25th April. In this week's blog we hear from some of our QENDO Community about their journeys, some of the ways they cope and how they keep on keeping on. Ash, Sam, Kristen and Vidya share their journeys - these are the faces of infertility. These women are the 1 in 8.

April 19-25 is National Infertility Awareness Week, and this week we’re shining a light on infertility and the many women of QENDO who have struggled with this often heartbreaking and overwhelming journey. Sam Delmege is one of QENDO’s ambassadors and has been public about her struggles with infertility, helping to empower other women to come to the table and say: infertility should not be a taboo subject. In this blog she shares her journey with endometriosis and infertility.

April is Adenomyosis Awareness Month and at QENDO we’re shining a light on this condition that has even less name recognition than endometriosis. Our support coordinator Dannielle, a registered nurse, has had painful periods since the age of fifteen, and was initially diagnosed with endometriosis, but it wasn’t until she received a second diagnosis of adenomyosis that she found a more complete explanation for the symptoms that plagued her throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Here she shares her story in the hopes of reassuring others that they are not alone.