WEBVTT - Understanding Uterine Cancer with Dr. Kemi Doll 0:00:01.400 --> 0:00:04.640 On this week's episode of Cultivating Her Space. 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.440 Eighty percent of Black women at some point in time 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.760 we'll have a fibroid. Less than one percent of our 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.680 federal research dollars goes. 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:13.880 To understanding fibroids. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.000 So part of that right is that while this is 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.279 a problem that Black women predominantly suffer from, it's not. 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.520 We're not the only ones, but we are disproportionately the 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.000 ones really dealing with the most severe kinds. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:28.160 That's not what we focus on for research. 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.800 Hey, lady, have you ever felt like the world just 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.519 doesn't get you? Well, we do. 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.440 Welcome to Cultivating her Space, the podcast dedicated to uplifting 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.080 and empowering women like you. 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:51.200 We're your hosts, doctor Dominique Brussard and educator and psychologists. 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.760 And Terry Lomax, a techy and transformational speaker. 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:58.640 Join us every week for authentic conversations about everything from 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:03.440 fibroids to fake friends as we create space for black 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.000 women to just be. 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.080 Before we dive in, make sure you hit that follow 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.160 button and leave us a quick five star review. 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:12.360 Lady, We are. 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:15.319 Black founded and black owned, and your support will help 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.160 us reach even more women like you. 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.800 Now, let's get into this week's episode of Cultivating her Space. 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.560 If you want more speaking engagements, collaborations, or visibility for 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.400 your brand, I gotta tell you the truth. This is 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:33.680 Terry Lomax and I've been a public speaker for over 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.560 twelve years. I've lended national media, a TED Talk, and 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:41.199 six figure collaborations without a publicist or a big social 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.200 media following. And here's what most people don't hear. You 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:47.200 don't need a publicist or a massive audience to get booked. 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:50.640 Most people are waiting to feel established first, and that 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.680 waiting is costing them visibility. How many times have you 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.320 looked up and seeing people with less experience getting opportunities 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.960 you were fully qualified for. Here's the truth. Opportunities don't 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.720 go to the most qualified. They go to the people 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.280 who can clearly communicate their value. Once I learned how 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:11.200 to organize my story and position my expertise using a framework, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.440 everything changed. If you want my exact pitch emails, word 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:20.360 for word, my winning subject lines, and the Saucy Solutions framework, 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.919 visit get that pitch dot com for a limited time 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.400 use Cold her Space for a special listener discount. If 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.240 this is your year to stop hiding and start getting booked. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:36.079 I'll see you inside. Visit get that Pitch dot com 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:40.800 or click the link in our show notes. Lady, Today's 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.200 episode is for you. If you've ever googled your symptoms 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.080 because your doctor brushed them off, if you've normalized pain 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.960 you shouldn't be living with, or if you just want 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:54.320 to know what real advocacy sounds like in the doctor's office, 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:59.080 this is for you. Today's guest is a gynecologic oncology surgeon, 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:04.400 research and leading expert on black women's reproductive health. Born 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.320 in Nashville and raised by Nigerian immigrant parents, she has 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.280 spent her career exposing the racial gap and gynecologic care 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:17.800 and treating conditions including endometriosis, fibroids, and heavy bleeding that 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:22.120 disproportionately harm black women. There is so much more we 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.400 could say about doctor Kimmy Dahl, but we'll let you 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:28.680 hear it from her. So, doctor Kimmy Dall, welcome to 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.240 cultivating her space. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.240 Thank you so much for having me. I am happy 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:35.800 to be here. I'm happy to be amongst the black 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:36.560 girl magic. 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:42.320 Let's do this, Yes, yes, okay, So we are going 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.200 to dive into our quote of the day. Now, doctor Kimmy, 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.720 this quote will sound really familiar to you because it 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:55.520 is from the dedication in your book. Okay, okay, to 0:03:55.760 --> 0:04:01.040 all who cramp, bleed, and endure and those who love us, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:07.400 it's time for a new story. So doctor kim you, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.240 when you hear your dedication, like when you hear that 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:16.080 read back to you, give us some context of what 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:20.320 inspired this to be the dedication in your book. 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.200 I think so so many times we can get caught 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:28.320 up in kind of labels of things, and a lot 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:33.039 of times, I mean, medicine is basically organized by labels diagnoses, 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.120 do you have X or y? And then we also 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.440 we can get caught up and confused in labels of 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:39.760 you know. 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.120 Whether I'm normal or not normal or whatever. And so. 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:49.479 I for the dedication, I wanted to reach I wanted 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:54.200 to reach people without any of those labels, to just 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.919 call a thing what it is. Because we have so 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.400 many euphemisms, We have so many ways of not saying 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.800 what is actually going on, you know, like ooh my 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.720 period something else, Oh you know, I'm going through it. 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.599 We have all of these ways, and so I just 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.880 wanted I wanted to like break through and give a 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.360 sense of no we're going to actually talk about the thing. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.200 And I thought the most simple way to do that 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.120 is to just name it. What do we do? We bleed, 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:23.600 we cramp, and we endure. 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.320 So we need a new story and everybody, and I 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.960 wanted everybody who loves us to feel a collective sense 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:31.960 of responsibility. 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:36.160 We are going to change this. That is so beautiful 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.880 and what a great way to start this conversation. So, 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.239 doctor Kimmy, when you think about the black woman listening 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:47.279 to this episode, and if that woman could only remember 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.679 one thing from our conversation, what would you want. 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:51.080 That to be? 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.440 That just because just because we have lived with something 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.480 doesn't mean that we have to. You know, just because 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.359 we can endure does mean that we should. 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:08.880 And it's okay to recognize that you might have been 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:13.480 taught to endure as the tool to deal with your 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:14.479 womb health. 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:20.880 Instead of seeking good womb health. I think that's the 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:22.279 biggest thing. I think. 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.679 You know, I don't know any black woman who actually 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.040 wants to suffer. I've never met somebody who's like, I'm 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.119 really into suffering. I say it all the time. Nobody 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:31.960 ever came into mc clinic and like, I really want 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.960 to be in more pain. That is my goal here, 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.880 you know, or God forbid, with a cancer diagnosis, I 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:38.960 would like to die. Nobody says that, right, But what 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:45.120 happens is that we have an insane. 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:48.480 Ability to adapt and to just handle it. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.800 And that is why often we don't even know that 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.039 there is help out there, because this is just the 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.479 way it's always been. This is what my mom taught me, 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.760 my sisters taught me, my auntie's taught me. So I 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:02.719 think that's what I would want women to walk away with. 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.160 Is Well, just because you've lived with it for ten years, 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:07.680 twenty years, doesn't mean it has to be your normal. 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:14.920 Oh thank you for that and thinking and yes, thinking 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:22.160 about not living with something that is your normal, and 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:30.960 taking into account the stories of our moms, our aunties, 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:37.600 our sisters. Let's go back and doctor Kimmy, can you 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:42.640 tell us your origin story and how did you become 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.840 what inspired you to become the doctor Kimmy that we 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:47.960 see today? 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:50.000 Oh my god. 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:51.680 What's so funny is that. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.800 Up until very recently, I would have just told you 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.440 I'm just I'm just at every step of the way, 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.760 I'm just choosing what most trust me. You know. I 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:02.520 went to medical school, and then I said, wow, I 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:04.520 really want I really like women's health. 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:05.800 I went into obgi N. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.680 Then I realized, Okay, I really like this, but I'm 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.560 really called by the gynecologic cancers and also by research 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:14.480 because I'm trying to understand what's going on with black women. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:15.120 I don't get it. 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.400 And I would have just told you the story about 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:21.280 how I'm just following my instinct for what is interesting 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.000 to me and where I think I can make a difference. 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.280 But the way I would say it now is that 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.080 I feel like this was the assignment. Like when I 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.000 think about my grandmother, when I think about the lineage 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.200 of my family and what the women have gone through 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:39.040 generation after generation, I would say that I think this 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:45.240 was set in motion before me. And there's a reason 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:47.760 why I was always drawn to women's health. There was 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:49.640 a reason why I was drawn to womb health. There 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.160 was a reason why I was drawn to research and 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.400 science and statistics, and that I was born a black 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.880 woman here in this society watching all all of this happened. 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:06.280 So my origin is that I've always followed where my 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.360 literal intellectual interests lied and where my heart was, which 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.079 is taking care of women and trying to understand the 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.680 uterus and womb conditions and diseases. And I've always felt 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.280 that I wanted to use whatever skills that I have 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.920 for our community, for our greater good, for Black women 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:30.280 and personally, when I realized how much I was adapting 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.400 to suffering in my own life. When I was in 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:38.719 my mid thirties and was diagnosed with endometriosis because I 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.720 was on a table getting cut open for a C 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.800 section to have my first child, and that's when they 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.720 saw all the scarring and my pelvis and my abdomen, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.640 and they said, wow, you have endometriosis. You must have 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:54.160 painful periods. Meanwhile, I was already a board certified OBGAA, 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.440 so I knew all the criteria. Why didn't I think 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.760 I had endometriosis Because I never thought my pain was 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.840 bad enough. I just oh, I mean I can still function, 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.720 and I'm saying I'm still going to work. I can 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:12.760 still make it happen. So I think my origin is 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.680 not just all the training right, not just all the interests, 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:20.600 But I had these things happened to me too, And 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.960 I think it's different from speaking from some outside perspective 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.840 like the doctor says we should do this to me saying, listen, 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.120 I did this too. I know exactly what it means 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.360 to think everything's fine and you find out that you know, 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.960 your blood count level is like severely below normal, and 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.319 you're like, oh, you should be on the floor, but meanwhile, 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.599 you just cook it. I don't even know if I 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.160 answered the question, but that's how I would say. That's 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.640 where the origin of all this comes from. You know, 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.840 it started before me, and I've always just been true 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.840 to what I'm most interested in, and that's led me 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:58.160 to serving black women in this way. 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.199 Thank you so much for sharing that. And I, as 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.160 you are sharing your story, I'm thinking about the fact 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.720 that when I don't know the data and statistics, but 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:07.640 I'm sure you can educate us on this. I'm thinking 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.160 about the fact that you just shared your story, and 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.440 I'm sure there's more to your story regarding endometriosis and 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:15.720 Dom and I. We have three black women right here 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.440 in this conversation. I'm always sharing this because Dom and 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.560 I have both been vocal about our experiences on the podcast. 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:27.079 But Dom having had fibroids and hysterectomy, myself having cystic ovaries, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.240 being diagnosed with pea cosse having infertility issues. 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.440 Thinking about the fact that with three black. 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:34.120 Women in the space together, and this is what we've 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.400 all experienced, why does that tend to be the case 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.360 with black women? Like, what's happening to cause this stuff? 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:41.280 Thank you so much? 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.480 First of all, this is and this is the norm, 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:46.400 and I think this is part of the reason why 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.800 I wrote the book and why literally the subtitle is 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.160 the Hidden Crisis, because it's hidden in plain sight. You 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.720 cannot It's like, you can't gather more than five black 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:59.480 women and not have the majority have womb issues. I'll 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.880 lay I will stand up because every room I go 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.680 into is the same all. It doesn't matter why I'm there. 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:06.880 I could be there because i'm my son's soccer game. 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.040 If there are five black women in the room, You've 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.920 got endometrisis, you've got fibroids, you've got heavy bleeding. So 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.360 it is the truth. It's not a coincidence here. So 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:19.480 why is that is a big question, and I'll answer it. 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.880 I'll try to answer in a few different ways. One 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.720 reason that we need to understand is part of it 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:32.960 is decades of neglect of gynecologic research and care right 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:37.359 not just treatment, but also research to understand the conditions 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:41.400 that disproportionately impact Black women. So we still have more 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:45.400 questions than we have answers. Eighty percent of Black women 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.760 at some point in time will have a fibroid. Less 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.520 than one percent of our federal research dollars goes to 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:52.760 understanding fibroids. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:55.280 Yeah, so. 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.280 Part of that, right is that, well, this is a 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.680 problem that Black women predominantly suffer from. It's not We're 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.040 not the only ones, but we are disproportionately the ones 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.160 really dealing with the most severe kinds. 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.320 That's not what we focus on for research. 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.120 Same thing when we look at the other issues in endometriosis, 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.120 the majority of the research for a long time was 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:23.959 focused just on fertility, and endometriosis was considered a disease 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:29.360 that predominantly affected white women. When black women had pain 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.320 and signs of endometriosis, it was called pelvic inflammatory disease 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.520 and you were treated like you had an STD. 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:36.840 Oh my goodness. 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:41.440 Oh yeah. This has been documented since the seventies, and 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:43.560 in fact, up until the point when I was in training, 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.000 I was still taught that endometriosis was more common among 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.720 white women, which is not true, but that's always taught 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:50.839 because again, we don't investigate it to look for it 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.760 among black women. So one of the reasons why all 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:55.960 these things, like you said, are like so common is 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.440 literally because of the neglect, right, Like, if you don't 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.720 do something about it just continues, it just continues. People 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.480 pass it down. We don't have any treatments, we don't 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.880 have any interventions. There's another reason though, which is that 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.240 it's a broader kind of conversation. So I would I 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.960 would kind of think of it like the commonality. 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:13.959 We have a lot of. 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.480 Conditions, like kidney conditions, people have heart conditions, we have 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.040 lun conditions, people have all these things. Right, when there 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.480 is research in things, you start having screening protocols, you 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.280 start having treatment early, we start having prevention, you know, 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:30.880 strategies got womb health outside of pregnancy overall has been neglected. 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.560 So we're just getting to the place where people are like, 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:35.680 you know what, wouldn't it make sense to start doing 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.760 research on fibroid prevention? You know what, wouldn't it make 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.800 sense to start understanding what are the like antecedent risk 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.400 factors for some of these things. So I do tell 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.080 people like this is what misogyny leads to, right, this 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.240 is what sexism leads to, because if women are only 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.440 reproductive vessels, then we don't care about what's going on 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.600 with women outside of the act of having a baby 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.040 and reproduction outside of that. 0:14:58.280 --> 0:14:58.800 Good luck. 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.640 So it is only I mean, it's very recently that 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:08.280 there has been real concerted, significantly funded labs, multimillion dollar research, 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.280 like people really focused on how do we really disentangle 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:16.920 these conditions and improve them? And then last thing is racism. 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:23.280 So racism makes everything worse for multiple reasons. But there 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.600 are some things that we will inherit. Okay, So there 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.120 are some I think cancer is a good example because 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:30.080 people really think of kind of like cancer runs in 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:30.480 my family. 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:30.920 Cancer. 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.880 Okay, even with all that you hear about cancer running 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:35.920 in people's families, which is the same with fibroids, by 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.520 the way, it's the same with indometriosis, et cetera. Only 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.760 twenty percent one in five of all cancers are actually 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.800 like identifiable by oh, this is the gene that you inherited. 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.280 You inherited this gene, you inherited this thing. Most of 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:53.600 what happens is it's a combination of susceptibility, so you're 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:59.000 maybe you're vulnerable to developing something combined with environmental factors 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.840 that we still are piling back. And when I say environment, 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.000 I don't just mean like the air, you know, like 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:05.160 the grass chemicals. 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.760 I mean the whole environment. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.560 I mean the fact that children who are sexually or 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:15.320 emotionally abused have higher rates of fibroids later in life 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.960 by seventeen percent. That's what I mean by the environment. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:25.080 I mean the literal our lives and how they're impacted. Right, 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:29.840 So we know this in other areas, there's something childhood adverse. 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.160 Childhood experiences the aces, the aces are related to disease 0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.480 conditions later in life. There was a study just published 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.400 last week about poverty getting ingrained into the brain early on. 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.680 Yes and jamma. So this level of like how do 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:49.520 we disentangle are very complicated environments, all the different things 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.520 that could happen to people. To start to understand the 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.880 A to B, to C to D of the development 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.240 of these conditions is something that is newer research. But 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:01.880 we're I mean it's active, but it's newer, and science 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.280 takes time. So hopefully that gave you like a lot 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.800 of different reasons. Yeah, but when we see what happens 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.720 with black women disproportionately, I say, well, that's because we 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:21.080 have disproportionate negative experiences, disproportionate negative exposures, disproportionate vulnerability. 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:27.000 Thank you for that, that very thorough and very real explanation. 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:32.120 And so one of the things that you mentioned was cancer, 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.760 and you mentioned a number of other vocabulary words I did. Sorry, 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.120 we want to that you know, some of us are 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:49.959 familiar with, but unfortunately, so many of us aren't familiar 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:56.720 with a lot of the terminology related to our gynecological health. Yes, 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.600 and so so you men cancer, and I want to 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.480 talk about I want to ask you about uterine cancer 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:10.240 and what's the difference between uterine cancer and endometriosis and 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:15.240 fibroids and pcos which now, as of a couple of 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.040 weeks ago, has a new name yep. And so can 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:23.359 you break down some of the more commonly used terminology. 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:24.040 Yes. 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.679 So it's a great point, right going back to what 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:29.840 we do and don't teach our little girls. You know, 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.919 a little girl has a period, the first thing she 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.520 learns is how to keep it a secret? 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:36.920 Yeah, Does she. 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:38.159 Learn the names of her organs? 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:42.480 Does she learn what health looks like. Does anybody even 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.040 ever sit her down and say, hey, by the way, 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.560 this is what a normal period is in case you 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.520 ever bleed for more than seven days anyway, So I 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:53.440 get why people don't know. I'm just sharing that because 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:55.880 it's like, we have to. I want to normalize that. 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.760 Like I have been across from highly educated, multiple doctoral 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.360 women in the room with me with conditions, and they 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:06.399 don't know these things either. Part of Ryer wrote the book, Okay, 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.880 so we have to start with some anatomy. So our 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:12.119 reproductive system is made of different organs that are all 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.760 close together. So we have our uterus, or the womb, 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.320 which is where a baby would grow if you're pregnant. 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.000 The womb that's also where all of the stuff in 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.199 terms of your period happens, in terms of the bleeding 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.880 and the shedding. The outside of the womb, the doorway 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:29.200 to the womb, is called the cervix that actually sits 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.600 in your vagina. So when somebody's looking at your vagina, 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.280 they can see your cervix. Your womb is on the 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:35.800 inside of your body, we can't see it. Then there 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.399 are your tubes, and then there are the ovaries. So 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.080 these things are all connected, but they're not the same thing. 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.439 And the analogy I like to make is like your eyes, 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.439 your nose, your mouth, your ears are all on your face, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:50.399 all on your head. They are not the same organ. 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.840 So here's your first warning flag for whenever you hear 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.480 somebody some of our friends on the internet talking about 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:01.280 womb health and they're acting life all these things are 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.800 all the same, that should be a red flag because 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.360 that is not the case. You would not give put 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.719 something that's supposed to treat your nose into your eyeballs 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.920 and vice versa. So let's be a little bit more 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:16.040 up on the language. So when you ask me what 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.359 are the differences, here are the differences in some of 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.879 the things that you said. Endometriosis is when the lining 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.439 on the inside of the uterus, so that there's a 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:29.040 lining called the endometrium. It's when those kind of cells 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:32.159 they start growing outside of the womb or outside of 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:35.760 the uterus, and then they do exactly what they would 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:37.520 normally do, which is that when you are on your 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:39.879 period and they get hormonal signals, they grow, they and 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.760 then they bleed, except they're not bleeding out of the vagina. 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:45.680 They're just bleeding in the body wherever they are causes 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:48.320 a lot of pain, It causes a lot of scarring. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.480 It changes your sensory nerve endings, which is why endometriosis 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:59.920 is really like a neurosensory pain condition that's chronic over time. PCO, 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:06.919 which is now PMS poly metabolic ovarian syndrome, starts with 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:11.360 an issue. It starts with an issue of your metabolic 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:18.120 system not interacting ideally with your hormonal system. So all 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.480 your systems are usually like constantly imbalanced, and PMOS they 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.000 like just they don't talk to each other, right, So 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:27.600 what happens is that your hormonal system is kind of 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.000 out of balance, your metabolic system is kind of out 0:21:30.040 --> 0:21:34.000 of balance. To try to put it as simply as possible, 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:36.600 When these things work together, it's kind of like your 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.600 body has just enough hormones that it needs and no 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.440 more than it needs, and also your sensitivity to those 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:48.600 hormones is correct. With PMOS, your sensitivity starts to change, 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:52.080 so that at other you'll have the same hormonal levels 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.440 as other people, but the impact on your body will 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.480 be totally different, which is why instead of making one 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:01.639 follicle every month, you make fifteen it's like, girl, what 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:02.360 is happening? 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:04.199 That's PMS. 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:09.040 And then we have fibroids. Fibroids are actually really interesting. 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:11.119 I'm trying not to be like too sciencey here, so 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:14.199 y'all just stop me, but they're very interesting because what 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:17.439 a fibroid actually is is that the uterus has three layers. 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:19.359 The middle layer we already talk about the enemytram, the 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:22.199 inner layer. The middle layer is muscle. This makes sense, right. 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:24.760 You think about a uterus that's pushing a baby out, 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.159