Hello everyone,

This is my sister Christin.  She lives in MO. This image is from earlier this year.  I visit her at least once a year and we do a complete makeover and photo shoot.  She is my little angle of inspiration.  She is 35 and has been fighting a battle with Endometriosis for over ten years.  She is so strong and has been through so much.  This image means so much to us... The pill bottles are just a small example of what she deals with on a daily basis.  This is only a small sample of the bottles she has gone through over the years fighting this disease.  Endo is still a fairly new disease and behaves similar to Cancer.  It can spread through out the body.  Like all the bottles up in the air so is her life.  Her quality of life has done a 180.  She is unable to do the simplest of daily life actives.  Things we may take for granted.  Driving, being with family on the special occasions, working in her garden, preparing a meal for her and her husband, painting, having a job, taking a walk, traveling, intimacy, and most anything during her monthly cycle.

If Endo wasn't enough of a life sentence, now she is having new systems that are not characteristic of Endo.  I spoke with her yesterday and it broke my heart.  She has been experiencing seizures for the past 2 years and in the last few months the attacks are coming more frequently.  She has had 2 in the last 2 weeks.  To hear her disoriented and confused is so upsetting.  How can I  hear my sister my flesh and blood being attacked and I can't do anything about it... Feeling so helpless and filled with so much anger that I can't change this I can't fix it!!!!   I'm her big sister I suppose to protect her and make it all better...

  I give her and this disease to God and have to believe He will do His will and heal her..

She is a intelligent, articulate artistic soul.  To hear her repeat details of what she is going through or share stories of what is going on and forget that she just said the same thing over and over again.... It is unbelievable how much this horrific disease has changed the Christin I knew when we were children.  

I wanted to share this with all of you to ask simply to pray for Christin.  Keep her in your thoughts and prayers... Endo is a new disease and million of women have this and may or may not even know they have it...  I have shared some links below about this disease. Please, share this with any women in your life that have this disease.  My hope and prayer is that their will be a cure or remedy to reduce the pain and suffering that Endo causes in all the women we love so dearly.  Thank you for your love and support!!!!!

http://www.endofound.org/endometriosis

http://www.endometriosisassn.org/press3.html

Endometriosis is a painful, chronic disease that affects at least 6.3 million women and girls in the U.S., 1 million in Canada, and millions more worldwide. It occurs when tissue like that which lines the uterus (tissue called the endometrium) is found outside the uterus -- usually in the abdomen on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and ligaments that support the uterus; the area between the vagina and rectum; the outer surface of the uterus; and the lining of the pelvic cavity. Other sites for these endometrial growths may include the bladder, bowel, vagina, cervix, vulva, and in abdominal surgical scars. Less commonly they are found in the lung, arm, thigh, and other locations.

This misplaced tissue develops into growths or lesions which respond to the menstrual cycle in the same way that the tissue of the uterine lining does: each month the tissue builds up, breaks down, and sheds. Menstrual blood flows from the uterus and out of the body through the vagina, but the blood and tissue shed from endometrial growths has no way of leaving the body. This results in internal bleeding, breakdown of the blood and tissue from the lesions, and inflammation -- and can cause pain, infertility, scar tissue formation, adhesions, and bowel problems.