I'll admit 100% to picking this book up because of the title. I mean, how could you not?
Turns out it was a good choice because not only is this a genuinely frank book about endometriosis, something that isn't talked about nearly enough given the number of women who suffer from it, and as voicey as hell.
Delia has a great life with big plans for her future. She's in a exclusive prep school, has been accepted at her dream college and is just about to start an internship with the doctor she's dreamed of working beside.
Then, off schedule, she gets her period.
No big deal, right? A little inconveninece, maybe, an uncomfortable day or two. No. Delia's periods are a nightmare that rule her world. Not just that they're heavy, but the pain that accompany them is enough to make her throw up and pass out. They rule her life and she knows something is wrong with her. Unfortunately, all the doctors she's seen up until now don't seem to take her seriiously or understand quite how debilitating this is.
Which is why she's so determined to intern with Dr. Steele who has a reputation of really listening to women and finding solutions for their health issues. And why she's so determined to become the kind of doctor she really wants to see.
But, with her period threatening to force her to skip school (again), Delia does something desperate and uses marijuana for the first time as a way to manage her pain so she can make it through this all-impotant meet and greet with the doctor of her dreams.
It does not go well, and weeks from graduation, Delia finds herself expelled, her college acceptance rescinded, her internship cancelled and with it, her chance to get close to the one doctor who might have answers for her. To ensure her period doesn't continue to wreck havoc on her future, Delia is forced to advocate for herself as she navigates the final weeks of high school, having to face the best friend who humiliated her back in middle school and a boy who seems to really care about her.
This is the first book I've read that deals with endometriosis and the frustrating realities of how difficult it is for women to get treatment for it. I have several friends who have suffered for years with periods as painful and debilitating as Delia's and who have had an equally difficult time gettitng diagnosed and treated for it. In fact, I recently discovered that I had endometriosis, but only found out when having a hysterectomy because my periods had become so unmanageable. Which made me angry because I'd suffered through it for 40 years with no one ever mentioning the word endometriosis.
So, I'd recommend this book. I think it's important to talk about this topic and for young women who are suffering through this debilitating pain every month to understand that they're not freaks and that there is treatment. If only they can get a doctor to actually hear them.
But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:
Delia Bridges is striving to become the compassionate doctor she's been unable to find in her journey to diagnose her excruciating period pain--but when a single rule-breaking incident jeopardizes her future, she must find a way to reclaim her dreams in this funny, period-positive novel.
High school senior Delia Bridges has the most amazing mom and sister, a killer GPA--and periods that are so painful they make her scream, pass out, and throw up. Though she doesn't know it yet, Delia has endometriosis, an affliction plaguing millions of people that is notoriously difficult to diagnose.
Pain makes everything harder, but Delia is just one semester away from graduating from Stockwood Prep and pursuing her dream of become the kind of doctor she's never one who takes her symptoms seriously. But when she breaks a rule for the first time ever and is caught using marijuana at school to manage her pain, Delia is expelled.
Her expulsion jeopardizes her college acceptance, her planned mentorship, and everything she had carefully planned for years. Without her academic success and no closer to a diagnosis, is Delia anything more than her period?
