Donegal Screening of “Below the Belt”

Welcome to our fundraiser for “Below the Belt”

Our screening and post show discussion aims to provide women of all ages in Donegal the knowledge and awareness necessary to navigate a diagnosis of Endometriosis.

In partnership with Letterkenny s Century Cinema on the 29th of April we want to showcase this affecting film directed by Shannon Cohn and executive produced by Hillary Clinton, Rosario Dawson, Corinne Foxx & Mae Whitman.

”Below the belt” highlights the story of four women suffering from this chronic, whole body inflammatory disease.

For years, Endometriosis has gone misunderstood, mistreated and underfunded worldwide and been horrendously mistaken as simply a woman’s disease.

On average in Ireland it can take up to nine years for a full diagnosis and patients often don’t find the specialist s they require in their home country resulting in disease progression and devastating consequence both medically and financially.

This is simply not acceptable and science says so.

Like other systemic or body wide diseases, Endometriosis has a significant, and often debilitating impact on its sufferers lives.

Endometriosis tissue has been found on every single organ in the human body, the brain , kidney’s, lungs and reproductive systems to name a few.

The disease has the capability to infiltrate some of the most vital systems in the human body and most certainly requires it’s own specific area of medicine to support it’s suffers with effective treatment.

Despite this knowledge, symptoms affecting women in particular ( yes men can have this too ) have geared research toward investigations based on an antiquated belief that Endometriosis is a gynaecological disease and this could not be further from the truth.

Mistruths that the disease has a cure in pregnancy or menopause prevail and this is a damaging and irresponsible inaccuracy to promote both at conversational and professional medical level.

Endometriosis is essentially a tissue in the body made up of cells that have similar features to cells found in the endometrium.

Despite these similarities, it is extremely important to consider the differences.

Endometriosis is not the endometrium which makes up the lining of the uterus, endometriosis is a tissue that has similar features and it is not understood why this develops.

The word “Endometriosis” means “Inside the uterus” however by nature this disease is EXTRA uterine and therefore even by name, medical professionals are still being misled to believe endometriosis is endometrial tissue and it is not.

At best, patients will suffer the repercussions of a constantly flaring immune system.

This is caused by progressive lesions which in turn exhaust the immune systems function and at worse, a patients organs can fuse together via adhesions.

These adhesions form causing impaired function and in worst cases either features can cause pain so excruciating patients can not work, can not hold relationships or worse, they suffer significantly with organ loss.

It is estimated that 200 million women world wide are living with this disease .

Current diagnostics in the form of laparoscopic surgery have their drawbacks as it is not always easy to identify early stages of what is a progressive disease so further research is essential.

Endometriosis has been known to evade even the most high tech diagnostic tools like MRI & Ultrasound.

At present it is estimated that 1 in 10 women have been diagnosed making this a heartbreakingly common disease.

Common does not mean “less serious” ( Diabetes is common, Asthma is common ).

These numbers also do not reflect those who are not yet diagnosed as well as potentially men who are not alerted to the disease through cyclical changes or notable disturbance.

We are so excited to support as many women to attend this function as we possibly can and ask that anyone willing to sponsor a ticket does at 15€ each.

This will allow us to cover the costs of venue and licensing so we can deliver accurate information to those suffering.

Thank you sincerely in advance for any contribution made to help us spread the word.