Endo Black Spotlight: Donea Harrison

By Arielle Dance & Troy Wynne

As a teenager, Donae Harrison suffered from unbearable periods. She tried to find out what was wrong after constantly throwing up and being crippled by pain. It was difficult to explain her symptoms to her parents and her doctors — they all assumed it was just regular period pain. She admits that she had a difficult time explaining her symptoms to medical providers and getting a clear diagnosis. Now, as a young adult, Donae feels more confident seeking care and expressing herself at medical appointments. Joining the Surrendo Youth Advisory Committee taught her more about endometriosis and provided her with the language to take back to doctors. “Once I was educated about endometriosis, I was able to tell my doctor and parents; now we’re able to move forward.”

Donae is a big believer in self-advocacy. To her, self-advocacy comes with the ability to articulate your needs and defend yourself before you can defend someone else. She knows that communicating with and educating doctors can be beneficial to their future patients as well. 

As an aspiring politician, her goal is to inspire future generations to be knowledgeable about their health and to build their confidence in communicating what they need. Donae does this by sharing information about endometriosis in her community. She encourages others to spread the message and to bring your loved ones with you to conferences like Endo Black and to medical appointments. By exposing them to the information, you are able to plant the seed and are allowing your loved ones to witness how much this disease has impacted your life.

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