
It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands-securing a job in the hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library-that she found an accurate self-diagnosis of endometriosis, one that she had to convince an open-minded doctor to confirm. Along the way she would come to recognize-and repeatedly battle-medicine's systemic gender bias, pushing for treatment and a diagnosis as doctors shrugged at her unusual symptoms. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of school and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her.

For weeks she was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Her strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman went from a healthy, ambitious college sophomore to an emaciated, wandering girl. Yet as any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, endometriosis, or childbirth can attest, even if you report a level ten, you'll have to fight hard to have your pain taken seriously. "As patients, we're asked to rate our pain on a scale of one to ten.

It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition". Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands-securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library-that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples.

"For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues.
