Trinidad's Super Woman Special

Zomirita's Brave Awareness Experience

(Arlene Alvarez)

 

This is her story I am sure a lot of you will be able to relate to it.

Endometriosis is at her feet

Story Updated: Jun 21, 2013

Photo: Jermaine Cruickshank

 

Arlene Alvarez is one of the many women throughout Trinidad and Tobago battling endometriosis. One would not know that, however, upon the initial glance. In fact, when I met with Alvarez last Monday at the Express House for her interview, she seemed like any other individual. Even more, the orange tint of her mainly brown, strapless and elastic dress finished off with orange sandals mirrored the small ray of hope that is part of Alvarez in spite of the dark and ominous cloud of her illness – a hope that shone through during the interview. That Alvarez can still smile despite all that she has been through is no small feat. As Alvarez herself noted during the interview, her life is akin to a Lifetime movie, except that every moment is painfully real. It is doubtful that this 31 year old from Princess Town had suspected the misery that awaited her in the future. For the most part, Alvarez had led a fairly normal life – fairly because she had been experiencing painful periods for a while, symptoms of endometriosis, before her official diagnosis on December 17th 2010. “At the age of 21/22, I could run up and down the stairs, now, it is difficult. Alyssa would tell you – Alyssa is her best friend who sat in on the interview – that I don’t like to walk. It is tiring for me,” Alvarez stated. In fact, in spite of the crippling pain every month, pain that had been dismissed by relatives as bad cramps, Alvarez had continued to go on with her life and married in 2006. “He met me while I was a store clerk at a store on High Street, San Fernando,” she began. It was love at first sight for him because he used to stalk me. It was like a wolf looking at a sheep. He just used to stand there and stare,” she said. The following year, she enrolled in COSTATT to do a degree in HR management. . She could only complete the first two years of her degree, however, for her disease had begun to worsen. It had gone undiagnosed for so long. So in 2009, she left school. The reality of her illness had started setting in and in 2010, her lungs collapsed which resulted in her hospitalisation, and then her diagnosis. Alvarez has endometriosis of the lungs or thoracic endometriosis. “In 30 years, doctors have not seen this. My doctors treat me as if I’m rare, because lung and brain endometriosis (brain endometriosis is referred to as cerebral endometriosis) are rare,” affirmed Alvarez who has been told by one doctor that she has a very bad case of it. In effect, on more than two occasions, Alvarez’s lungs had collapsed – the disease has engulfed the right side of her lung. Furthermore, she faces the possibility of never having children. As a result, she has visited IVF clinics to find out more about the possibility of preserving her eggs. “Living with endometriosis doesn’t really allow you to have a life. I remember screaming in public because of migraines. You can’t raise your hands, you can’t cough, you can’t sneeze because it is so painful. I remember having to crawl to the toilet because of the intensity of the pain, not being able to get off the bed and the bed being covered in blood…The disease has four stages, I am in the fourth stage,” Alvarez asserted. In this stage, the organs of the individual fuse together, so that it brings on other diseases like arthritis. As regards treatment for the disease, Alvarez presently has to have monthly injections of Zoladex, which releases the hormone GNRH into the body. It stops the period. She has also had surgery – Pleurodsis or Plural Abrasions with Talic – to avoid having to continue the Zoladex injections, for prolonged use of Zoladex may lead to brittle bones, which Alvarez is currently experiencing. In four months, when she stops the Zoladex, which is supplementing the surgery that was done, she hopes to have her first period and to go through it without her lungs collapsing. If her lungs collapse while she is on her period, then the surgery has not worked. Alvarez, who is now divorced (her husband began cheating two weeks after their 2006 marriage and had eventually become verbally and physically abusive), spends her time trying to raise awareness of the disease. Unfortunately, not much attention is given to the disease here. For instance, March 4 is endometriosis day across the globe, but “there was nothing done in Trinidad and Tobago,” as observed by Alvarez. She and her best friend Alyssa had some yellow ribbons, pens and T-shirts done and handed them out on that day. Yellow is the colour worldwide for endometriosis. “It starts from school. Get your daughters tested please, take them to doctors. Don’t boil any bush tea to give to them,” she referenced the tendency of Trinidadians to treat all pains as minor and solvable with bush tea. It is a fight that Alvarez means to see through to the end.Furthermore, her friend Abisha, also an endometriosis sufferer, has started an endometriosis association that she will soon be registered. Alvarez is looking to begin one soon, but one for the friends and relatives of endometriosis sufferers to help them cope with the illness and all the difficulties it brings. She hopes to register it next year.Alvarez remains undaunted by endometriosis – thoracic endometriosis to be exact. In one month, she will return to school to complete her degree. It does not appear as though the disease has Alvarez in its grips, more like Alvarez has the disease in her grips.Individuals interested in becoming involved in this cause can visit the website on Facebook at lungendometriosis/thoracicendo.


Original Print: Trinidad Express

Thank You for reading

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Seafood Pizza

Seafood Pizza

 

Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Rice Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soya Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Lactose Free.

Endometriosis Safe, Crohns & Celiac Safe.
 

Ingredients:

Base:

2oz Sorghum Flour

2oz Amaranth Flour

2oz Tapioca Starch

3 Tsp Cyder Vinegar

3 Tbls Grape Seed Oil

2 Heaped Tsp Mixed Herbs

50ml Water

1 Tsp Lemon Juice

1 Tsp Ground Pepper

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp No Egg

Topping:

Approx. 20 Prawns

Handful Kale

1/2 Red Onion

1/2 Tin White Crab Meat

2 Tbls Vegan Mayo (Recipe Here)

Pinch of Cumin

1/2 Tsp Mace

Cheese Spread:

1.5 Tbls Cornmeal

260ml Hazelnut Milk

2 Tbls Nutritional Yeast

1 Tsp Bouillon Vegan Stock

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Pepper

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard
 

 

 

 

Start by making your base, Mix all of the Base ingredients  together to form a dough ball.

Leave the dough on the side for 20 mins to rest.

Now roll out your dough, you can do this onto baking paper if you wish or straight onto the

tray.

Pre-bake on Gas Mark 7 10 minutes, Take another tray and place it ontop of the base to flip it and place it back into the oven for another 5 minutes.

Next make your cheese sauce, put your cornmeal and hazelnut milk into your pan and stir on a medium-low heat until it thickens.

Now add the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and stir in until the yeast has dissolved.

Spread the sauce onto your pizza.

Add your Prawns sporadically on top of the sauce.

Rip up your kale and sprinkle over the top of your prawns.

In a ramekin mix your mayo, crab, cumin and mace together.

You should have a creamy crab texture.

Spoon your crab mix and onions onto the pizza.

Place in the oven on gas mark 5 for 20-25 minutes or until golden.


Cut and serve.

This pizza is also enjoyed 'student style' eaten in the morning cold for breakfast, spread some mayo on top and off you go.

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Chocolate Pebbles

Chocolate Breakfast Pebbles

Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Rice Free, Soya Free, Refined Sugar Free.

Endometriosis, Crohns & Coeliac Safe.

 

Ingredients:

2.5oz Arrowroot

80g Coconut Flour

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

9 Tbls Hot Water

2 Tsp Ground Flax Seeds

2 Tbls Coconut Oil

4 Tbls Unrefined Sugar
 

 

 Pop all the dry ingredients into a bowl apart from the ground flax seeds.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Next melt the coconut oil and add it to the dry mix.

Mix the coconut oil together with the dry ingredients.

Now add the ground flax seeds and the hot water.

Stir it all together until it is all combined.

Wait for the mixture to cool down for about 10 minutes before attempting to roll them into balls.

At this point you can decide how big or small you would like your cereal pebbles to be.

I went for double the size of a pea.

Place a sheet of baking paper onto your baking tray.

Put the tray into the oven at gas mark 6 for 10 minutes.

Then take the tray out and turn each of them over.

Put them back into the oven for a further 10 minutes.
If you have made pea sized cereal then halve the time needed and bake on gas mark 5.

 

Now you have your pebbles place them on a cooling rack, if yours are pea sized then just pick up the baking sheet they were cooked on with the pebbles and place it onto a cooling rack.

 

Once the pebbles have cooled down you can munch them as a quick breakfast snack.

 

Chomp them in front of the TV or doing the ironing or checking your emails.

Or pour hazelnut or almond milk (or whatever dairy-free milk you enjoy)

topped with mixed fruit and hazelnuts.










These pebbles also swell a little when left overnight to soak, so does the mixed fruit.

Hope you like it.

 

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