The financial strain on your relationship.
Financial adjustments…
The financial effects of endometriosis and fibromyalgia vary. A small number of couples don’t make changes to their finances, however, most do!
Not only does chronic illness affects the income of both partners, but the lack of money also impacts the treatment of chronic conditions. Taking for example extremely costly laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis – the repetitive nature of these procedures can break relationships.
For many couples, their income is cut drastically. If the ill person is unable to work, family income may be reduced by half or more. This is scary!
But let’s not forget that for every suffering from endometriosis woman there is an army of men who support them. They too (like in my case) are impacted financially. I was being blamed for taking time off to take care of my wife until I fought back explaining what my situation was.
Many chronically ill women experience a lack of equality and discrimination just because they suffer from endometriosis or fibromyalgia. Many health conditions lead to unequal access to treatment and care because women aren’t treated fairly by doctors, instead, they are accused of being mentally ill.
One of the ways I used to combat such negligence was me (a man) being present at every doctor’s appointment. Doctors look at your partner differently if you’re there to confirm what she’s going through.