By Fatima Halloum
Growing up, Stephanie Caramanico knew there was something going on with her body but her doctors didn’t know what it was.
At 16-years-old, the Werribee resident self diagnosed herself with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a condition causing often debilitating hormonal and metabolism problems, after hearing about it through a TV show.
“The woman [on the show] was describing all her symptoms and I then took that to my doctor and said, ‘I have all these, can I get tested?’,” she said.
By the age of 29, Ms Caramanico’s PCOS had led to endometriosis, a disorder where the tissue lining the inside of uterus also begins to grow on the outside.
“It was heavy, heavy bleeds, so much pain, and I was actually quite depressed because I couldn’t work, I was having one good week out of a month,” she said.
“It was just like almost a whole body shut down, I was so tired all the time from losing so much blood.”
Her experience with both illnesses is why the new mum believes the Labor government’s pledge to commit $71 million towards women’s health if re-elected at the state election is “a good start”.
“Anything that sheds light on this kind of stuff, or that helps, is good,” she said.
From the funding, $58 million will be used to create 20 women’s health clinics across the state, including one at Werribee Mercy Hospital, to help treat a wide range of women’s health concerns.
Two million dollars will be allocated to provide scholarships for 100 specialists for the new clinics, and a further $6.4 million will be invested in establishing nine sexual and reproductive health hubs.
Ms Caramanico’s believes many women’s health issues are still seen as being “weirdly taboo” or “just ignored” for a “Band-Aid solution”.
“It’s kind of like a ‘shut up and put up with it, here’s the pill, some panadol and a heat pack, you’ll be fine’,” she said.
“It’s a good first step, but it’s nowhere near the right solution for it.”
