So, I’m not “sick enough” to get any disability support and my husband earns too much for me to participate in their “prove to us that you are too disabled to work” program. And when I say he “earns too much”, what their maximum weekly income before tax is, is the same as what he earns after tax. For example (hypothetically), if the maximum income for my partner can be $300 before tax, my husband earns about $300 after tax.

This has been frustrating to say the least.

Then, reading the Endometriosis Australia research page today, I found this:

• The average cost per woman per year from endometriosis was calculated in a study across 10 countries. We have no study to work out the average cost in Australia. The key points from that study were as follows;
o Severity of the stage of endometriosis did not reflect the severity of the symptoms
o Quality of life was impacted by symptoms, the main culprit being pain. It impacted on productivity levels at work as well as non-work related activities including, housework, exercise relationships, child caring, shopping and study.
o Average cost of endometriosis per woman per year
• Total ≈ $12,094.25AUS)
• Lost work productivity ≈ $7950.28 AUS
• Direct health care costs ≈ $3929.70 AUS
o The cost of endometriosis reaches further than the personal costs for a woman with endometriosis. It has a wider impact on the community. Lost productivity is twice the cost than the direct health care costs to a woman with endometriosis.

Something to think about….