How weathering affects Black peoples’ health

In December 2023, I had surgery to remove my fibroids. Fibroids are benign tumors that grow in the uterine wall. I’d had the growths for nearly a decade and, even though they were benign, they certainly added difficulty to my life. Heavy periods had plagued me since I was a teenager, but they had gotten worse as I’d gotten older. They often lasted over a week, leaving me tired and anemic. Often my cramps were so bad they made me nauseous. I went through pads and tampons quickly, and often worried that sneezing or coughing or laughing at the wrong time would lead to an embarrassing leak and a day with a jacket tied around my waist. Fibroids grow over time and new ones form. Over the years, my doctor found another sizable fibroid, and the one they first found had grown so large that it pressed on my stomach, leading to almost daily heartburn. Four months later, I got approved for a laparoscopic myomectomy, a surgery to have the fibroids removed. I woke up in the hospital groggy from anesthesia and sore from the five incisions the surgeon made, but excited for my new fibroid-free life. I later found...