BLEED by Tracey Lindeman

“A brilliant, blistering read.” — Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads

A scorching examination of how we treat endometriosis today

Have you ever been told that your pain is imaginary? That feeling better just takes yoga, CBD oil, and the blood of a unicorn on a full moon? That’s the reality of the more than 190 million people suffering the excruciating condition known as endometriosis. This disease affecting one in ten cis women and uncounted numbers of others is chronically overlooked, underfunded, and misunderstood — and improperly treated across the medical system. Discrimination and medical gaslighting are rife in endo care, often leaving patients worse off than when they arrived.

Journalist Tracey Lindeman knows it all too well. Decades of suffering from endometriosis propelled the creation of BLEED — part memoir, part investigative journalism, and all scathing indictment of how the medical system fails patients. Through extensive interviews and research, BLEED tracks the modern endo experience to the origins of medicine and how the system gained its power by marginalizing women. Using an intersectional lens, BLEED dives into how the system perpetuates misogyny, racism, classism, ageism, transphobia, fatphobia, and other prejudices to this day.

BLEED isn’t a self-help book. It’s an evidence file and an eye-opening, enraging read. It will validate those who have been gaslit, mistreated, or ignored by medicine and spur readers to fight for nothing short of revolution.

Tracey Lindeman is a longtime freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Maclean’s, The Walrus, the Globe and Mail, and many other publications. She is from Montreal and is currently based in western Quebec.

Review Quotes

“In a climate where abortion and contraceptive access in the United States are under more threat than they have been in fifty years—and at a time when nobody can afford to mince words about women having access to the care they need and deserve—Bleed arrives in full force, exposing the raw and isolating experience of living with a feminized disease in a world that doesn’t want to acknowledge women’s pain. Lindeman does a great service to her readers by showing them they are not alone in their struggles and by sharing everything she has learned about how best to navigate the health care system, but she stops short of giving false hope.” — The Walrus

“A brilliant, blistering read. BLEED is a memoir of Tracey Lindeman’s decades-long attempt to be effectively treated for endometriosis, which caused her chronic, excruciating pain. It is also a masterful work of investigative journalism and an expansive history of women having agency taken away in their own health care. From forced experimentation on marginalized bodies to paternalistic clinic visits, Lindeman offers incontrovertible proof of a history of neglect and deceit. Each page was filled with information I needed to know, wanted to know. Grisly and informative, BLEED made me cry aloud in frustration and anger and wonder. I could not put this book down.” — Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads

“Tracey Lindeman expertly weaves her own experience searching for endo relief with in-depth interviews and research proving her struggle was far from unique. Full of righteous rage and calls to action, BLEED is the book you need to be reading right now.” — Julie S. Lalonde, author of Resilience Is Futile: The Life and Death and Life of Julie S. Lalonde

“Some books are so good you can’t put them down. Bleed: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care is so good you’ll want to throw it across the room. Whether you’re an endo warrior yourself, have a chronically ill loved one or simply have been sidelined by a system not built for you, Bleed will make you feel angry, yes, but also validated, empowered and ready for a revolution.” — Elle Canada

“All people who have been dismissed, traumatized, and hurt at the doctor’s office will learn something from this book and be inspired by Lindeman’s own painful journey and advocacy, and people with endometriosis in particular will find this an absolute must-read.” — While Reading and Walking blog

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