Blossom Ball 2025 - Endometriosis Foundation of America
May 15, 2025
Pierre Hotel in New York City
Fọlákẹ́ Olówófôyekù
Good evening. Good evening, good evening. Thank you. Oh, wow, wow, wow. Boy. Did I earn this? 25. It's a bit interesting. I had endometriosis for 25 years until I met Dr. Seckin about two years ago. There's something quite significant about this. Number 25, I think, or perhaps five, because we're also in the fifth month of the year on the 15th. Interesting. I have so much to say that I'm practically rendered speechless. I also have a speech, but I might not lean too much on it, although it's beautifully written. Thank you. Maybe I might extrapolate some facts from it, but I felt like this is so personal that I can speak about it in my sleep and subconscious in any possible way. But before I do, I'd like just to start a chat with Dr.Seckin, Seckin, Seckin, Seckin.
Well done, doc. I'm so proud of you. This award is for you. This award is absolutely for you and all the work that you guys have done with the Endometriosis Foundation. My intention initially was just a spit of the dome, and then I finally acquiesced to Dr.Seckin's request that I read this book, and I started reading it two days ago on my flight over here from Nigeria, talking about 25 and all of that. When Dr.Seckin called me about two months ago and said, Hey, we're honoring you this year. I was like, dude, can you do it next year? And I said that because I'm in Nigeria, preparing for a sea title that I'm honored with in my hometown.
I think that woe is for Chuck Laurie because I'm being honored due to the work I've done with his production company in Bob, but nobody else would've made me leave the ongoing preparations. I feel like a mad person with all that's happening on two continents. You see, the 21st of May is my father's one hundred and eighth birthday. Wow. Yes. And because I wasn't fortunate to be at his funeral many years ago, I chose this particular day to be honored with the Chief Ancy title. And if you're not familiar with the Chief Ancy title, it's similar to being knighted, and I'm one of the youngest people to receive two honors, which was very special to me. Thank you. It was very special to me because this was a way for me to connect with my mother and father, who both passed away many years ago, and celebrate all my achievements in Hollywood. But Dr.Seckin called and said, Hey, you have to be here. And I was like, you got it, dude. I'm here.
And so on my flight back to New York two days ago, I started reading this book and realized that I didn't need the speech or speak off the dome. I needed to read the words on these pages because as I opened the book and read the first page, four lines, I burst out crying, the ugly kind on that flight, and I'd like to read it for you. I was also asked who I wanted to. Before I get to this, I was also asked, by the way, this is from the Asho B that we're all wearing for the chief, you can see the title. You'll get it when you eventually see the photos. I was asked who I'm speaking to as I accept this speech, and I wasn't sure until I read this book and who I'd like to speak to, the women who are still enduring the pain, the torture might be the closest term to what it feels like to experience this kind of pain. The type of pain I used to experience up to two years ago, and reading the first four lines. I'd also like to read this to them, so that it may give them some of the comfort I felt to the millions of women worldwide whose lives have been affected by endometriosis.
May you find the peace and health you so richly deserve. And so I want to talk to my sisters who are currently going through this dreadful pain, this treacherous disease, and continue to read from the books of these pages, from the pages of this book, to those affected in any way by endometriosis. I know the pain you've been battling. You hurt a lot more than anyone else can comprehend. You feel alone and hopeless. You're physically and mentally drained, nearing your breaking point if you haven't reached it already. You've tried repeatedly for years to get anyone to listen to you and understand what you're going through. A friend, a family member, a school nurse, or even a doctor. But they don't. They dismiss your issue as a girl's problem or a woman's thing, as a disease or condition that it is not, or as something that will magically fix itself over time. They couldn't be more wrong. You know it in your gut, and we know it for a fact. You deserve better treatment, and there is better treatment for the woman who needs laparoscopic deep excision surgery but cannot afford it. There are specialists who will be willing to help. You may have to spend more time and resources and conduct more research than you would if you were contending with some other illness, but considering what the results will be compared to the pain you're in now, it'll be worth the effort.
It will be worth the effort. I guarantee that as I continue to read the book, I will be astonished by some of the things that were uncovered here, and I will exclaim to myself on that plane, like a mad person. This shit can't be true. There's a quote here. It is summarized today that hysteria, at the time fraud was diagnosed. Hold on. It is summarized today that hysteria at the time of fraud diagnosis was more closely related to the manner in which a woman reacted to her pain and symptoms rather than to the actual cause of her pain. Through extensive research and in-depth analysis, doctors today believe that what was diagnosed as hysteria may have been endometriosis. Dude. Diagnosis of hysteria, witchcraft, and demonic possession were commonplace during the time fraud was diagnosing patients. Treatment modalities included administration of noxious substances, hanging women upside down, and enduring painful surgical procedures that included a physician using his fingernail in place of a scalpel long before anesthesia had been discovered, dude, but has the attitude towards endometriosis and towards the pain these women endure really changed much? Yes. And that is because of all of you in this room, the Endometriosis Foundation, and Dr. Seckin. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
