Congratulations Dr. Witt!!!! I hope the process was as smooth as a PhD dissertation and defense can be!

This year, as @tightlippedorg.bsky.social runs our annual fundraiser, I’m asking for donations from non-patient allies. People who don’t have chronic vulvar or vaginal pain themselves, but who agree that this situation is f***ed up, and want to help us fund systemic change.

tinyurl.com/2s4992aw

This paper came from that conference — the only one in the world on a chronic pain condition affecting ~1 in 10 women. Now guess who sponsored the conference. Not the NIH. Not a big foundation. Patients did. Patients fund the research. Patients do the advocacy. It shouldn’t all be on us.

In March 2024, I had surgery to remove part of my vulva, where I had had pain for my entire life. Pain with tampons, pain with sex, and pain just sitting. 4 weeks post-op, I was supposed to be on bedrest, but I traveled to DC. Why? Because I don’t want other women to go through what I went through…

This was really great, and I learned a bunch. Thank you for making this!