‘I don’t put very personal things online but I really feel this is something that isn’t talked about’- Tracy Clifford

Today is a big birthday for Tracy Clifford as she celebrates ten years of her own show on 2FM. It’s no mean feat in the crazy world of broadcasting but in any case, Tracy loves a party and it’s a good excuse to throw one.

‘We have a show planned to celebrate the 10 years today just a little celebration with something different than what I do normally,’ Tracy says.

‘We’re doing a live Big Tune Afternoon as part of a special Ten Year Tracy Show with a live studio audience, which I’ve never done before.

Pic: Tracy Clifford/Instagram

‘We’ve had ten deadly prizes for to represent the 10 years, so someone who’s coming to the party will go home with a great prize.

In the last ten years things have changed alright but Tracy doesn’t think they have changed that much.

‘Maybe a little bit,’ she muses. ‘I got engaged, we had a global pandemic and I bought a house. We got a dog too. But I wouldn’t say we’ve had any massive life changes.’

Instead of the wedding that was expected with her fiancee Mark, a house was bought and weekends are spent doing DIY now.

And she says that wedding bells are still on the cards at some point, it’s just that the bricks and mortar needs immediate attention.

‘We still love each other,’ she says, laughing. ‘But buying a house takes up a lot of your time and money. We are definitely getting married at some point.’

Pic: Tracy Clifford/Instagram

One thing that Tracy did do was talk about her struggle with silent endometriosis and the toll that took.

In recent months the conversation about the condition has opened up but Tracy’s own experience was that she had no idea she had an issue that could affect fertility.

‘People can be going around not knowing that this is happening in their bodies, and especially if you’re trying to have a baby.

‘It’s completely asymptomatic and you need to go to your doctor and get checked out,’ she says. ‘I don’t regret talking about that at all – I’m not very good at talking about personal things myself, I don’t put very personal things online or on social media. But I really did feel this is something that isn’t talked about.’

Pic: Tracy Clifford/Instagram

And the response she got helped to open up the conversation around endometriosis and women’s health. ‘I got messages from women who got checked out themselves, from women who said their friends subsequently went and got checked out and they did find that they had silent endometriosis.

‘Even if I helped one person, then I’m really happy because before I was diagnosed, I didn’t know something like that existed,’ Tracy says of the medical condition. And while she may not be a huge fan of sharing her own personal experiences online, Tracy says it was cathartic to talk about the endometriosis and the effect it had on her.

Tracy Clifford. Pic: Andres Poveda

‘You actually never know what’s going on in someone’s life,’ she says. ‘So to talk about endometriosis, I think it was a big deal for me to open up about it, but also I’m so glad that I did, because there are so many people who are going through situations like that, and how lonely it is, and how confusing it is for people, how expensive it is for people. Maybe it gave people a little bit more education. And maybe someone got checked out and found out and that’s the reason why they got a laparoscopy and maybe went on to have a family. It’s scary to talk about your own experiences but I don’t regret it.’

She was shocked to discover the number of women who approached her afterwards to talk to her about their endometriosis or adenomyosis or PCOS.

Pic: Tracy Clifford/Instagram

And while the national framework for the management of endometriosis is a positive step, Tracy feels there is still so much to do to help younger women.

‘ Periods shouldn’t be painful, and I think as women sometimes when we were growing up, we were just kind of batted away and told it was to be expected,’ Tracy says.

‘But if you’re losing time from school or work or your social life or your mental health is suffering because you’re in pain, that means there’s something wrong. So the fact that the national framework has a directive now to treat it as endometriosis and work back from that is a brilliant thing. So the fact that that’s highlighted, and maybe people can have a good, healthy life, especially for the teenage years going forward, and it might not affect their fertility.But more needs to be done.’