LIVING with endo

On the 21^st of May last year I had a laparoscopic appendectomy to remove my appendix. I’d been suffering from severe stomach pains for three days and after being submitted to hospital an ultrasound came back inconclusive for appendicitis... so the surgeon’s decided to cut.

They informed me, pre surgery, that while they were in there removing my appendix that they would also have a poke around my abdomen to make sure nothing else was causing me the pain.

I remember being in the theatre thinking I would fight the anaesthetic. “I won’t let it take me,” I remember telling the nurse. I woke up a few hours later in recovery, unable to communicate due to a bad reaction to the anaesthetic.

It was then that my surgeon’s informed me that while poking around in my abdomen they found something on my uterus, an impressive collection of spots otherwise known as endometriosis.

And suddenly my world made sense.

For 7 years since I first started getting my period I had suffered from debilitating period pain. The pain was so bad I missed a few days of school a month and could barely move. My periods were unreliable and awful, one year I went 9 months without a period (no I was not pregnant), another month I bled for 2 and a half weeks straight.

For as long as I can remember doctors had told me I just had “bad periods” or that I needed to use pain relief more often. But pain relief didn’t touch this pain. And now I had a name for why I suffered so badly.

So now here I am, on an extremely strong contraceptive pill and with the Implanon in my arm to control my hormone levels and pain. I skip my period for 3 months at a time, therefore only having 3-4 periods a year – these are still awfully painful.

I still get pain even when I don’t have my period. In fact right now as I’m sitting here writing this I had a severe cramp in my right hip, a common place for my endo pain. This pain, though, is nowhere near as bad as it it when I do have my period.

To clarify why I’m writing about this, a few days ago I had a check-up with my doctor to make sure everything is okay, and it is. I’m living a pretty good life compared to a lot of women out there with endo. Being able to skip my period is a blessing, and I am so grateful that I haven’t required any more surgery as treatment. My main area of concern now is pain control without involving prescription medication.

People need to know about this crippling, debilitating condition. It isn’t recognised as a disease, an illness, or a disability. As sufferers, we get no compensation for the affects endometriosis has on our life, relationships, work and even sex lives for most women.

For now, I have another 2 months on my own until my next appointment. During that time I will turn 20, see my brother after 8 months apart and celebrate Christmas and the new year with my family. It could be worse, much worse.