I am 1 in 10. I am the 1 in 10 who has been diagnosed with endometriosis. When I was around 15 years old, I started having horrible lower abdominal pain and the first diagnosis I received was ovarian cysts that were rupturing. I had surgery to remove my appendix so that if it happened again, we would know exactly what the pain was. However, it wasn’t that easy because the pain got worse and spread to more areas just not the one spot.

My parents would take me to the doctor and the emergency room, but every time they would say they couldn’t find anything. Over the years I lost count of the number of ultrasounds and CAT scans I had. The doctors kept telling my parents there was nothing wrong. I felt so alone because I knew I was in excruciating pain; pain that cost me living the life of a teenager like my friends. It affected my mental health because at this point nobody believed me and my parents thought I was just making it up to get out of school. I think that was probably one of the lowest points of my life as I was not only in so much pain but my family didn’t believe me.

I spent five years living with this pain emotionally, mentally and physically. When I was 20, I went to a different doctor and I explained my pain to him and right away he was positive I had endometriosis. The only way to diagnose endometriosis is through laparoscopic surgery and not one doctor had even considered this. After some research, I realized I basically had every single symptom of this horrible disease and that I was not alone.

It takes years for most women with this disease to get diagnosed. I had the first of 12 surgeries and was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis. I was so thankful I finally had an answer and could hopefully begin treating it. During the surgery they burned off the endometriosis that they could see and that would help for a little while but then the pain would come back. The pain feels like someone is carving out your insides while stabbing you with thousands of knives in your ovaries.

One of the biggest problems with endometriosis is infertility which was crushing to me because I always wanted to be a mom. By the grace of God I was able to have my first son in 2006 and the doctors said that my endometriosis should get better because pregnancy normally helps with that but that did not happen, it just got worse. Over the next ten years, I went to so many doctors I lost count trying to find answers as to why I was still in so much pain and nothing seemed to help. It was ten times worse during my menstrual cycle as it is for most women.

This disease took so much from me during that time. I lost friends and missed important events with my family and best friends because I couldn’t get out of bed. I got married in 2015 and we decided we wanted to have a child. We knew this was not going to be easy because of the endometriosis and because the older you are with this disease the harder it is to get pregnant. We went to fertility doctors and we got pregnant with our first baby in October of 2016 and then lost the baby nine weeks later. It was so devastating that again this disease had taken something from me. We tried again and got pregnant in April of 2017 and our baby was born in November of 2017, seven weeks early. The doctors said if we tried to have another one, they didn’t know what the outcome would be and I would be extremely high risk so I had to have a hysterectomy to try and not have the endo take over any more of my life than it already had.

There are still days when I am in so much pain and it breaks my heart because I feel like my family and friends have to pay for what this disease has done to me. I was angry for a long time that it took so long to get a diagnosis because maybe the outcome would be different. Maybe I wouldn’t have all of the other health issues I have that are related to my endometriosis. There are days that I sit and cry because I want to have a normal life. I want to be able to get out of bed every day and play with my kids and go to work and do normal things that everyone else does, but I can’t. I can’t stand for long periods of time or clean the house all in one day without having to lay around for a few days to make the pain level go down.

I’ve spent years going to a ton of doctors to get help and answers but unfortunately I’ve found that I have known more than most of them. When the pain is unbearable, I end up in the hospital and I have doctors come in and ask me questions about endometriosis which I think is completely unacceptable. I should not know more than someone in the medical field when it comes to a disease that so many women have. I have made myself a promise to educate, raise awareness, and raise financial support to make sure that no other girl or woman has to go through what I’ve been through over the last 20 years.

Endometriosis is medically defined as: a disorder in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus and it can be found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the intestines. Newer research has also found it on the brain and lungs. Endometriosis is one of the silent diseases that affects so many girls and women and some have no idea they have it. Some women do not experience any pain or any other symptoms and do not find out they have it until they are unable to conceive. Over the year’s, endometriosis has become more commonly known only because celebrities have shared that they have it.

Common Endometriosis Symptoms:
Infertility
Painful Menstrual Cycle
Painful Intercourse
Irregular Menstrual Cycles
Painful Bowel Movements
Lower Back Pain
Other Intestinal Problems

Many women with endo also experience different immune disorders and other health issues.
I have become an ambassador for the Endometriosis Association so I can help spread awareness and education about this horrible disease. If you have any of these symptoms, please talk to your doctor. If they won’t listen, find another doctor because you are your best and only advocate.

I know some of these subjects are hard to talk about but they need to be discussed and they need to be understood better by those suffering and those affected by endometriosis. Most women don’t want pity. If they decide to talk about it, they just want understanding and acceptance. It’s not easy to do when the girls or women look fine on the outside, so just listen if someone wants to talk.

I have also started a Facebook Support Group; Endo Warriors of the Eastern Shore. Please feel free to join our group and ask questions or just vent if you need someone who understands how you feel and what you are going through. This disease has no cure, only treatments, so we have to fight for education, awareness and acceptance.

I may be 1 in 10 who has endometriosis but I am going to be the first to help raise awareness on the Eastern Shore to help as many girls and women as possible.