Endometriosis

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Fibromyalgia and the co-morbid Endometriosis

by 3 Comments
Feb
21
2012
endoo

It's true that when you get a serious illness, co-morbid illnesses always follow. Now I also have to fight like a girl for Endometriosis.  I didn't see it coming, as I had seen so many doctors for my pelvic pain and had been dismissed (probably for being a girl who presents with a large number of illnesses...).  Finally, I went to a surgeon, who is the only doctor who deals with sexual problems on the side of his main practice in the area.  I went in expecting sexual therapy advice, and instead, he listened to me and immediately scheduled me for surgery. I rarely listen to my answering machine messages, so I found out on a Wednesday that my surgery was going to be Friday morning.  It was probably better like that, as I would have had too much time to think about the situation otherwise.  I came out of surgery in extreme pain and once the doctor came around he told me that there was indeed a reasonably serious case of endometriosis causing my pelvic pain.  I normally … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CFS, Endometriosis, Fibromyalgia

Understanding the Other Side

by 7 Comments
Jan
30
2012
On_the_Other_Side_

 When you are first diagnosed with Endometriosis it’s hard to understand exactly what’s going on in our bodies but even harder is when you try to explain it to someone else. You can give them a list of symptoms - painful periods, Pain with bowel movements or urination, Excessive bleeding, the list could go on but for the most part that is a huge chunk of it. One of the worst things is getting that look that says you’re a wimp and then “Well I have heavy painful periods too.” So how do you tell your family and friends why yours is different? And how do you explain it in a way that will make them see what you’re going through? The first thing is you have to know what Endometriosis is. If you’ve been diagnosed with it then your doctor has already explained it but just to remind you, here is what the Mayo Clinic defines Endometriosis as- “Endometriosis is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the … [Read more...]

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”Living” with Endometriosis

by 4 Comments
Jan
27
2012
Living with Endometriosis

Before you go running for the antibacterial wipes I just want to let you know that I’m not contagious. What I have is not catching. What I’m about to relay will not travel through your computer’s innards as a deadly Trojan virus or spread through the air like an uncovered sneeze. It’s called stage IV endometriosis and according to the information traffic jam, over 70 million women around the world live with it every day and, I’m guessing another 50 million or so women don’t even know they have it. Those women are probably lying on the bathroom floor right now, gritting their teeth, clutching their wombs while saying, “What the F*ck!?” and praying for the strength to live through the next couple of days. So what is endometriosis? I usually tell people, strictly out of exhaustion, that it’s a “girlie” disease. This comes from being raised in a household where you don’t talk about stuff like this. If by some circumstance of extreme horror a particularly cute … [Read more...]

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A New Year, A New Hope for a Cure.

by 7 Comments
Dec
27
2011
fireworkds

I want to talk about the battle that you go through and the hard decisions you have to make when you are living with Endometriosis. As we face a new year my resolutions are simple. Take care of myself, fight with all I have against this disease and pray for a cure. My Christmas was filled with wonderful family and a caring boyfriend who made it very special. I am in recovery from my third surgery that I had on December 12, so it was a little altered and I was limited on what I could do. I haven’t posted about the surgery and the things I’ve been through leading up to it because I was having a very hard time with the thoughts of going through it again. About two months ago I went back to my doctor to figure out the next step in what we should do. I had a very bad reaction to the last treatment we had tried, birth control/hormone therapy. So it was at the point of having to have surgery again because the treatments hadn’t helped and it was still growing very … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Endometriosis Tagged With: , , ,

Cookies, Cakes and Endo, OH MY! Surviving the Holidays

by 2 Comments
Nov
28
2011
cupcake

   It’s that time of the year! The holidays! As I type and I was thinking of all you wonderful ladies out there. I think this time of the year is wonderful. It’s one of my favorite times but it can also be one of the hardest. You get busy and feel like there’s not enough time in the day, even more so then usual. You’re going from family members’ house to family members’ house and during this time it can be easy to forget to take care of yourself.  From cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving to opening the presents on Christmas, this time can really take it out of you. So how do you survive the holidays with Endo? Well first you have to pace yourself. I know you know this already, so do I. But putting what we know into action sometimes is a little different.  We want to be the super women and make the holidays great and fun for everyone and in the middle of it all we forget that we can’t do everything all at once and to take care of ourselves. This goes … [Read more...]

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The Stages of Grief

by 15 Comments
Oct
28
2011
grief

I'm taking a subject that wasn't what I had originally planned on writing about but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it's something that I need to share with all of you. The subject is grief. When we think of grief we usually associate that with dying, but that’s not the only time grief happens. You go through the stages of grief when you go through something traumatic, when you've lost something of value or when you've been diagnosed with a life changing disease.  Grief comes in five stages, they usually come in an order but sometimes you can be in stage 4 and revert back to stage 1 or something like that but either way you go through them. This past semester in college I had a class and we were discussing the stages of grief and my teacher pointed out that it didn't just mean for people that were dying or that had loved ones die. After I read about it in my textbook I realized that I had been through the grief stages more than once. Stage 1- … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Endometriosis Tagged With: , , ,

When You Feel Like Your World Has Fallen Apart

by 30 Comments
Oct
16
2011
Fighter

Hi everyone! I’m Rachel and I fight Endometriosis.  As a new Power Writer for FLAGC I thought I would just do an introduction and tell you my story so you can get to know me a little :) At age 12 I started having horrible stomach pain to the point I could be walking and suddenly drop to my knees. My mom took me to my pediatrician and she couldn’t find anything so I went on ignoring it until after a few months it went away. When I was 16, I started having the pains once again.  At this point I was finishing up my senior year of high school. My mom had just been through a thyroid storm that had lasted over a year, nearly killing her and she was still recovering. For several months I ignored it and played it down to my family.  At first it was something I felt I could handle. I figured I would just ignore it and it would go away. It didn’t and swiftly got worse. It got to the point that it would hit me so hard I would be down on my knees. My mom took me back to my … [Read more...]

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When a Hysterectomy Isn’t A Cure

by 9 Comments
Jul
09
2011
Hysterectomy Not Enough

I am pretty certain when I went in for my total hysterectomy three years ago, I thought that I was going in for my final surgery (barring family genetics eventually requiring my gallbladder to be removed). To be clear, I do not consider a hysterectomy a cure for endometriosis in any way, shape, or form but I was hoping for at least some permanent relief since we took it all. I would have even taken going back to a semi-normal life versus the full normal that existed before my diagnosis. However, that is not how my story goes. I did find some relief after surgery. Not having periods was a huge plus. I still battled fibromyaliga and GI issues, that would later be diagnosed as Celiac disease but for awhile I was feeling better. Once we got my Celiac under control, I was able to start running again and I lost 30 lbs. Things were definitely looking up! Then August 2010 arrived and all of the familiar pain of endometriosis returned. The cramps, bloating, and stabbing pains became a … [Read more...]

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Preparing for Surgery

by 5 Comments
May
23
2011
Surgery Checklist

Dealing with any disease is stressful and challenging. The doctors appointments, medications, and sick days are common fixtures in our lives. Unfortunately with endometriosis, surgery often happens more than once throughout a warrior's lifetime with the disease. At this point, endometriosis can only be officially diagnosed through a diagnostic laparoscopy. Facing an incurable illness diagnosis is scary enough on its own but when it is accompanied by surgery, it can be a stressful and frightening time. When I was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 22, I had never had surgery before. I had only been in the hospital as a very young child for a bad case of the flu and only have vague memories of the experience. So when my doctor discussed the prospect of surgery, I was incredibly scared. I was hours away from home. I had only known this doctor for a couple weeks. The thought of anesthesia terrified me thanks to an article I had read once in high school anatomy class. Needless to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Endometriosis

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month!

by 9 Comments
Feb
28
2011
endo awareness month

National Endometriosis Awareness Month is upon us once again! If you are anything like me, you may wonder, what on earth does it mean and how can I be a part of it? Granted it is not like October where every venue you enter is flooded with pink and where the general public has an understanding of what the pink ribbon stands for, but that does not mean we cannot make a difference! Here are some easy ways to get involved in Endo Awareness Month this March: Sport a yellow shirt on Yellow Shirt Day which takes place on March 1st and ask your friends and loved ones to do the same! What if we were able to flood the month of March with yellow the way October is saturated in pink? Would Congress then take notice and raise funding so that we can find a cure? Sport an Endometriosis Awareness Shirt as often as possible the rest of the month (and year)! Fight Like a Girl has an amazing selection of kickin' shirts for endo warriors like you and me. I don't know if there is a stigma attached … [Read more...]

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