My Endometriosis Story

April 13, 1994

This is the story of How I Came To Find Out That I Have Endometriosis. It's here because it's a big part of who and what I am today, and because it's a little-known disease that I think people, both men and women have to hear about. It's not pleasant, but I feel it's imformative.

I've always had nasty periods, meaning that I bled like Niagra Falls and had horrible cramps. Two or three days after my 18th birthday, I had a really terrible pain in my abdomen, and passed out briefly where I was standing. The EMS took me to the hospital because they thought my apendix had burst or something. At the hospital, an X-ray was taken, nothing was wrong, and I was sent home. A month later, I had an ultra-sound to check for cysts, but, again, nothing was wrong.

The pain continued, with my periods, half-way through my cycle, and exactly five days before my period started. Eventually, I went to the campus gynocologist/nurse, and asked to be put on The Pill, since I'd heard that they made cramps less painful. She asked what my symptons were, and, when I told her, she asked if I'd ever heard of Endometriosis. No, I said, and decided to check it out with my doctor-at-home. So, I went on The Pill.

My gyn-at-home decided that I was too young to have endo. For years, she'd told me that the pain was all in my head, part of growing up, etc. Believe me, when you have this kind of pain, there's no way in hell that it's natural or imaginary. I finally talked her into doing a diagnostic laparoscopy.

A laparoscopy is surgery in which you are put out, a hole is cut into your navel, and your belly is filled with Carbon Dioxide, to make room for the laparoscope (a thin, lighted tube that the doctor can look through). The laparoscope is then stuck into this hole, and the doctor looks around your belly. Well, my doctor looked around, and saw endometrial growths on my pelvic walls and ovaries.

I recently saw slides of what endometrial growths look like. Icky. They're these little brown/black/purple bubbles on one's insides. They're the same tissue at that which lines one's uterus, shedding just like they should, but having no outlet for the tissue and blood. This causes swelling, irritation, and scarring. Hence, the pain.

So, I continued on The Pill, because it kept my periods reasonably light, and kept the pain down. The pain, however, was still pretty overwhelming, so I underwent Lupron treatment. Lupron is a medication that you get injected with once a month for six months, supressing the hormones that release eggs and causing a six-month pseudo-menopause. I got all the cool menopausal hot flashes, moodiness, headaches... so if I pissed you off sometime in the last few months, blame it on that. Anyway, this menopause thang is supposed to destroy the growths... for a while. Endometriosis always comes back, even if it's cauterized. Being a woman's health issue, there is no cure.

This all means that I won't be in overwhelming pain for the next six months, at least, and two years, at most. The growths will come back, and I'll deal with them again then. Right now, though, I'm enjoying being able to function like a normal human being. While it lasts.

Click here to return to the main Endometriosis Home Page.