Happy Endometriosis Awareness Month!
This month we are going to be focusing on other women's stories to spread awareness and get others motivated to take action! This post is going to be focusing on Triana, I do not personally know Triana, but her story is one that really hit home and I am so glad a mutual friend of ours brought her story to me. Like me, Triana is still figuring out her path and in the middle of her journey as well. I hope we can meet one day and share war stories on a couch with a heating pad. Thank you for sharing your story with us Triana!!
This is Triana:
All my life I’ve had painful and abnormal periods. My menstrual cramps were so intense Tylenol, ibuprofen, and Advil barely helped. Every month it just seemed to get worse and worse. My cramps would paralyze me to where I couldn’t get out of bed and I would call out of work. My flow was so heavy that last for a solid 7 days and sometimes if I was lucky I get my period Twice a month! (Insert sarcasm here) I have to change myself more frequently than normal. I get migraines the week before my period comes or during. One time my migraine was so bad I had to go to urgent care to get a shot because over the counter medicine wasn’t working. I get extremely constipated to the point where it is uncomfortable to sit and I get really nauseated and dizzy and lightheaded. All of this is just because I’m a woman and this is natural and part of life? Well what I experience each month ISN’T normal. Finally I took myself to the doctor because I needed answers. I know that what happens to me monthly isn’t normal. Well Four years ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis.
What is endometriosis? Well it a serious medical condition that women unfortunately experience and I just so happen to be one of them. Which means the endometrial tissue is displaced from my uterus. “The tissue follows the rules of the body’s menstrual cycle by thickening, breaking down and bleeding.” Since it’s not located in the uterus it becomes trapped and doesn’t come out. Which means painful periods! Finally an answer to my problem. I’m not crazy or over dramatic. Yes I got my answer but at the same time this sucks!
When I scheduled my doctors appointment with my OBGYN I was so overwhelmed, nervous and emotional and honestly I didn’t want to go because I knew she would tell me something I didn’t want to hear. When I was there she was asking questions about my period and then asking me about sex, and I’m not going to lie I felt really awkward talking to a stranger about my sex life. “Does it hurt when you have intercourse?” Um…yes. I start feeling pain before and a little during. This was actually the icing on the cake for me to finally go to the doctors because sex is supposed to feel good and be fun and for me a person with endometriosis sometimes it just wasn’t and didn’t feel good. It put kind of a strain on my relationship because my boyfriend at the time would think I wasn’t attracted to him or I was cheating and so when my doctor explained to me that this is part of endometriosis it all made sense.
I remember this doctor visit like it was yesterday but at the same time the things we talked about are such a blur. When she told me I instantly bursted into tears (I was researching on webMD before the appointment one of my worse trades) because I want to have children. I want to be a mom and with endometriosis sometimes you can’t or it’s just really really hard and that broke my heart. Plus hearing all the things they could do to me to help me was to much and it’s SUPER risky and too much to hear / handle. Shooting me with medicine to trick my body into having early menopause at 25 years old um no thanks I’ll pass. There was talk of a surgery and birth control, which were both no’s for me . People always say to me just get on birth control it fixes everything! Funny thing about that I’ve been on 6 different birth control pills all of them weren’t for me, my body wasn’t a fan so no it doesn’t fix everything. The surgery option I just don’t want to take any chances especially because I haven’t even tried to have children yet so if I actually can I don’t want to ruin that with surgery. So I was prescribed Vicodin for my periods. Which I can only take while I’m at home. If I’m at work or out and about I take 4 Aleve and hope for the best.
Endometriosis really sucks. I wish I didn’t have it but I do and I have to try and make the best of it as weird as that sounds. I really don’t like talking about it because Sometimes I feel judged by others. Sometimes when I explain myself the response I get is “so you just get bad periods?” Like it’s no big deal. Or “I wouldn’t be to concerned about having kids! Your young!” “You’ll be able to have kids! I know someone who has it and they have kids!” “Having bad cramps isn’t bad you just take extra strength medicine” Well I wish it was all that simple. I don’t let myself think about my possibilities of having children or not because I don’t want to be negative. When I’m at that stage in life I’ll tackle that then, But I know my odds. Like I said I don’t really like talking about this but I also feel like if this is talked about more than the more people will get it and understand. The women who do have it
know your not alone, your not dramatic and you got this!
This is my norm. this is what I deal with. This is endometriosis.
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