Its March, which means its Endometriosis awareness month according to the charity Endometriosis UK. Lets #EndotheStigma!
I know a portion of you follow me because of my endo battles and my now stoma from my recent endo op. And I hope to raise as much awareness for this awful condition as I possibly can.
As some may know, I was OFFICALLY diagnosed with endometriosis in January 2015. However it can take years to be diagnosed!
Flashback to 2014 where I was in severe amounts of pain on almost a daily basis, dealing with insomnia and being physically sick a couple of times each month.
There was one day in particular that really stood out to me and identified the problem.
I woke up in a huge amount of discomfort and pain, I had a sharp jabbing pain in my stomach and I felt really light-headed. I waited around twenty minutes for it to ease and then managed to roll myself out of bed. I started getting ready for work and then I collapsed on the floor and was viciously sick a couple of times (such a lovely sight I know). My body just went into shutdown mode, I couldn’t move for about an hour and I was screaming in pain.
Luckily Joe was still at home and he came rushing through into the bedroom to help (he was an absolute hero cleaning up the mess and holding my hair back when I needed to be sick, such a babe lol). He insisted that I didn’t go into work and also called my doctors to make an emergency appointment.
At this point I was dreading going to my doctors. I previously spoke about my symptoms over the years and got told my periods were normal, it could be constipation or IBS, so I gave up complaining about it and just accepted this was normal.
After speaking to a doctor I hadn’t seen before, I explained my symptoms and she thought it could be endometriosis. So having someone take me seriously was a huge sigh of relief.
Fast forward to now, I have had three surgeries and now have a stoma as my endometriosis cyst got infected and spread to my bowel. I also only have one ovary left.
I’ve recently shared a very personal story on my blog, my battles with infertility, my IVF story. So, have a read of that if you’re curious.
Any who, just thought I’d share how it all started with you all and where I am to date. LET’S #ENDOTHESTIGMA!
You may also be interested in my ‘A Gentle Routine to Pick You Up When You’re Battling Endometriosis‘.
Let’s get social. Follow me on Instagram or Twitter. I’m also on Bloglovin, Pinterest and Youtube.
I’ve been following you since you posted your endometriosis story a few years ago and you are a true warrior and inspiration, what you’ve gone through is challenging but you’re always so positive on Insta, so we’ll done you. Xx
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Aww, what a sweet comment, thank you so much Lou. x
I love that you’re raising so much awareness of this as I didn’t know an awful lot about it before x
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Thanks Siobhan! A lot of people don’t know about this awful condition. x
I too have endometriosis, I understand and relate to everything that you wrote about in here, especially the period before the diagnosis. I hope you are doing well sweetie!
Danielle xx
https://www.thereluctantblogger.co.uk/
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Ah do you. I don’t actually know that many people who have it, apart from ones I follow on Instagram. It’s an awful condition, hope it doesn’t give you too much trouble lovely. x
It’s such an awful condition and one that a lot of people are not aware of, or even if they are a lot of people think it’s just painful periods. I don’t suffer with Endometriosis but I’ve heard it can be quite difficult sometimes to get a diagnosis as well.
I’m sorry that you have suffered with the condition and that it has had such a profound effect on your life. There definitely needs to be more awareness of the condition.
I hope that when you choose to go through another round of IVF, things work out for you. xo
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Thank you for such a lovely comment Sarah. It’s true, it takes years to be diagnosed! It took roughly 5-6 years for me.
I hope so too. It won’t be for a while before we try for IVF again. But feeling hopeful. x