I’m Finally Sick: Part I

March 2016 was when I was finally told that I was sick.

Sounds strange right? Let me explain.

I’ve had this excruciating and debilitating pain in my lower abdomen since I was about 9–10 years old. I remember being 12 years old, going out shopping with my grandma when all of a sudden the pain hit me like a truck. My face went white and I immediately hunched over then had to find the nearest bench to sit on before I started to dry heave and get faint. Similar situations like this have been happening for as long as I can remember. I knew it wasn’t normal, something was wrong with my body. I mean, this only happened to me about one week out of the month which happened to be the week of my period and no one else around me seemed to struggle this much. Am I just a wimp? Am I over exaggerating? Well, realistically, no. But, whenever I talked to my doctor he always dismissed my pain no matter how many times I went in to see him about it.

Let’s skip to age 14, I finally get told that I’ve been put on a waiting list to see a specialist, thankfully it was the same doctor who had dealt with other family members medical health. Huge sigh of relief for me. BUT- it wasn’t that easy. A year and a half goes by before I finally get in to see the specialist. When I explain to him what is going on, he tells me completely inaccurate information about the condition, tells me that I’m fine and have nothing to worry about, hands me 6 months of birth control pills and tells me to come back in 5 months. What? No physical? No detailed questions? That was strange but I’ve never been to a specialist so who knows?

Well…that was all wrong.

I missed a lot of school due to this mystery pain and it got worse as the years went on. I felt like I tried everything I could have at the time. I continued to beg my doctor to see a different specialist so I could get some answers. My last year of high school was the worst the pain had been and I had run out of coping mechanisms. Hot baths, heating pads and Midol just weren’t doing it for me anymore. So, by the last semester of school, I turned to the next best thing that helps thin out blood- alcohol. It helped more than the others but that didn’t last long, I was drinking hard liquor just so I could manage to go to class so I would be able to graduate. It was unhealthy and scary, but I made it. I did what I needed to do to get me through it and was able to drop it as soon as that goal was accomplished.

Two days after graduating high school, I got on a plane to move across the country to start my new adventure- which was hopefully a hell of a lot less painful. I guess I must have bad luck because the pain continued to get worse. There was multiple trips to the emergency room because my pain was that severe. I found a women’s sexual health clinic that felt safe and was easy to get to and tried to get help from them. I was on the birth control shot for a year and a half before that method of treatment started to wear thin. For 3 months straight, I was in that hospital at least once a week, I tried more frequent shots, I got a unbelievable amount of physicals and ultrasounds, I even got treated for P.I.D. (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease). Still, this pain just wasn’t going away and I couldn’t get answers. After 7 months, I got a call to see yet another specialist. This time I knew the drill, I knew what I “thought” I had and wouldn’t let them tell me otherwise.

The specialist that I had this time was a lot more empathetic and actually willing to suggest surgery. I went in for surgery and my recovery time took more time than expected but I did it. A month later I go in for my post-operation appointment so they can check my incisions and tell me what they found. The culprit: endometriosis. They found it in 5 different spots around my reproductive organs and burned away all the tissue growth that they could see.

Thankfully, now I have a diagnosis. I can and will be taken seriously, I have a name for my sickness and I can help educate others. Sadly, this is only half of my battle with this incurable condition but for now, my mind is at peace knowing that I have a name for this mystery pain.