So what is Endometriosis aka Endo?
Endometriosis is an invisible illness which as described cannot be seen on the outside therefore being difficult for other people to understand. On the outside you look perfectly fine and healthy but on the inside you feel nothing but pain and exhaustion.
Endo occurs when tissue resembling the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, attaching itself to other pelvic and abdominal organs, causing scaring, lesions, adhesions and cysts. Basically every time you have a period the Endo grows.
The only way to see the Endometriosis is through surgery which means the diagnosis process can take an extremely long time. First you'll be sent for blood tests, then scans and a million other appointments and tests before you are offered surgery, but even before you get to this stage doctor and specialists will try to fob you off by saying its depression, it’s all in your head or its just bad period pains, quite frankly their aren't enough doctors aware of Endo because the way you get treated before any tests is disgusting, you are literally made to feel and sound crazy.
Due to the grueling process, it takes on average 8-10 years to be diagnosed, now that's on average. There have been woman waiting 15+ years for a diagnosis while sitting and suffering in pain due to the lack of knowledge and Endo awareness!
I have attached a picture below which also includes facts, figures and symptoms of Endometriosis.
As you can see above these are just a few of the facts and figures that surround Endo, the other unfortunate thing is each surgeon/specialist seem to believe different things and tell you different things. Its not since i started reading more into Endo that i found out the information above. For example my surgeon told me that a Hysterectomy would cure Endometriosis but this isn't true.
Having an invisible illness like Endometriosis is one thing but not getting the correct information from the professionals you put your trust in, now that's scary. Imagine all the woman out there that would have been told the same thing about a Hysterectomy and had the procedure just to find out it wasn't true. Imagine waking up in a lot of pain from the op, going through the recovery period and time off work, loss of earnings etc only to find out you're still going to be in pain because the Endo hasn't gone?
I'l be honest when i was told having a Hysterectomy could cure the illness i thought it made perfect sense. If you remove the source then it wouldn't be able to grow more Endo? I still don't understand it all to be honest, i'm two operations in and i'm still learning as i go.
I decided to write about Endometriosis in the hopes by doing to i can raise much needed awareness for this invisible illness, i hope i can help someone else be diagnosed sooner or just be a person that someone else can relate to.
I will share my Endo story in another post soon as i really wanted this post to be more about the facts, figures and understanding.
Please feel free to share this because even if you do not suffer from any of the symptoms someone else might and by sharing this you’re helping spread awareness which can help save years of pain and suffering for someone else.
Love,
Your Everyday Girl
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