Let's Chat Endometriosis | My journey to finding answers
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Let's Chat Endometriosis! Join me on my journey to finding answers. It may have taken years but I believe this video will inspire you. It will remind you to never give up on yourself and your inner knowing.
With Love,
Rachel
✽ Let's Connect
Instagram: / simplyrachelobare
Website: www.livingsimp...
Music: @ @epidemicsound
Filming: All footage is captured by me
⊹ tags: Let's Chat Endometriosis, let's talk endometriosis, endometriosis, endometriosis journey, life with endometriosis, endo warrior, Healing journey, slow living, living slowly ⊹
"Let's get into it"'
That was absolutely brave, thank you for persisting and advocating for self! You are so magical and mystical, you don't hold back for anything
Thank you! No one but you can advocate for what you need.
My gynecologist wouldn’t listen to me when I told him I thought I had endometriosis 40 years ago. Only when pursuing infertility and having a laparoscopy that he diagnosed it, luckily for me he sent me to a reproductive endocrinologist. I had a 6 hour surgery for stage IV endometriosis in December 1989, removing my left ovary, left fallopian tube and 3/4 of the tight ovary. I had so much scar tissue my uterus was glued to my bowels. He said he was as conservative as possible so I could still try to conceive, most likely with help and artificial insemination. Within two months I was miraculously able to conceive on my own and was blessed with my daughter. I refused to go back to that gynecologist and found a new one, if he had done the surgery I know I would have had a full hysterectomy. I’m glad you found the path you needed, there’s no excuse in 2024 to have to fight for this diagnosis.
Doesn’t a hysterectomy cure it?
No there is actually no cure for endometriosis. There is so much we do not know about this disease and science really needs to catch up.
suffered from this for so many years
I am so sorry. It is truly such a painful disease!
Thanks for sharing. I'm just generally interested in chronic health journeys due to my own. And the failures of the medical system are kind of a ubiquitous subject these days.
I hope you feel better from here on out!
Thank you! The systems are most definitely not designed for understanding chronic health issues especially for women. May everyone suffering find relief
Hello! Thank you for sharing your story.
The past 5 months my periods had been worsening and I went to see my OBGYN the second day of my period, the day my pain became critically debilitating. I was lucky enough to get an appointment that day and I told her I likely was suspecting it was endo, and she agreed. She gave me the option to go back on birth control (I had been off of it for 3 years now (I'm 27) but was taking it from the age of 17 - 24) , do the surgery, do GNRH anatogists, or consider family planning. I am really lucky that at the point that this has been the worst I was able to see a doctor who immediately agreed with me and didn't dismiss my symptoms.
This is all super ironic because I am a fourth year medical student graduating medical school in 2 months (I'll be a D.O.). I applied OB/GYN and have always had sympathy for endometriosis patients because I felt like it sounded so painful and chronic. Now, I am dealing with getting back on birth control, dealing with chronic pain, and considering when the right time to have a family would because I might have fertility troubles.
While I want to do surgery, I am afraid they'll say they found nothing and then I'm stuck with this pain without an explanation. I also feel like if they don't find anything my doctors will think I'm essentially crazy of the pain is 'all in my head'.
It's wild because up until this past year I had no other symptoms of endo and it all hit me like a ton of bricks (fatigue, rectal pain, sciatic pain, stabbing hot knife feelings multiple times a day). I have had weird symptoms since I was 21 of unexplainable joint pain and bad IBS though and I think it could all be correlated. While I wouldn't wish this on anyone, I am reassured to be apart of a community with really strong women. Ultimately, I think the silver lining is that I know I will be a doctor that takes womens pain seriously, always bring up the possibility of an endo diagnosis, and have the lived experience to share with patients.
I am sorry you're going through this but I hope to be the type of doctor that you needed years ago!
For the peanut gallery:
Endo is a kind of excess cellular replication (or growth) similar to cancer or cysts?
Except it's a normal human (female) tissue type normally only found in the uterus?
From one endometriosis survivor to another, I love, love, love this! Thank you for raising awareness around this topic and encouraging women to advocate for themselves. I too had a similar experience. I was having severe back pain every other month around ovulation. I tracked it and did the research and came to my doctor saying I believed I had an endometrial cyst on one of my ovaries. My concerns were dismissed. I ended up changing my diet with kept the pain at bay for a year, but it came back with a vengeance. Finally, the doctor ordered an ultrasound which showed a grapefruit-sized endometrial cyst that required a complicated surgery. Trust your inner knowing and don't stop until you get answers! I'm so glad you got your answer and are on the road to recovery!