My Story
It took ten years to get a name for my pain
I’ve been fighting endometriosis for over two decades. But for the first ten years, I didn’t have a diagnosis: I just had pain, and a growing list of people telling me it was something else, or nothing at all.
Before anyone said the word “endometriosis,” here’s what I was told instead:
What I was told for years
- “You just need to get pregnant.”
- “You’ll probably never get pregnant.”
- “It’s just IBS.”
- “Maybe it’s in your head. Have you thought about seeing a psychiatrist?”
It took one doctor to finally say the word that changed everything: endometriosis.
Since then, I’ve had three laparoscopies and been on more birth controls than I can honestly count. I’ve learned this disease from the inside out: the good days, the “why-can’t-I-stand-up-straight” days, and everything between.
But here’s the thing I want you to hear most: I haven’t lost hope. I genuinely believe that a cure, or at least a way to diagnose this years earlier, will exist within my lifetime. And if sharing what I’ve been through helps even one person get there faster, it was worth telling.
If you’re somewhere in the middle of your own fight right now: you’re not dramatic, you’re not exaggerating, and it is not all in your head. Keep going. Ask the next question. Bring the list.
With hope, Sheree