Appendectomy

The removal of the appendix.

Share Your Story: Holly

| Bloomin' Uterus
Text that reads "I have stayed strong. And that's exactly what I'm going to keep doing."

Holly was clinically diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 15 years old,and received surgical confirmation two years later. Now 33 years old (and nine excision surgeries later), she shares her Endometriosis story with us today:

Holly’s Journey: Some would say I was lucky. I was 15 the first time I heard the word “endometriosis”. I had no idea what that meant for me or for my or exactly how unlucky I would be. I was a sophomore in high school and my mom had taken me to my pediatrician because I was missing time from school and complaining of pain and severe nausea surrounding my period. My pediatrician immediately said “That sounds like endometriosis.” and referred me to a gynecologist. I went to the gynecologist and he stated my symptoms were likely endometriosis and decided to put me on a birth control pill to try and help with my pain.

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Endometriosis & the Pancreas

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Diagram of liver, stomach, pancreas, and gallbladder

I’m sitting here going through my very old post-surgery emails and I’ve stumbled upon one from December that made my jaw, once again, drop. A study was published in late 2018 about a woman who was discovered to have an endometrial cyst inside her pancreas…WHAT? It’s super-duper rare.

As usual, this isn’t meant to scare you. Just inform you…

As you know…I’m prone to following studies down rabbit holes and satisfy my curiosity. Today is no different! Read on, dear Reader…read on!

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Endometriosis & the Appendix

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Diagram of the appendix

Here I go again, once more intrigued by Endometriosis growing in odd places inside the body.  Today I’m going to focus on the appendix.  I’ve read that many Warriors have their appendix removed because physicians may confuse Endometriosis pain for the symptoms of appendicitis.  But on Tuesday an article hit my email about Endometriosis growing on the appendix…and I became obsessed.

Please remember: I don’t write this to scare you, or freak you out, or say that all of your right-sided abdominal pain is from Appendix Endo.  Take a deep breath – I like to document these things in case anyone would like to discuss it further with their healthcare providers so they may be aware during surgery.  Appendiceal Endometriosis is considered extremely rare and it is suspected that only 1-3% of all cases of Endometriosis involve the appendix.  But…knowledge is power.

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Share your Story: Nathaly

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Woman standing holding a box that reads "Happy Birthday"

Nathaly was diagnosed with Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, and fibroids when she was 26 years old.  A year later, she shares her story with us.  And, Nathaly will be walking on March 25th with friends and family at our Endometriosis Awareness walk! Looking forward to meeting her ❤

Nathaly’s Journey: My story starts when I was only 11 years old. I often found myself curled up in a ball waiting until I would finally pass out so the pain could be over. My mother was very strict growing up so birth control was out of the question, even if it was for medical purposes.

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Share Your Story: Lakia

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African American woman smiling poolside, wearing a white wrap, holding a glass of ice water, and a stuffed giraffe toy

Lakia was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 29 years old, after suffering with symptoms since the Sixth Grade.  Now she’s 30, living in San Diego, and she’s found our little support group.  I met Lakia just a few weeks after her diagnositic surgery and she’s recently undergone a difficult decision for her second surgery! Lakia has proven to be an amazing and incredibly strong woman, and someone I am proud to call friend.  Her story follows…

Lakia’s Journey: I always thought in my mind that my reality was normal. But what is normal? My first period was in sixth grade. I remember being so excited because I finally felt like a woman! I stuffed my bra everyday, secretly shaved my legs, and wore tinted lipgloss. But that first period felt like a rite of passage. All of the boys will like me now! Little did I know what was ahead…

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Endometriosis & Leg Pain/Sciatica

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Woman soaking in a bathtub. All we see are her legs.
Photo by Elizaveta Dushechkina on Pexels.com

I have heard from several EndoWarriors that they suffer from leg pain; whether it be their hips, upper thighs, or radiating pain down their leg(s).  Today we delve a bit deeper into leg pain complaints and Endo.  Have upper leg pain? Lower back pain? Tailbone pain?  So do a lot of people…but so do a LOT of women with Endometriosis.  A 2011 study surveyed 94 people with Endometriosis.  Of them, 51% complained of leg pain.  Cysts may also be contributing to leg and lower back pain. And although you may have some of these symptoms and think you have sciatic Endometriosis…please be aware that it is considered incredibly rare. And it may just be that your symptoms are a result of pelvic floor muscles being too tight (pelvic floor therapy may help) OR that adhesions and/or Endometriosis has pulled your anatomy out of whack. But, please, do read on:

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Endometriosis & The Bowel

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Diagram of human bowels

As you may know, Endometriosis is not limited to just your reproductive bits & pieces.  It can implant, grow, and fester in many places; the bowel included.  But what does that mean? How do you know if it’s on your bowel?  Today’s blog will go into that…Read on, dear Reader…read on.  Word of warning : I will be using words like fart and poop! Why dance around the subject with flowery words when I feel like I’m a giggly 12-year-old girl?

It is estimated that between 5-15% (and some even doctors guess it’s actually between 3-34%) of women with Endometriosis suffer from Endo on their bowels.  Bowel Endometriosis may affect the colon, the rectum, the large intestine, the small intestine, the colon, or the sigmoid colon.  The implants may be physically located on the bowels, or even just located adjacent to them in areas like the Pouch of Douglas, uterosacral ligaments, or rectovaginal septum. The close proximity of the inflamed and irritated lesions may be enough to induce bowel Endometriosis symptoms.  And these symptoms may also be caused by adhesions pulling or twisting the bowels.

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