Miscarriage

Conceiving a child can be difficult enough with Endometriosis, but many EndoWarriors have suffered miscarriages and lost their baby.

Share Your Story: L. George

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Text that reads "I am not sure what to do next."

L. George was diagnosed when they were 25 years old. Today, at 52, they share their arduous journey with us.

L.’s Journey:   This is really tough to tell, as I have suffered with this awful disease for so long. I barely used to notice my periods in high school. Then, around age 21, the pain became so unbearable, but I just thought it was normal period pain. I never believed in going to doctors or taking any kind of pharmaceutical medication for pain. My mom raised me to never take aspirin or go to the hospital, no antibiotics for the frequent ear infections and bronchial infections I seemed to get a lot growing up. It was not uncommon for me to have a high fever (over 105F) as a child and ‘sweat’ it out, after dealing with it for at least a week wrapped in thick blankets to make me sweat. I never took any aspirin, or other OTC for the pain I felt at age 21.

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Inguinal Hernia & Endometriosis

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Inguinal canal in female courtesy of https://www.slideshare.net/vernonpashi/surgical-anatomy-of-the-inguinal-canal

Recently, a study hit my inbox about Endometriosis mimicking an inguinal hernia. So, of course, my interest was piqued and research had to take place! Be warned, though, it’s considered VERY rare. In all the literature I’ve read, only 42 cases have been referenced as being documented inguinal Endo. But when has rarity stopped me from sharing something about Endometriosis? Yeah. Never. Here we go!

What is AN inguinal hernia?

An inguinal hernia is the most common type of hernia (about 70% of hernias are inguinal) and usually manifests as a small lump in the groin area. Both men and women can get inguinal hernias, but it’s apparently more common in men. It occurs if there’s a small hole in your abdominal cavity which allows fat or intestines to seep through, which can a lump or swelling to occur.

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Share Your Story: Pam

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quote: A hysterectomy doesn't resolve endometriosis. I guess I was naive in 1999; were the doctors also?

Pam was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was in her 40s.  Today Pam is 59 years old and shares her story with us

Pam’s Journey:  Long story short, I have 4 grown children after years of infertility followed by 6 miscarriages. I was diagnosed with endometriosis and opted for partial hysterectomy in 1999 due to the heavy periods. I thought that was that.

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Share Your Story: Coby-Lea

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Photo of Coby-Lea sitting on a bench in front of a tree

Coby-Lea was recently diagnosed with Endometriosis at 22 years old.  Living in Northern Rivers, New South Wales, she wanted to share her story with others today.

Coby-Lea’s Journey: My story. Coby-Lea, 22 years old, diagnosed with endometriosis. Since I was 13, I’ve struggled with really extreme ‘period pain’ and abnormal cycles. They’d last for nearly 7 days! They’d be heavy. They’d sometimes have some tissue/clotty stuff. I was 13, I didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, my mum took me to the Dr who then put me on the pill to regulate my cycle and hopefully ease the pain. Fast forward 9 years, I cannot take the unbearable pain anymore. I know myself I am not exaggerating every time I say ‘this is the worst pain I’ve ever had!’. And so, this is where it all begins.

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Share Your Story: Patti

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Brunette woman wearing a white shirt standing up against a wall covered in red and green leaves

Patti was diagnosed with Stage IV Endometriosis when she was 21 years old.  Today she is 52 years young and lives in Ontario, Canada.  She continues to suffer, but holds tightly onto Hope and has a wonderful network of supportive and understanding friends and family.  Fight on, Patti.  Fight. On. ❤

Patti’s Journey: My Endometriosis Journey, By: Patricia Anne Young

One day after school, my friend invited me back to her place for a swim. We got changed, and I told her I’d meet her outside, as I had to use the washroom… little did I know I was about to become a “Woman”. I was 12…

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Recap: PCOS Workshop

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Photos of PCOS presentation event

On December 8, 2016, we had the opportunity to reach out to our local Marine Corps community and teach a workshop about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS.

Background

A few months ago, I received an email from the Marine Corps Community Services Exceptional Family Member Program for the Marine Corps Recruitment Depot/Western Recruiting Region here in San Diego, California.  They wanted to know if Bloomin’ Uterus could coordinate a PCOS Workshop for their interested enrolled members, which included staff, service members, and/or family of service members.  Of course, I jumped at the chance!

I reached out to Dr. Mara Killen, a nurse practitioner at San Diego Women’s Health, my doctor’s office.  The staff at San Diego Women’s Health have been so incredibly helpful in my Endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and journey and I’m so grateful that Dr. Killen agreed to speak at the PCOS presentation.

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Share Your Story : Hailey

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A husband, wife, and two sons standing in a doorway

Hailey lives in Okalahoma.  When she was 22 years old, she received her Endometriosis diagnosis.  Now, over a decade later, she offers some stellar words of advice!!

Hailey’s Journey: I am going to call this the short version because we all know too well that listing every ounce of our story would be more like a novel than a blog post! Looking back I think it’s something I have had issues with for much much longer than my diagnosis.

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Peggy, Roy, & The Endo Inn

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Husband and wife cutting a cake together
Peggy & Roy cutting their birthday cake –  July 2015

You may have heard about Peggy Santa Maria on CBS-TV, LA or read about her in the Contra Costa Times or various online blogs.  I bumped into the CBS-TV LA link, which was aired on their 5pm news on December 25, 2015, and just had to know more about her.  The e-mail address on their site didn’t work, so I reached out to my friend, Margaret, at The Vital Health Institute, who got us in touch.

If you don’t know about Peggy and her husband Roy, they host The Endo Inn.  The what?  As Roy says, “Stay at the Endo Inn while you have your Endo taken out.”  They have converted their guest bedroom into The Endo Inn, a room where a woman and her guest can stay while she recovers from surgery for her Endometriosis, free of charge and for several weeks, if needed.  This includes access to all of the house for cooking, doing laundry, entailing everything that covers “living,” and The Endo Inn becomes “their home.”  Roy and Peggy have been doing this since January 18, 2000.

More about The Endo Inn shortly…but right now I want to focus on the beautiful people behind it:  Peggy and Roy.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Peggy several days ago, spending over an hour on the phone with this purely delightful woman.

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My two cents : sexual abuse and Endometriosis

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A group of women standing next to each other
1 in 5 people born with a uterus were sexually abused as children; 1 in 10 have Endometriosis

As you may recall, last week I shared how I have heard a lot of recent buzz about sexual abuse and Endometriosis sharing a causal link.  As promised, I did some digging to figure this out for myself.  Curious on my opinion?  Read on!  But, please remember : it’s only my opinion.

According to The National Center for Victims of Crime, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are a victim of child sexual abuse.  In 2012 in the United States alone there were 62,939 reported cases of child sexual abuse.  That same year, there were 346,830 reported rapes or sexual assaults of persons who were 12 or older.

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