colonoscopy

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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Endometriosis in Captive Critters?

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monkey in a tree
Female Mandrillus Sphinx

So we’ve previously read about a German Shepherd being diagnosed with Endometriosis. Today we’re going to talk about Mandrills (a form of primate that used to be considered a Baboon) who had been diagnosed with Endo. I’ve read a lot of previous studies where Endometriosis was purposely implanted into critters for study and dissection, but these primates weren’t for study.

There was a study from 2012 about a Mandrill that had died after showing signs of weakness and peritoneal bleeding.  Upon autopsy they found her uterus was covered in blood clots and it was stuck to her ovaries and pelvic wall.  The biopsy confirmed she had Endometriosis.  This is considered the first confirmed case of Endo in a Mandrill.

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Share Your Story : Alexandra

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Woman with brown hair wearing a shirt that reads "Fight like a (yellow ribbon) girl."

Alexandra is a fellow blogger out of Brisbane, Australia.  Today she share’s her Endometriosis journey with us.  She was diagnosed when she was 20, and now five years later here she goes, starting us out with a *bang*:

Alexandra’s Journey: “Uterus.” There, I said it! Uterus! Periods. Ovaries. Fallopian Tubes. Bleeding. Tampon. Rectum. Hormones. Bladder. Cervix. Menstruation. Vagina. Discharge. Pelvis. Pads. Endometriosis. Awkward.

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Share Your Story : D.M.

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D.M. was 37-years-old when she was diagnosed with Endometriosis.  Nearly three decades later, she tells us her story.

D.M.’s Journey:  Ovarian cysts removed on both ovaries in my mid twenties. By 37 I had Exploratory surgery to discover why I was infertile, and they discovered endometriosis and the ovaries had adhered to the bowel. The surgeon cleared out the area and wrapped the ovaries this time. Since then I have had colonoscopies and polyps removed. This last time, I’m 64 now, they biopsies the polyps and discovered endometriosis tissue inside the bowel.

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I want to send a special Thank You out to D.M. for being brave enough to share her personal story with us today.  You are a beautiful, brave, and strong woman.  Thank you!!! We are sorry they’ve found it within your bowel, but hope that you are no longer in pain or suffering from your symptoms.

And if YOU would like to share your story, you can do so by clicking here.  The best part about this disease is the strong network of love and support from our fellow EndoSisters, and our friends and family, too.

Yours, Lisa.

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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Share your Story : Sarah

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Sarah’s symptoms began when she was 13 years old…but her diagnosis not until she was 34! Why not? How is that possible?  It happens more than it should…curious? Read on, Dear Reader, read on.

Sarah’s Journey:  I don’t think I’ve had a single day where my female reproductive organs were active and NOT pissing me off. I got my period one day in summer when I was thirteen years old. And it just … didn’t stop. For the first year of my menstruating life, I bled for 25 days out of thirty. It was ridiculous, and led to me having anemia and needing fluids almost all the time. My well meaning GP at the time said my body was just “adjusting”.

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Share Your Story : Angela

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A woman with brown hair wearing glasses

Angela was 29 when she found out she had Endometriosis.  Now 32, she continues to have pain and problems, despite several excision surgeries.  She lives in Darwen in the United Kingdom and she and her fiancé are the proud and happy parents of their fur-baby, Alfie. They continue to push on and live, despite these difficulties.

Angela’s Journey: I’ve always struggled with painful and heavy periods since the age of about 14. I was used to going months without one and then the floodgates would open and the Hell would start again. When I was 18 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. To be fair I was quite lucky with my symptoms. Yes I put on weight but thankfully I didn’t develop excess hair. It was manageable. I was prepared for potential fertility issues but I wasn’t overly concerned. And then it all went wrong. So so wrong.

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Dead at 27

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A young woman and her dog

A Swedish friend of mind sent me an article about a Swedish gal, Emelia, who died in 2011 due to complications of Endometriosis, and (more importantly) the neglect of her physicians.  Google translate gave me the gist of it.

Emelia was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 21 years old, among the usual places it was also found on her intestines.  In 2010 (she was approx. 26) she had been suffering from severe constipation (sometimes for periods of up to 10 days) which we well know is a symptom of Endometriosis.  Over the next nine months, Emelia saw 32 different doctors. That’s right…thirty-two.  Nobody could resolve her constipation, symptoms, or her pain. She sought referrals to an Endometriosis Clinic at the Uppsala University Hospital in the hopes they could help.  But her referral requests were denied.

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