Endometriosis: My Diagnosis and Treatment

The tipping point was June 19, 2015. That Friday morning the pain wouldn't subside. Standing up straight was impossible. Not wanting to call in sick for about the fifth month in a row, I decided to bring a heating pad to work. It was so humiliating to answer "What's wrong, Sarah? Why the heating pad? Did you work out too hard?" Uh, no. My cramps are debilitating... Talk about making a man's face pale!

That day I called my doctor's office to make an appointment. 

Endometriosis is not a death sentence. However, not treating it could kill the one thing I want more than anything: to one day birth a baby of my own. 

It took that Friday after having the heating pad on my abdomen all day; after having to rest in the green room for an hour; after putting on the dress I planned to wear during that night's newscasts -- only for the dress to be too tight because of massive bloating... After all that, I finally called.  The clincher was walking out of the bathroom stall in the dress, and looking at a coworker with panic because the bloat went from my underwire to my pelvic bone.  We got a good laugh.  It looked like I was in the third trimester of pregnancy.  But.  Something.  Wasn't.  Right.

The signs had been there. Why had I let the symptoms go so far? Three months ago, the Executive Producer sent me home because I couldn't stand up straight anchoring the 4:30pm newscast.  Two months ago, I'd vomited during menstruation.  After researching endometriosis, I realized the symptoms weren't recent. They were just recently becoming so bad, being an active member of society wasn't possible for one or two days a month. 

Truly, it was possibly a year and a half after my "lighter" symptoms began: like almost fainting while working out during menstruation.  The yo-yo between constipation and diarrhea.  Stomach gurgling.  Serious. Stomach. Gurgling.  The kind others could hear when they stood two feet away.  That's hot. Pain during sex.  (Inward gasp. Yes, I'm going there.) Fifteen years ago I was told I had a tipped uterus, which may cause pain during sex.  So, when/if things got uncomfortable, I just attributed it to the fact my womb was going the wrong way.  Just today I looked up tipped uterus again, lo and behold guess what?  According to americanpregnancy.org a tipped uterus can occur from scarring as a result of endometriosis.  So what came first, the chicken or the egg?

Endometriosis is something I'd read scripts about in the past.  It is a term I think women have heard of, but don't know too much about.  In going on those medical websites I've learned it's very common.  Especially with women in their 30s and 40s who haven't yet had children. 

So what is it?  Your uterus has a lining.  That mucus membrane is called endometrium.  With endometriosis that membrane somehow gets elsewhere in your body, and attaches to other places/organs.  But once a month, it reacts just how the endometrium inside your womb is acting -- and is anticipating an egg to attach.  When that doesn't happen, the endometrium everywhere in your body "sheds" or bleeds.  But that shedding doesn't escape like the endometrium inside your uterus can, through your vagina, which causes a period.  The endometriosis sheds where it's located and, essentially, is floating around inside your body. (http://1.usa.gov/1GewXKi)

The good news: there is treatment.  My doctor and I have chosen to not do surgery.  Instead, on Monday July 13, 2015 he is going to give me a drug called Depot Lupron.  It will put me into menopause.  At 37 years old I'm going to go through menopause.  On purpose.  Hot flashes and all.  He says Depot Lupron is the gold standard of treatment, and in essence, it's like spraying Round Up on weeds.  Since I won't have a lot of estrogen in my body, that hormone won't feed the endometrium in my body... and the endometriosis that has attached outside of my womb (where it isn't supposed to be) will die, while the endometrium inside my womb can be "restarted." 

So let's go back to why I'm writing this blog.  First, my doctor wants me to journal.  Second, other websites/posts that I've found about "endo" make it sound, well, dramatic.  I want to keep it real.  Want to provide information for those who may be researching it while I continue to simultaneously do so.  And I want a forum.  If you've been through it, please comment.  If I'm freaking out and emotional, please understand.  And thank you, all, for taking the time to read this!

I am not a medical professional.  Do not use this blog for diagnosis. If you have any concerns about your menstrual cycle please call your doctor!