Hope After Loss: Baby Steps

I’m back! It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote a blog. We have had a lot going on the last couple of weeks in our fertility journey and I want blogging to remain fun for me, so I needed to relax mentally as much as possible the last couple weeks. So this week I am going to talk about endometriosis. I want this blog to be informative. After this blog, you guys will be on this journey with me. I have been very nervous about sharing in real-time, but after lots of prayer, I feel like it is what God is calling me to do.

For now, let’s talk endo. I feel like that word is thrown around a lot in the fertility world and reproductive health. However, it is not always discussed correctly. Now, here is my disclaimer—— I am not a doctor. I am sharing what I have learned. Everyone is different. I encourage you to reach out to your doctor with any questions. If you disagree with them, find a new one!

So what is endometriosis? To put it simply, it is when uterus-like tissue grows outside of the uterus. It can cause severe pain. It can grow in various areas, your pelvic cavity, ovaries, bowel, diaphragm, and other places.

Why am I talking about it? Well, believe it or not, endometriosis is a huge contributor to infertility and miscarriage. Remember, several weeks back I told you I had surgery for endometriosis. I had it removed from several areas and it was considered “deep infiltrating endo.” A lot of people asked me if I knew I had it. The short answer is no. I had one doctor mention it to me when I was in college, but they told me nothing could be done about it. I never thought about it again. Yes, my cycles were awful. I usually had severe cramping and pain. I had horrible GI upset. However, I never complained because I just assumed this was “normal”. It was something I had dealt with my whole life.

When I started seeing my new doctor, who specialized in NAPRO technology, my eyes were opened. (side note, if you’re battling infertility I highly encourage you to look into NaPro.)

So, if no one has told you pain on your cycle is abnormal. GI upset is abnormal. I don’t want to go into too many details, but if you have questions about something, reach out. Now that I have had surgery, I don’t even feel my cycle.

Facts

Endo can only be diagnosed by surgery

Excision is far better than ablation. Excision removes. Ablation just burns.

Taking a drug to stop your cycle may alleviate symptoms, but does not TREAT endo.

Lupron is not a treatment for endo. (shocker, I know.)

There are surgeons who specialize in endometriosis.

I hope this didn’t bore you too much, but I had no idea about half of this. I had so many symptoms of endometriosis and even after 4 losses, it was not brought up to me until I switched to a doctor who specialized in it. My goal is to spread awareness of a condition that is so misunderstood. If you have any concerns about having it, please do your research and make sure it’s a reliable source.