Stephanie M's Story

7 Years

It all started when I was 13, a year after I first started getting my period. I would go home from school, my uniform soaked in blood and in unbearable pain. Every doctor would tell me ‘it will regulate in about a year’.  A year later, I ended up in hospital with horrible cramping in my stomach to the point where I couldn’t walk and was crouched over – I ended up going home with no answers. I was put on the pill to help ‘regulate’ my period at 14, making me moody and extremely down. I left it for the next 4 years because every single doctor or specialist I went to would tell me ‘it’s just how your body is’. I always knew there was something more. I ended up on the pill again at 17, mid cycle I was getting my period, I’d skip my period and still get it. It took a toll on my first real relationship, but also impacted the way I felt about myself and life in general.

The second gynaecologist I went to was amazing, so supportive and willing to do whatever she could to help me find out what was wrong with me, urging me to book my laparoscopy. August last year, 7 years after my journey started, I had the surgery and I did, in fact have endometriosis all over my uterus. Although it may not be as severe as other cases, endometriosis impacted my life in so many ways and continues to impact my life. I found mine early, but I urge every female who feels that something isn’t right to please see a specialist.
#endometriosisawareness