Battle with Endometriosis

What drew your attention the most from the title?

Athlete or Endometriosis? Or Both?

Well yes I am an athlete who’s heavily involved in the bodybuilding world. I’ve been training for the past four years and competed once. Why once? Well believe it or not, even being 26 years young, I encountered many health issues that prohibited me from pursuing a course that I wanted to take. That course involved me becoming a Pro Bodybuilder. I still have that goal in front of me, but I first need to take care of my health. I endured a debilitating disease that has put my body into never ending pain… Endometriosis! What the heck is that? Trust me, I never heard of this until I was told by a Doctor. For male readers, be prepared for some gory description. Endometriosis only affects females, so no need to worry….

Endometriosis

This is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus—the endometrium—grows outside your uterus. Endometrial tissue is shed each month during menstruation. This tissue, that is displaced, sheds and bleeds as well, but has no way to exit the body, so it becomes trapped. The surrounding tissue or organ can become irritated, and can eventually develop scar tissue and adhesion. Endometriosis has been reported to be found in the liver, brain, lung, intestines and etc. It can become severe and lead to complications if not treated. There are no specific treatment for Endo but there are some ways we can lessen the pain. The cause of endometriosis is unknown. And guess what, there’s no cure to this condition. Symptoms of Endo are: painful, heavy, and long periods, nausea, fatigue, pain in the lower abdominal, bloating, irregular bowel movements, and even infertility. Endometriosis is known as the “hidden” disease, because it’s not found with normal Ultrasound, Cat-Scan and Blood Work. A surgical procedure needs to take place in order to discover the scar tissue, and either burn it or completely remove it depending on the severity (“Endometriosis – Symptoms and causes,” 2018).

“You have this? I wouldn’t even know. You look healthy and you’re always happy.” I get this a lot! Many see me, and notice that I look healthy, fit and strong. I do try to be but internally I’m fragile. I’ve been in and out of the hospital all my life but not as frequently in the past two years. I have a history in developing cyst within my ovaries:

At the age of 15, I had surgery done to remove a cyst from my right ovary because the cyst was about to twist. I needed to go in quickly before it caused complications.

At the age of 20, I was hospitalized for a week for having Mono, Liver Failure and Spleen Enlargement. It took me two months to recover and get back to great health.

At the age of 22, I kept getting reoccurring cyst in my ovaries that caused pain that radiated to my side.

At the age of 23, I had those cysts ruptured three times in one year. Yeah I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. That alone put me out for 2-5 days max from the gym.

Fast Forward to 2015-2017, I honestly had enough. I kept going back and forth to Specialists, Doctors, Nurses. They do the same routine, and put me down for Cat-Scan, Ultrasound, Blood Work, and etc. Prescribe me painkillers and muscle relaxants. If you look in my drawer, you would think I ran my own pharmacy. It came to the point where doctors will say, “Everything is NORMAL.” Um no, it’s not! If you don’t see any cysts, and if tests keep coming back normal, then explain to me why am I in so much pain!!!

I discovered Endometriosis at one of my hospital visits. A nurse pointed out to me that I may have this condition. After doing research, I discovered that every symptom on that list was exactly what I was experiencing. I booked an appointment with an OBGYN and told the doctor that I may have this condition. He immediately dismissed it and had me go on an extreme treatment.

Treatment

The treatment I was on was called Lupron Depot. It’s a treatment, range between three months or six month cycles, used for prostate cancer in men and management of Endometriosis for woman. This works by reducing the amount of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) produced in the body. In women, these hormones are responsible for promoting ovulation, and regulating the menstrual cycle. Lupron effectively puts your body into a drug-induced menopause (Norman, 2016).Yes you read it right, I was chemically induced to menopause at the age of 24! I was put on Lupron for three months, one shot every four weeks. It was so terrible that I stopped with the second shot. The side effects, just to name a few, included hot flashes, headaches, changes in mood, decreased interest in life, depression, forgetfulness, and restlessness. It came to the point where I didn’t want to live anymore. I was in more pain than i ever was. After the second shot, it took three months for my hormones and body to level out. I wished I would of done research before I jumped on this treatment. With no luck, I went to see another OBGYN and he wasn’t able to help me. Just like the last Doctor, he dismissed my pain, and gave me a run around. I came to the point where I didn’t know what to do anymore. I was running out of patience, hope and was all alone.

I started doing research on my own and found various support groups on Facebook of those who are suffering from the same disorder. I began to realize that this condition is a lot more common than I thought and most females don’t even know they have it. I wanted to get surgery done because I knew that this is the only way I can have a final diagnosis. But no one wanted to listen to me nor operate on me. I had a fellow Endo Sister who recommended me to a Surgeon that helped her overcome her personal battle with Endo. I quickly booked my appointment. Within a week, I had Hope. This Surgeon was the answer to my prayers! He looked over my history and said, “No the next step is surgery. You’ve been battling for a long time, and we need to get in there and diagnose you.” He made me cry. FINALLY! Someone who listened to me.

Surgery

As of 11/14/2017, I saw my Surgeon that morning and he said he was going to operate on me. It felt like a huge brick was just released from my shoulder. On December 1, 2017, I was scheduled for surgery and the recovery time was short. I didn’t need to stay at the hospital, but was able to go home after I woke up. Let me tell you, as I woke up from anesthesia, I didn’t feel pain. I just felt minor sourness and pain on the places I was operated on. I had three incisions done: one on my belly button and two on the lower region of my pelvic; one on each side. On the first week, I was bleeding heavily and was really scared, because the nurse said I was bleeding abnormally. I was required to follow up with my surgeon after 3 days post surgery, but after the check up, he said that I would heal beautifully. The healing took four weeks for me to be able to start walking and yes, of course, I was eager to get back into the gym. The full recovery was approximately twelve weeks, and I felt that it went really fast. I guess my body bounces back from trauma fairly quickly and I’ve been fine ever since.

So as an athlete, through all of this, I was still going into that gym day in and day out. I always trained like it is my last day on earth. Even when I was in extreme pain I hid it so well, because I didn’t want anyone to know. I always think that people do have it worse than I and their struggle fuels me. If they can do it, so can I. Don’t get me wrong, there are many days where i can’t train for 3-5 days at a time and it just mentally frustrates me. Within this past months alone I was only able to stay at the gym for 45-60 minutes at a time. But I’m OK with that. This is just temporary! Soon enough I will have my two a days of training and be back where I want to be.

Being in the fitness industry is tough, due to the fact that everything is based on your appearance. I am trying to shed a different light that real people aren’t perfect, and I am striving with all my might to make it to the top. I refuse to be like anyone else, because I’m NOT like EVERYONE else. Learn about your true self and make sure you let it thrive. Thanks for reading my story everyone. If you have any questions or wanting some help, I will be more than happy to help you in. Until next time...

2 Days Post Surgery

4 Months Post Surgery