My name is Andrea and I am a 42 year old woman living with endometriosis.
It started in 2006 when I was diagnosed with Cervical Dysplasia stage 3 and underwent a LETTZ procedure. After the cancerous cells were removed I went on to live life. I didn’t have heavy periods and they only lasted a couple days but I did get severe lower back pain and crippling cramps. I continued to see doctors but was always just prescribed pain killers. It wasn’t until around 10 years later when I saw a Gynaecologist.
In 2016 I underwent a Laparoscopic & Endometriosis procedure which is when they diagnosed stage 3 deep infiltrative endometriosis and adenomyosis and I underwent surgery.
I didn’t notice much improvement in the following year so I went back and underwent another surgery.
Again this didn’t improve things so it was suggested a Mirena would be a good long term option to help with the pain. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful as they could not place the Mirena due to my body rejecting it and causing more pain.
Finally in June 2019 it was recommended I get a Hysterectomy so I underwent a total laparoscopic hysterectomy with bilateral salpingectomy but kept my ovaries so I wouldn’t go into early menopause.
Recovery was long and had an impact on my mental health and relationship. As a woman you never want to lose the parts of you that make you a woman. That was my thinking at the time and it took me a long time to accept it.
To this day I still get cramps in my ovaries and severe lower back pain. It’s just a matter of managing my lifestyle the correct way to help lessen the pain and stress on my body.
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