Going through changes: My endometriosis diagnosis

Since October 2024, my periods changed. There was more pain, sometimes more bleeding, sometimes hardly any bleeding, but the pain had changed. Growing up, my cycles were unbalanced and I always had painful periods and insane mood swings; but this was different.

I went to my annual gynecology appointment last year hopeful. I had faith in my doctor that she would find the problem to this with no issues. I had always liked her when I was younger, and she had tried to help me with my regular period problems.

I presented my issues to her and answered all her questions. She then scheduled an ultrasound and a follow up ultrasound a week or so after. When I heard back with my results, the conclusion was a blood clot "that would soon pass." It was partially accurate, but the blood clot never left my system.

I went on for a few months afterwards with no change except for worsening pain during my periods. I also noticed my bleeding during my period was far less than the pain that accompanied it. It was when I was talking to my nail lady that I realized it was most likely more than just a "blood clot." She referred me to her gynecologist, who got me where I am now.

I went to this new gynecologist open minded, but a little fearful. I knew something was wrong and I knew I needed answers, but I was afraid of what I'd find.

I wasn't completely wrong to be scared. I explained everything to my new doctor and she seemed confident that I had endometriosis, but didn't want to jump to conclusions. Endometriosis is when tissue grows abnormally outside the uterus in areas it doesn't belong typically. It is diagnosed through a laparoscopy surgery, but before that she did want to do an ultrasound to make sure it wasn't cysts or something that can be seen through imaging.

The pap smear and ultrasound results came back. Nothing abnormal except for that blood clot that never went away and the size that it'd grown to. This was both good and bad news, as it meant nothing was wrong that could be seen initially, but the next step for me if I wanted answers was surgery.

So I scheduled it for as soon as possible. With scheduling this procedure came lots of fear, nights of overthinking, and the strongest restraint a person has ever had to playing doctor Google.

I heard many things of endometriosis, good and bad alike. I've met some with the worst case scenarios, and I've heard of others who live their lives as everything were normal. As much as I tried to fight it, I had to think of the bad things and have the hard conversations. I am so grateful for my ever-supportive family, friends, and future husband.

I am currently a few days post-op. My doctor was able to drain the blood clot and found a large amount of endometriosis. From what I was told after the anesthesia wore off, she compared it to using dull scissors on paper trying to cut the endometriosis out. She succeeded, thankfully. She said I shouldn't have any problems with reproduction or pregnancy for whenever I decide to start my own family. I was so relieved. I am so relieved. My post-op appointment is in a week or so, and I should have more answers after the pathology results come in, but until then I'm focused on recovery.

Update: I am now just over four weeks post-op. Pathology did come back as endometriosis. I've learned that this is a chronic illness, surgery doesn't solve the problem. Surgery, birth control, pregnancy, all those ideas are just band aids. This has been a tough realization for me, but I'm coming into acceptance of it. I'm still learning about my disease and making life changes due to my diagnosis.