Hello everyone!!

My name is Keishla, I am a Nursing student. I am currently doing a research paper in school about endo and would really love your help. All I need is for some of you guys to answer 6 questions.

**Everything is completely CONFIDENTIAL and names and anything extremely personal will not be added to my paper**

But first I would like to tell you a little about myself. I first noticed endo signs in my first period when I was 11 years old. For years I was just told that it was all in my head and that it was completely normal to have that pain with periods and lower abdomen pain even after periods. It took years before I even got close to getting an answer. I had a friend that knew exactly what I was going through because she too was experiencing the same thing. It wasn't until she had to get her appendix out when we were sophomores in high school that she finally got an answer as to why she was in pain. That's when they diagnosed her, and she told me about endometriosis. I went to my doctor and spoke to them and that's when they finally told me that it could be a possibility. I met with an endometriosis specialist in Boston where he performed multiple exams and finally did a surgery that then gave me the answers I had been waiting for since I was 11. I wasn't crazy or imagining my pain and he made sure that I understood what was going on in my body. I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 17 years old. I have been in treatment ever since. My current doctor is making sure that I keep up with my treatment to prevent infertility since I am only 23 and one day would like to start a family.

Questions:

1. When did you first experience endometriosis signs/extreme pain with periods?

2. When where you diagnosed?

3. How long did it take for doctors to give you a final diagnosis?

4. What health risk did your doctor warn you about?

5. Are you being treated for endo? Medically? Naturally?

6. What would you tell someone that has just got diagnosed with endo?