My doctor suspects endometriosis because of my extremely painful periods and literally every single woman in my family having to have a hysterectomy because of severe endometriosis. After an IUD I barely notice my periods anymore and I did not struggle as bad as my mother did which is a sign to me, I don’t have it or I don’t have it as bad. They never offered the exploratory surgery to find out. BUT, I was diagnosed with PCOS and that’s a for sure thing, I saw my text book case PCOS ovaries on ultrasound. My struggles with PCOS seem minuscule compared to my mother’s story. As soon as she got her first period she said she was laying on the ground at her mothers feet screaming in pain.

Today we were talking about having babies, endo and PCOS. And I asked her, “didn’t you have the surgery to clear your tubes to get pregnant?”

And she casually told me “oh yes but it wasn’t just to clear my tubes. My Fallopian tubes were tied to my kidneys. My organs were all tied together and they said it was like a spider web and they cleared most of it out, THEN they cut my Fallopian tubes off my kidneys, and cleared the endometriosis out of them. after I healed from the surgery, I was pregnant with you almost immediately. I had no choice, the endometriosis was going to grow back so I had to get pregnant fast. Then 18 months after you were born I was pregnant with your brother.. Then I had to have a hysterectomy and it changed my life. I was living on pain killers before the surgery and having babies.”

She had endometriosis so bad it was detrimental to her LIFE. Her organs being tied together like that would have eventually been fatal if she hadn’t had that surgery to clear it, and then a hysterectomy. Her chance of getting pregnant was low, and her chance of miscarriage was high, but hi. And, I have a brother too.

Endometriosis is actually terrifying. My aunt has a very similar story, and I’m thankful we live in a time with medical advancement and I still have my mom and aunt ❤️