Endometriosis Nightmare Situations

We all know what it is like to dread our periods and the nightmare of trying to plan around them. I am sure we all have some failure horror stories related to our endometriosis. I am going to share a few of my living nightmare worthy incidents to show solidarity.

A funeral bloodbath

When I was 15, one of my great uncles passed away. As my luck would have it, I was on my period the day that we had the funeral and gravesite services. At this point in my life with endometriosis, I already knew to wear a super plus tampon and pad together.

I remember being at the gravesite service and feeling that something was not right. I stood there with my legs firmly pressed together. As soon as the actual service was over, I told my mom that we needed to go immediately. I was lucky to have an understanding mother. When we made it to the car, I looked under my skirt and saw nothing but blood. I apparently made the correct choice that morning when I decided to wear pantyhose. If it were not for the pantyhose, I would have been horribly embarrassed by having blood running down my legs.  We had to stop at a public bathroom so that I could clean up. It was mortifying.

AP Honors test horror

During high school I took Advanced Placement Classes. These AP courses gave the students high school credits and allowed them to take a test on the subject at the end of the semester for the same college credit. I took some of these classes while in high school. A few days prior to the test for statistics, I had a lot of pain going on. The point in my life, I felt like pain was just going to be a big part of my life and I needed to deal with it. Due to this, I went on with my life the best way I could.

As the test started, the proctor and I noticed that I could not hold my pencil steady. My body was shaking uncontrollably. The nurse’s office called my mother, she in turn had my sister come take me to the emergency room. After several different scans, the doctors determined I had a grapefruit size cyst inside of my right ovary. Since I was so used to just ignoring my pain, the cyst caused an infection within my body that managed to get into my blood.

I stayed in the hospital for several days and they put a stent in my arm before sending me home. My mom had to use the stent to give me strong antibiotics a couple times a day. This is one of the ways I learned how dangerous it was to ignore too much pain.

Bone density shortage

After my laparoscopic surgery, my duo of doctors put my on the Lupron Depot injections. Unfortunately, since they did not know what else to do with me, they kept me on these injections well beyond the appropriate amount time suggested. By the time I was transferred to a new doctor, my bone density was drastically diminished. I had to start taking prescription medication to help increase bone strength. These medications and frequent bone scans last for several years before it was determined that I had ‘normal’ bone density again.

I did survive these nightmares, along with other experiences during my endometriosis journey. While they were horrifying and tough to deal with at the time, they have helped make me into the strong woman that I am today.

Have you had any ‘nightmare’ moments due to endometriosis?