Lessons Taught by Endometriosis

After living with endometriosis for almost 20 years, I have learned so many lessons. Some of these lessons are easier to deal with than others. One of the most challenging things I ever had to learn to do was to say no to other people, when it was too much for me - although I do still sometimes mess this one up, mainly because I feel guilt. Despite the difficulty of this, it did show me who I could count on.

Saying no

I distinctly remember sitting in my kitchen floor, with my hands over my head and my knees to my chest, bawling hysterically. My mother had moved away and now everybody expected me to handle everything her and I did together. I worked full time and had to deal with both endometriosis and migraines, alone. I realized in that moment that I was alone. I knew that nobody understanding was going to walk through that door and help me. My body was already telling me that I could not continue along this way of life.

I genuinely had a hard time with learning to tell my family no when they had last minute chores for me to do for them. I clearly remember the first time I did say no. My aunt was supposed to pick up a sun hat for my grandmother for over two weeks. She called me saying she had not gotten one and wanted me to stop everything to go get one. I told her no because that was something she was supposed to deal with for grandma. Let us just say she was extremely unhappy at the time, but she did get over it.

Seeing who stays

Once you get through the struggle of learning to tell people no, you will likely see a decrease in your friend circle. While many people see this as a negative, I do not. I would prefer to have a handful of people who I know will be there for me, then a ton of people who are only using me. I know I have an ultimate friend in somebody when I can call them to take me to the emergency room, especially late at night and they are willing. I will say I have asked somebody to take me before and they had plans, so I was told no.

Staying stocked-up

Another one of my lessons concerned accepting that my period would always be heavy. Unfortunately, the kind of heavy period I had involved bleeding through a super plus pad and tampon (at the same time) in a matter of 45 minutes. The most definitely became a nightmare that I had to figure out.

I honestly never really used make-up bags until my endometriosis caused my periods to be out of control. Obviously, I made sure to carry supplies in my book bag while I was at school. Despite this, I needed to have supplies in other places as well. I made multiple bags with pads, tampons, and some medicine and then left these bags everywhere. I had them in vehicles that I frequently rode in and in the bathrooms of houses I went to regularly.

I know this may seem weird at first, but to me it was something I had to get over being embarrassed about. It is more embarrassing to have an emergency and not have the products you need then it is to stock products around the places you may find yourself, even at a boyfriend’s place. Staying prepared is most definitely a priority when it comes to endometriosis periods.

These are only a few of the endometriosis induced lessons that I have learned over time. Has endometriosis taught you any lessons?