I am 1 in 10

I am 1 in 10 women who live with this debilitating disease.
I am 1 of the more than 200 million women globally who live with this debilitating disease.
I am the only one in my family with this disease, my mom & 2 sisters were spared. My mom's sister may have had the disease too but unfortunately, she passed a couple of years ago before being able to get medical answers.

They said it was normal to bleed this much

When I first got my period, it was extremely heavy bleeding. I'd stack pads on top of each other & wrap toilet paper around the stack of pads. At night, I would have to wear diapers or be waking up every hour to change my pads. My mom reassured me it was normal to be bleeding like that even though both she & my older sister were light bleeders. I was told my mom's sister (the one that passed), had heavy periods like that.

Pain just got worse and worse

As I got older the cramps became more & more painful. I remember slightly joking to my mom that I wished I could chop myself off below the stomach. I say slightly because the pain was really bad that I was that desperate for relief.

My endo diagnosis

In 2007, at the age of 20, I experienced two miscarriages. I had reached my breaking point in between the two events & told my GP about the horrible pains & heavy periods. He sent me to a GYN, who I saw after my second miscarriage. She said she was pretty positive it was Endo & scheduled a laparoscopic surgery. She performed a biopsy & did ablation removal of all the Endo she could see.

Where I am today

Fast forward 13yrs, I have had a second ablation surgery that has been massively beneficial & completed the interdisciplinary program at the Pelvic Pain & Endometriosis clinic at B.C Women's hospital.