I have been fighting my body for the past three years. It started in 2013: I was in and out of the ER for severe abdominal pain. The doctors ran blood-work, CT scans, ultrasounds, you name it, and each time we left exhausted and confused. We were getting no answers as to what could be causing me such severe and frighteningly consistent pain. Eventually, my mom asked an ER nurse if it could be a gynecological problem that they weren't seeing like endometriosis (my mom really likes google). He suggested we seek guidance in an OB/Gyn to rule anything like that out. Although my OB thought it was “very unlikely” I had endo since I was only 17, she agreed to do an exploratory laparoscopy to rule it out. On February 28th, 2013 I was diagnosed with stage 3 (moderate) endometriosis and unfortunately, this diagnostic surgery was just the beginning of a battle I continue to face today. 

 I won’t go into too much detail as to what endometriosis is, but a general definition of it goes a little like, “a disease in which the tissues that line the inside of the uterus grow on the outside and cause pelvic pain.” Sounds better than it seems. Each person’s symptoms vary in severity and some people only feel this pain around the time of their periods. Unfortunately, my endo causes stabbing pain in my abdomen, lower back, ribs, hips, and it shoots down both of my legs. The pain has no pattern other than the constant achy-ness in each of these areas when it doesn’t feel like I am being stabbed. Oh, and it never goes away.  It gets to the point of me answering the question, "how are you feeling today," with a number between 1-10 on a pain scale (which is usually between 5-11 to be honest).

The past three years have been filled with different trials in treatment options since endo has no cure. I have tried birth control, the depo shot, and unfortunately, lupron. Lupron is a hormone therapy shot that is suggested to endometriosis patients as a last resort in most cases. The shot has a bad rep and I learned it the hard way. It works by tricking your body into menopause in order to halt the endo from growing and multiplying. The hard part is the adverse side effects that come with it and for me, that included hot flashes, mood swings, weakened bone density, tiredness, and a very serious depression. Lupron was the only treatment I had that was able to stop my symptoms from affecting my daily life; I was able to live for a year without missing weeks of school, work, and my social life but in return, I had to face the crappy side effects.

Here I am now. Twenty years old, new to Los Angeles, California. I moved here to start a new life and live out the dream I have had since I was a kid. Sadly enough, my pain has come back and is worse than before. I was furious at first and felt robbed of my happiness but have since been lucky enough to find a doctor that specializes in endometriosis in San Francisco! I never would have had access to a doctor of that specialty in Kentucky and I am SO lucky to have found him. He is able to perform a surgery that a typical OB/gyn would not be able to perform and the recurrence rates are very low which means I could be looking at a painless life! I have made this Go Fund Me to raise enough to cover the up-front cost I must have for the assistant surgeon as well as any other out-of-network expenses. Any amount will help with this and I am so grateful for all the help I get!