A pain like no other

By Kate

When I was 14 I first got my period and started to experience a number of pains and headaches. Like many others my first point of call was to go to my GP, who then, as they do so much, prescribed me the combined contraceptive pill. For the next 5 years I continued to have ongoing health issues. Facing constant fatigue, headaches, anxiety and low mood. My parents took me to every kind of specialist and healthcare professional possible to try and get me the right support and diagnosis. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic headaches. It wasn’t until I came off the pill at 19 that things really started to take a turn for the worst. I was in debilitating pain ¾ weeks of each month, bed bound, vomiting, excruciating pain in my stomach, chest and right shoulder, ending up in hospital multiple times. After going to several GPs who kept trying to prescribe me the pill again, as a “quick fix” my partner and I took it upon ourselves to do the research and find someone who could help. I was almost certain it was endometriosis and I self referred to a gynaecologist. When I finally got seen he told me I definitely had diaphragmatic endometriosis and he booked me in

for a surgery 4 weeks later. The surgery determined that I had stage 4 endometriosis, growing across my entire abdomen, bladder, bowel, kidney and diaphragm. Since then I have undergone another 2 surgeries and am due for a fourth. On the third surgery I was told I would need a fourth and major surgery due to the amount of lesions growing behind my heart. I was referred to the only gynaecologist in NZ able to perform this surgery and have been under his guidance trailing different medication until it’s deemed absolutely necessary to go ahead with the high risk surgery. The future is unknown and the pain continues to worsen, but my goal is to stay as healthy as I can and continue to advocate and spread awareness for endometriosis.