diary of an unhappy uterus | part two.

Welcome to Part 2 of The Diary of an Unhappy Uterus. If you’re new, I’d suggest starting with Part 1.

Sitting in the Gynaecology reception was something I never thought I’d be doing at 20. I always thought uterus’ were things you worried about in your 30s or 40s. I thought in my 20s it would just be sitting there, behind the scenes, causing tummy-aches every month.

Yet there I was, on Wednesday at 10:30am, twenty years young, sitting at the Gynaecologist’s reception. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being there, it just wasn’t something I was expecting to be doing at this point in my life. My hands were sweating profusely but I refused to let go of Marcus’s hand. He comes with me to all my appointments and hospital visits, and I feel as though my unhappy uterus is just as big of a part of his life as it is mine.

When we got called into the consultation room I didn’t know what to expect. Whilst driving to the clinic Marcus and I had talked about different situations. Would I have to undergo another surgery? Would I once again be told that this was just something women had to deal with? The situation that followed, however, was something neither of us had expected.

We sat down and the Gynaecologist (Dr. Dana) had my long medical history summarised into two pieces of paper that were lying on her desk. She asked the normal questions about why we are there and wanted some more details about my medical history. Then she looked at us and said, ’You have been through a lot, it’s clear you have Endometriosis and Adenomyosis, which is concerning for someone your age, but I am glad you are here so we can try and work on it’.

That one sentence both broke me and made me. I had been waiting for several years for someone to give me a diagnosis, and there, in the first few minutes of the appointment, she had said everything I needed to hear. I don’t know exactly what I felt, as it was a cocktail of emotions. First of all I felt like I had to release a sigh of relief, then I felt like I wanted to cry, and then I felt like I wanted to hug her. Being given a diagnosis of two incurable diseases was horrid, yet at the same time it was relieving. I don’t quite know how to explain why I felt relief, but I think it’s something you’ll only understand if you have gone several years without a diagnosis. For the first time I felt like a medical professional actually believed me, and took my pain seriously.

We talked about treatment options and although both diseases are incurable, there are certain treatments that can reduce the symptoms. Dr. Dana ended up prescribing me Visanne. I still need to research it a bit more before I fill you in on the scientific side of it, but it’s basically a progesterone-like hormone that reduces pain and the size of lesions. In the Endo/Adeno community, I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews, however there is a lot to suggest the first few weeks are horrid. I’ll also be stopping the pill, which I’ve been on for 2 years, which also can have some nasty side effects. Although I am absolutely petrified of the next few weeks, Dr. Dana has given me a lot of hope, and if I can make it through the past few years, I can make it through the next few weeks.

So, as soon as this post goes live, I’ll be starting Visanne. I decided I will document it on my instagram, as well as on here. I feel as though it’s important to share, to hopefully make everyone feel less alone.

If you’ve made it to the end of this post, thank you, it means the world. I recently added a comment section to my blog, so we can keep the conversation going. I’ll update you all soon.