Endometriosis As A Teenager

by Catherine Carr

I'm Catherine and I'm 16 years old, I was diagnosed with endometriosis at age 13. When I first got my period at 11, we immediately knew there was something wrong. My periods were heavy and painful.

I went to the doctor all the time and missed tons of school, the doctors said to wait a year and then see how things are. So a year later, I went back to the doctors and they said they wanted to put me on birth control to see if it would help with the bleeding, but my mom thought I was too young to be on birth control.

So, we waited till I was 13 and they put me on birth control, the pain never got better and the bleeding wasn't as heavy, but it still wasn't normal. So, again I went back to the doctors, they did my first pap and the doctor could tell there was something abnormal, so he sent me to a gyno. The gyno did another pap and then sent me to get a ultrasound, the ultrasound showed that everything was pretty normal, but with my pain and conditions, the doctor knew it was endometriosis.

It was my 8th grade year and I didn't want to miss my graduation. Therefore they scheduled my surgery for laparoscopy during the summer. I had never had any type of surgery nor had I ever gotten an IV, so I was pretty scared, but the doctor said it probably wouldn't take that long since I was so young.

I went in thinking it would be quick, but it ended up being a lot longer then they thought. They said that I had 5 spots of endometriosis on my left side and 3 spots on my right. I was stuck in bed in pain for almost my whole summer, because my incisions didn't heal right. They also put me on a birth control pill that made it so I only got a period every 3 months, which would help keep my endometriosis away.

By the first day of my Freshman Year, I thought everything was back to normal and I went back to school. But what I didn't know was how weak my immune system was, I was always sick and always in pain. So by the middle of my first semester I ended up leaving school and going on online homeschool. It was really boring and I missed my friends, so I stayed on task and tried to take care of my body.

I went back my sophomore year and everything was great until about December. I kept getting the same horrible pain that I got before and it was hard to go to school and cheer. I went back to a gyno and they said my endometriosis was coming back, so we scheduled another laparoscopy surgery during my spring break. My mom took me and after the surgery I was so out of it that I didn't remember anything, so they told my mom that I again had spots on my left side and also inflamed ovaries.

With a bad immune system I became very allergic to everything, after my surgery I was shaking and throwing up from the medication and allergic to the latex tape. They gave me an antibiotic for the inflammation, but of course I had a really bad allergic reaction which put me in the hospital.

It's now been almost 7 months and I still get pain and have a bad immune system, but I'm able to go to school now and I'm even doing extra credits so I can graduate a year early with my friends. I am now going to be going on a strict diet to see if it will help. So even when endometriosis may break you down, just remember to stay positive!