AmberSorensen
At the age of 12 (I'm now 25), I got my first period and 6 months later began suffering from extreme and chronic pelvic pain and cramping . These symptoms worsened for the next 6.5 years to the point that I had to be on Home Hospital for 4 months my junior year of high school because I was covered in ovarian cysts and was missing too much school. I was finally diagnosed with Endometriosis when I was 18. I've undergone 3 laparscopic surgeries, and most recently a subtotal hysterectomy w/ bilateral salpingo oopherectomy (in other words, all I have left is my cervix, and I'm in menopause because they took my ovaries as well). A few months before my hysterectomy, my ankles and feet started swelling and I began having severe pains in my lower legs. Since my surgery, my hands have also started swelling. I've been tested for hypothyroidism and diabetes (tests came back negative), so we're now going through the tests to determine if it's my heart or liver, or rheumatoid arthritis.
As defined by the Mayo Clinic, endometriosis is a disorder of the female reproductive system that involves endometrium, which typically lines the uterus, growing in other places it normally would ...
AmberSorensen commented on Dita Faulkner's post Coping with Endometriosis