Preston Support Group

I was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2010 following a painful 8 years of misdiagnosis and confusion. My painful attacks only began after I had naturally conceived twice, and I am the proud mum to two boys who are now in their late teens/early twenties. Prior to their birth, my periods were what I considered to be normal. As a young woman they were very light and wonderfully short but, during my twenties they became more debilitating and heavier. Big problems started after my second boy was born, the early years of having my children were speckled with acute, prolonged attacks of agonising pain that did not seem to have any rhythm, rhyme or reason. It was an incredibly tough period for us as a young family as 6 or 7 times each year I went from being perfectly well to being incredibly ill in hospital. The attacks were something I dreaded, they would start with almost like a switch of a button of pain, located surprisingly, somewhere deep under my ribcage. Looking back, the location of my pain so high in my abdomen, probably didn't help the medical teams in A&E or on the surgical wards, nor did my answer "yes" to the question "are your periods normal?" so unfortunately, doctors continued to draw a blank after endless investigations. Thankfully, one time I was admitted to hospital and the only bed was in Gynae/Maternity. After a couple of days, they found a big cyst in action on my right ovary, and that led them to finally, after 8 years, think my problem might have be a gynae one. I'm glad I said I'd have a laparoscopy as I then got my eventual diagnosis of endometriosis, affecting my bowel and ovaries. I never thought endometriosis could cause such pain, disruption and destruction to anyone's body - I thought endometriosis was 'just' heavy periods. This was 2010 and I was a grown woman and yet I knew so little about a condition that had been disrupting my life for at least 10 years if not more!

Treatment for me was the immediate prescription of Prostap injections and HRT to see if there was any improvement to my life, which culminated in a full hysterectomy in 2011. This has had its own issues which have taken some years to adapt to, but I am pleased with the choice and I am free from pain. The challenges of diagnosis and my experience of living with the disease, knowing the physical, emotional and social impact it has, have motivated me to become more involved in the endometriosis community by becoming Preston Support Group Leader. I hope to offer emotional support, hope and reassurance to other women with a diagnosis during their endometriosis journey.