13 Years After Diagnosis, I Still Feel Unprotected As An Endometriosis Sufferer

it's hard to stay positive when it feels like very little has changed.

Freelance Life Writer

Back in 2012, at the age of 21, I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis, a whole nine years after I had started to display symptoms. I had spent my school years with heavy periods that would soak through uniforms; wearing multiple sanitary towels to get through back-to-back lessons and fainting during PE lessons.

When I was finally diagnosed via laparoscopic surgery, I was told that I had stage 4 endometriosis and that it was unlikely that I’d ever conceive. I was also informed that my ovaries, uterus and bowel were ‘glued’ together with endometriosis lesions and I’d need surgery to remove them.

At the time I was told that this diagnosis and upcoming treatment was ‘gold standard’ and that I was ‘lucky’. While I understand that being diagnosed is incredibly difficult – according to Endometriosis UK, it takes on average 8 years and 10 months – I didn’t feel lucky. I felt scared but hoped that treatment would give me my life back.

In 2013, I was finally operated on and for a while, thought that the worst days of endo were behind me.

Endometriosis cannot be cured, though

The sad thing is, my........

© HuffPost