If I could get any point across, it would be to be aware of what is normal and not. If your periods are excessively heavy, or if the pain is interfering with your daily life, you should get it checked out.
My surgery in Birmingham was life-changing. I finally got my endometriosis diagnosis after ten years of suffering, but it came at a great cost both financially and emotionally. Recovering so far away from home and not having my family around me was tough.
My pain started just after I hit puberty. I would cry with pains that would radiate down my legs, back and into my stomach; pain that would attack out of nowhere during school, the middle of the night, at a friend’s house, etc. At this time I was told a number of things were causing this but never connected it to endometriosis.
My hope for women battling with Endometriosis is that they are listened to, and that those listening really hear the suffering and pain that these women are describing. We are not women looking for attention, we are not women behaving like drama queens and we are certainly not women with pain that is in our heads.