Five Years of Pain
Someone at church today said to me, “Christians don’t talk about certain issues. Women don’t realize they need or can get help because we deem these topics as improper.” To which I replied, “Alright, I’ll talk about it.”
*Here’s your warning that if you are made uncomfortable by certain female medical things you might not want to read this.
In 2019, I had my fourth child. I had suffered several pregnancy losses over the years and my reproductive health was never fantastic. Getting pregnant was never an issue but keeping a pregnancy was a different story. About 6 months after my son was born, I started having a lot of pain whenever I had my cycle. It wasn’t anything horribly abnormal but I took notice. Months went by and the pain increased as well as bleeding. Then I went to having the most excruciating pain of my life every month that would last anywhere from 1-3 hours. Like, fetal position on the bathroom floor in agony just begging the Lord to make it stop. Throwing up was usually involved, then a fever, followed by a chill and finally complete exhaustion once the pain subsided. And each month it got worse!
I went to the doctor, they ordered ultra sounds, and basically told me that I have some cysts, possibly a fibroid. I can take strong medications each month to combat the pain or birth control. No one wanted to explore further to confirm anything. Adding more children to our family was something my husband and I wanted so I thought to myself, “Well, if I just get pregnant than maybe this will go away after the baby is born.” I didn’t get pregnant and would find out in the years to come that I basically had a built in birth control inside me.
Time passed on and I learned to cope with it. Sometimes it would get so bad that I’d start preparing myself for a hysterectomy. Other times it wouldn’t be nearly as bad so I’d put off going to see another doctor. I saw midwives, OBGYNs, general practitioners, functional medicine doctors and NO ONE sent me to get an MRI. In 2022 I came across someone online who had cured their endometriosis with lifestyle changes. I started researching and adopted a prometabolic lifestyle. No one ever told me I had endometriosis but I highly suspected I did. I had all the symptoms and I was not getting pregnant. That was never an issue for me before.
Pro-metabolic lifestyle basically means that you eat in a way that supports your metabolism so it can do it’s job. You cut out as much processed foods as possible which includes seed oils and make sure you get the minerals that your body needs to function. I could do an entire post on seed oils but basically, they are from the devil. They are the sunflower, soybean, corn, vegetable oils found in EVERYTHING! Polyunsaturated fatty acids or PUFAs. These things will not only cause major inflammation but also are high in estrogen and cause a myriad of health issues. So, those went bye bye. I switched our family to butter, tallow, lard and coconut oil. I started making bread from scratch, added fermented foods, took raw grass-fed liver shots and did what I could to support my metabolism. After a couple months I noticed significant symptom changes. I wasn’t having a “flare up” every month like I normally did. I had more energy and was less angry and irritated. It looked like I would be able to manage whatever was wrong with me and possibly make it go away.
Then, in 2023, we left our suburban home and bought 51 acres to start a farm. The hope was and still is to grow most of our own food so that our soil gives our plants the minerals that our bodies need that we are deprived of. We also want to be good stewards and leave this land better than how we found it. However, God had a different timeline than we did, and the house we wanted to build is still being built…….two years later. It’s a long story but we have found ourselves living in a camper this entire time. And if any of you know anything about camper living, it is not the most hospitable environment for from scratch cooking. I’ve done what I can and I even confess, I could have done more. But normal life is hard let alone trying to bake bread in an oven the size of a microwave. Or fry up chips in a healthy oil on a stove that shakes whenever someone moves.
(San Diego 2023- trips have always been complicated and stressful living with this.)
The process snacks and other foods came back in. I still try to buy quality and avoid seed oils but it’s been very difficult. Eating out increased from what it had been before and my health slowly deteriorated. Back pain, severe bleeding and flare ups became regular. Then, last summer, I started having issues during ovulation. This was a completely new symptom and it pushed me over the edge. I called the doctor’s office that Chick-fil-A employees have access to and scheduled an appointment. I prayed that this would be the one.
He was the only doctor in 5 years that ordered an MRI for me immediately. He didn’t offer surgery or drugs. He basically said, “We need to see whats really going on in there.” The results came back as adenomyosis (which is endometriosis but within the uterine lining) and other possible issues. He referred me to a gynecologist for a more thorough examination and to address the adenomyosis. I’ll be honest, I was burnt out on OBGYNs who just shoved pills at me or wanted me to get rid of my uterus. But the next month, I had another horrible flare up and that sent me googling adenomyosis relief. Low and behold, right here in Atlanta, is a fibroid specialist who also can address adenomyosis.
See, adenomyosis is different than endometriosis in that it is more contained. You can cut the blood supply off and it has a 75% chance of not returning. Endometriosis cells grow outside the uterus and so it can be ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE! For the first time, I felt hopeful and I scheduled a consultation. The procedure is called Uterine Fibroid Emobilization and they basically burn the blood supply to fibroids and/or adenomyosis. I talked to the doctor and after I gave him a brief history he asks, “Has anyone ever told you that you have a 5cm mass inside your uterus that shouldn’t be there?” SAY WHAT????
He then proceeded to show me on my MRI scan and explain what it could be. How in the world did I have so many ultrasounds over the years and NO ONE mentioned this? The doctor even said that the mass has been there since my first ultrasound scan in 2020. It hasn’t grown but it’s been there. What the junk? He said that without further examination by a gynecologist he couldn’t determine what it was and how to deal with it. Off to a gynecologist I went. This time, the doctor was very willing to work with me and help me get the UFE proceedure done. More tests were done, including a sonohysterogram (a.k.a. an ultrasound on steroids). That showed that the mass was actually a group of fibroids and the biopsy came back clear. Almost 5 years to the date that these symptoms started happening, I had the UFE procedure. And now I await to see if it worked and if my life will be changed. It was a very simple procedure and recovery has been very easy so far. I highly recommend Atlanta Fibroid Center and the team there. Best medical experience I’ve ever had.
Looking back, I probably have struggled with high estrogen my whole life. Off and on in my teens I would suffer with extreme cramps, heavy bleeding and migraines. Apparently, my grandmother had fibroids. Lots of women have them and they are told that it’s just the way it is. I’m here to tell you, it’s not normal. It’s not how it is and it can be changed. There is an answer and it isn’t hormones or major surgery. If you’re suffering each month with unexplained pain please don’t think you have to continue in that. Find a doctor who will take the time to find the problem. Change the things you put in your body and pay attention to your metabolism. If I had been told what was wrong with me right away then I would have dealt with it and possibly been able to have more children. Alas, at this point it would be unwise given my age and high risk level.
They can’t know for sure how I developed adenomyosis and fibroids. Like I said, my grandma had them so some think it’s genetic. Others think it happens because of high estrogen levels. And then there’s the factor that I had two c-sections. I know there’s a correlation between c-sections an endometriosis. It doesn’t really matter how I got them except that I don’t want my daughter to have the same fate and I don’t want other women to go through it. So, take care of yourselves. Talk to other women about health issues to find out what is and isn’t normal. You don’t need to suffer and you don’t need to suffer alone. No need for embarrassment. This is a part of life in this broken messy world.