Endometriosis, commonly called endo by the women who live with it, is an incurable and often hereditary disease where the pieces of the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) become displaced and grow in locations outside of the uterus, or within the uterine wall (then referred to as adenomyosis). These cells are more commonly found growing on/in the ovaries, where it can form large endometriomas (blood-filled cysts), the fallopian tubes, utero-sacral ligaments, and the Pouch of Douglas, which is a space behind the uterus. A little less common, is for endometrial cells to be found in or on the bowels and bladder, and in extremely rare cases they may migrate to the lung and brain tissues. Although a doctor may suspect endo based upon the patient’s reported symptoms, the definitive method for diagnosis remains for a woman to have a surgical procedure called a laparoscopy completed. A laparoscopy often involves a few small incisions that are made in the pelvic area of a woman, and then the doctor uses a small camera device to have an examination of the pelvic area. If endo cells are present during this procedure, the doctor is then able to either burn, or cauterize, the cells or he could surgically excise (cut out) them. Endo cells do not routinely appear on imaging studies, and while research has made advances in discovering some genes that play a role in its development, there are no blood tests which are able to diagnose it. While one of the main symptoms of having this disease is pain, the degree of pain is not related to the degree the disease has progressed. In fact, it is possible for some women to have no pain only to find out upon investigation for infertility issues that they have severe endometriosis. The pain of the disease is often caused when these rogue endometrial cells, which still act and respond to hormones like the regular endometrial cells, shed blood and other caustic substances called prostaglandins each month. Over time, this process scars the healthy surrounding cells creating what some doctors would call the typical “black powder burn” appearance that endo can take. Endo can also lead to the formation of adhesions, a string of cells that bind together and can pull and tug the various internal organs out of place. These adhesions can pull at any time of the month, which leads to the possibility of women with endo having pain at other points in their cycles other than just ovulation and when their cycle begins. As you can see, endo is much more than just what some people would like to chalk up to "bad period pains", it is a real disease that deserves real treatment.
In the next few blog posts I will be talking about how endometriosis is “staged” according to the severity of the disease, and sharing more of my personal story of how endo has affected my life. I hope you will join me on the journey as we celebrate Endometriosis Awareness month.
Pictures of endometriosis are below this post i will give foar warning for those who are swueemish as it is kind of a bit graphc thanks for reading even if u dont look at the pictures and happy march every one i hope that you find my story and information helpful and educational
No comments:
Post a Comment