Part 02 of My Endo Story: The Diagnosis & What They Found

If you missed Part 01, read it here <3

The Week Of

The week of surgery was here. Monday rolled around. Surgery was Thursday.

Shit.

I was nervous, obviously. But I kept reminding myself - remember the pain in the ER?

This is what stops that.

At this point, I wasn’t even thinking about endometriosis anymore. I was just focused on the cyst.

Tuesday was all the pre-surgery prep.

Papers to sign. Scenarios to walk through.

What happens if the cyst is embedded in the ovary versus just on top of it.

What if everything goes right.

What if everything goes wrong.

Then came the lab work. Which, fun fact, my body treats like a crisis. I go into full fight-or-flight the minute someone says “draw blood.”

I’m a fainter. It’s a whole thing.

me, rolling my eyes at myself

Wednesday came.

No food after noon. Only clear liquids and those pre-surgery drinks they give you. Honestly? Not terrible.

I lived off frozen lemon icee cups. Technically a clear liquid, so I was thriving.

Then came the special soap to prep my body for surgery. And the laxatives, because apparently your bowels need to be cleared so the doctor can see what’s going on.

I followed every rule. To the letter. If I was doing this, I wasn’t messing anything up.

The Day Of

Surgery was scheduled for 10:30 AM.

No water that morning. Super important.

The drive there was quiet. Me and Doug. I don’t remember the last time I was that nervous.

We checked in. More paperwork. Of course.

They brought me back and - because of my well-documented tendency to faint - I asked if Doug could stay with me while they did the IV.

They agreed. Thank the surgery gods.

IV went in. We waited.

Between the morning chaos and the moment the doctor walked in, I just… breathed.

Acceptance. I’m here. This is happening.

The nurse came in and said, “We’re ready.”

They rolled me into the operating room, and from there, it was like a movie.

A movie I immediately fell asleep during.

Waking Up

I woke up getting rolled into recovery.

Mouth dry. Abdomen aching.

“Do you want more pain meds?”

Yes. Please.

I don’t know how long I stayed in recovery, but eventually, I got to see Doug.

Deep exhale.

It was done.

They sent me home. Recovery began.

Recovery + The Real Diagnosis

A few weeks later, I had my post-op appointment.

The cyst? Removed successfully.

But that wasn’t all.

Endometriosis was everywhere.

Stage 4.

My pelvis was literally frozen in place - something called frozen pelvis.

Okay… now what?

My doctor said a hysterectomy could help.

But I’m only 30.

That wasn’t on the table. Not yet, anyway. Maybe when I’m in my 40s.

For now? Pain management. That’s the plan.

Now What?

My first thought was: Let me see what my body feels like without the cyst.

What’s my baseline now?

She offered medication, but I knew how that path usually goes - you take something for one symptom, and it causes another.

So I said: let me try to do this naturally. Let me try to heal the root cause.

Even though… no one really knows what the root cause of endometriosis even is.

The New Normal

This whole thing started a new chapter for me.

I’ve always been proud of how in tune I am with my body.

I could plan around how I knew I’d feel, structure my schedule to support it.

But this? This leveled me.

Suddenly, I couldn’t predict anything.

Every day was different. Every symptom was inconsistent.

Yes, I was healing from surgery, but I was also trying to understand what this new chronic illness looked like.

Some days I couldn’t get out of bed on time.

Other days I took naps in the middle of the afternoon.

The routine I used to live by - gone.

I stopped working out.

Stopped creating.

And the frustrating part? I felt like I had done everything right.

I don’t drink. Don’t smoke. I eat clean. I stay active.

And now… all of it looks different.

So I gave myself time to mourn the before version of me.

Eventually, though, the pain during my periods became unbearable again.

But I stayed committed to trying natural approaches first - before turning to medications.

Where I’ll Leave This

This is where I’ll leave off.

This is how I found out I had endo.

This is what recovery looked like.

And now I’m in pain management.

I’ll be sharing what I’m doing to manage the pain - what works, what doesn’t, and whether I end up needing medication after all.

If you’re reading this and going through something similar, I see you.

It’s lonely.

(Even with a supportive family around you.)

It’s one day at a time.

And it’s okay if this season looks different.

That’s something I keep reminding myself.