This is Janell's Story
Advocating for your health can be SO exhausting but it’s SO necessary!
My symptoms started from around the age of 13. Every month consisted of the same symptoms, vomiting, fainting and excruciating pain. I would curl up on the floor, screaming, kicking and crying. Often, I’d be taken into hospital where I’d receive morphine intravenously. The whole thing, especially when I was younger was a scary experience for myself and my mum, we knew it wasn’t normal but we were constantly shut down.
It wasn’t until l was 19, that I began to feel heard. After trying various amounts of medication, the doctors agreed to booking me in for a laparoscopy. For me, the laparoscopy was my saving grace. The procedure relived my symptoms and what I was going through now had a name - endometriosis. They removed cysts and tissue - hooray, my pain started to ease. For a few years, with the help of the pill, I was able to keep my endometriosis symptoms under control but soon realised that other endometriosis symptoms started cropping up. Enter in leg pains. My brother would have to help me get from one room to the other, because my legs couldn’t get me there and often, I’d have to delay or cancel plans.
During my mid 20s I also got diagnosed with adenomyosis so navigating between which one is flaring up, isn’t very straight forward. My personal experience has made me reluctant to take any long term medication so figuring out what’s the solve does feel limited.
I’m on a journey, trying to understand and advocate for my body even when it feels like no-one is listening. My experience with medical practitioners hasn’t been great, quite recently I was in A&E where I requested a scan and was told “well, what’s the point of doing that, you tell me what I’m looking for?”
It can get tiring, it can be exhausting but you have to keep pushing through because your health is important.
