My Endo Diary

Today in the UK is Mother's Day. For that reason, I dedicate this post to my beautiful mother - who supports me every single day through my endometriosis journey. Letter To My Mother Dear Mam, Where do I start? People say the best place would be the beginning, but I'm going to jump to right now. Without you, I wouldn't even be at this point. I want you to know how much I appreciate what you do for me daily. I bet you never thought you'd still be making me hot water bottles and checking on me at night. You go above and beyond the duties of a mother. Your selfless ways and generous heart constantly amazes me. Even on days when you may not feel 100%, you will still put everything aside if you notice I'm struggling. From making me endless cups of tea's, reminding me to take painkillers, ordering me to rest and to even helping me dress and put socks on when I'm having a bad day! Endometriosis was a word neither of us had heard of until my diagnosis. Bu...

Thursday 13th March, 2014. This was the day when women all over the world came together, for the first time, to raise much needed awareness for Endometriosis. I am so pleased to have been a part of it. My day started very early! At 5:30 am, my wonderful mother and I left Cardiff to travel to London. I had arranged to meet some endosisters from Twitter in Starbucks beforehand, then walk to the event together. When I arrived, I was the first one there. I was so excited but so nervous at the same time! I had been talking to these women for months, sharing ins and outs, and today was the day we would meet. It was like pre-date nerves! Soon, everyone started turning up and I couldn't have been put more at ease. The ladies were lovely. Straight away we fell into chatting about endo, our symptoms and most of all, how thankful we were for Twitter giving us a platform to be completely open and honest with others who understand. I felt normal! My stomach was extremely swollen, which I was so...

Daily Challenge 3: Getting Out Of Bed To people who do not suffer with a chronic illness, this may just seem like a 'lazy' excuse. However, getting out of bed on a daily basis can prove to be a challenge. These last few weeks I have seemed to be struggling more. It does not matter if I have had a full nights sleep (unlikely as that is), or have been awake most of the night (more thank likely), I will wake up with no energy and aching all over. Last week I had an appointment at 10:30 am. My alarm was set, my alarm went off.. I couldn't move. I had to make the decision of getting out of bed to have breakfast or stay in bed for an extra twenty minutes. You can guess which one I chose! BED! Just to reiterate, it's not the normal person feeling like "ohh just five more minutes, I can't be bothered to get up yet"... It's literally the fact that I CAN'T get up. It can be too painful, too exhausting, or just take up too much of my energy that I need to s...

We are one week into Endometriosis Awareness Month and I am greatly surprised with the amount of coverage its had so far. I would go as far as to say it is the most publicity I have seen since my diagnosis. Endometriosis UK has done an amazing job with getting endo into the media. Firstly, a TV interview took place on Monday on 'This Morning' with Endometriosis UK Young Ambassador, Alice Smith. The resident Doctor on this show talked a bit more about it, stating that endometriosis is 'horrendous pain' and compared it to 'the same pain you get in the final stages of childbirth' . Dr Chris also went further by clarifying that it is not 'just a bad period' and that it causes 'widespread pain' which is not just restricted to your stomach. The next day on the TV programme 'Lorraine', Endometriosis UK Trustee Carol Pearson joined Lorraine to talk about the effect Endometriosis had on her life. It gave particular focus on the loss of her care...