Let’s Chat with Holly
by Holly Dawson
In order to understand my diagnosis you have to understand my story
I have to go all the way back to the year 2017!
I was 24 years old, living in the UK at the time and was told I had an ectropion womb (this is where the cells from inside the womb grow on the outside). I thought perfect! A diagnosis for all my chronic pain, excessive bleeding and bleeding after sex. I had a procedure to have the cells frozen away!
I felt great… for a month or two.
And it started again. I just thought I cannot go through all of the explaining again to the medical professionals because it took me so long to get to the point I was at. So I just accepted it and thought yep, pain killers, hot water bottles, wearing two heavy pads at a time for bleeding and my bed would be my new normal.
Then we get to 2018! I couldn’t take it any longer the pain and my overall mental health. I started becoming very fatigued and very emotional with my feelings. I just wasn’t the same girl.
So I went back to the doctors. Pleaded that something was wrong with me. One person finally listened and told me that I just have severe cysts on my ovaries and they will disappear in time. But for now, change my diet, no more drinking alcohol and start to exercise more. I did ALL of this. And yet no improvement. Instead, again I just accept it and moved on with my life, which lead me to follow my fiancé over to Australia to begin a new life.
However my health issues didn’t go away! In 2019, the first year of being in Australia, I went for three smear tests to check what was going on. I went for 6 ultrasounds to check on my cysts. I was just told “ooooooh it will go away in time it’s not an issue, your young and it’s all hormones”.
This lead to the year 2020. I was so fatigued at this point. I was on iron tablets, I was prescribed extremely strong painkillers and exceeding the recommended amount you can take in a day, just to function. I was at the doctors weekly trying to get someone to take me seriously. I was told, it’s just heavy periods. You’re just going through a hormonal thing. Your body is getting used to being in Australia.
At one time I was even medically examined for no reason and was diagnosed with having a STI! I wasn’t told what STI and I was even told that my partner must of been unfaithful and I need to do a round of antibiotics. Furthermore, my clotting got so excessive that I had my partner hold my body on the toilet while they happened. I rang my doctors straight away, to be told I just had a MISCARRIAGE but it was too late to truly figure out if it was or wasn’t.
My body at this point was shut down. I was a broken woman with no faith in the medical sector. I just thought I am a one of a kind person with these problems and I just have to accept it. But something inside told me to go and get professional help one last time. That time I went private, an that is where I met the doctor who changed my life. My doctor, listened to me. He just sat there and let me say it all and never once butted in to say I’m wrong instead, he took a breath and said I think your right. I think you have something.
This was the year 2021. April 27th to be exact. The day of my surgery to see what was going on inside my womb. My doctor told me that he believed there is something but he had faith it was only minor and I’d be back to the old Holly in no time. So I wake up, my doctor’s waiting for me. He told me that I have to stay overnight at the hospital because there wasn’t just a little bit of endometriosis. There was A LOT. I had it on my bladder, the underside of my ovaries and I had it on my bowel, which he then commented that if it was 1mm more on my bowel I would of had a colostomy bag for the rest of my life. My road to recovery was going to be a long one, but you know what, I had an answer, I wasn’t crazy! On that day I was diagnosed with stage 4 endo and adeno!
I was told that if I wasn’t thinking of babies beforehand, I should really think about it now because that fertility path may be a tricky one for me. However, at the time of surgery I was fitted however with the mirena. But after months of chronic pain, the IUD was causing whilst trying to recover, my doctor once again listened and said you’ve tried everything I think your body needs a break. So that’s exactly what I did.
I focused on me and getting back healthy and fit. I even started to educate myself on what the hell is endo and what can I be doing to raise awareness for such a Illness I had no idea about until diagnosis. This lead me to September 1st 2022. The best day of my life. I was pregnant. All of this work I just did, it was all worth it. I was told that women who have endometriosis tend to have a c-section due to some complications with their womb, and that’s exactly what happened to me. My daughter was born on the 19th of May 2022 and she is beautiful.
However, it’s sad that I have fear because she was born a girl. That she’s going to have the same illness as me. I never thought this is something I would be fearful of. I don’t want her to be in pain like me, or feel like no one is listening. It is my aim even more now to help raise awareness and show my daughter that my illness gives me strength, to follow your gut on not just taking one person’s advice and accepting it. You need to fight for yourself!
I am proud of myself for this! I am more than a person with endometriosis!
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