The EndoAngel, Melissa shares her story…
“I guess you could say that my story begins like many other Endo Stories begin: with a nasty diagnosis while starring blankly at your doctor…. I know for me, it took days for the information to actually settle. To finally know what was causing my pain but also to confront those dreaded words of “there is no cure”, “your fertility can be affected” and “there are limited choices on what we can do”.
It felt like everything in my life had suddenly come to a grinding halt. I was only 19 and here I was, having to make decisions about my future children and what I could do to prevent this disease from spreading. I was only presented with two choices: operations and hormonal treatments. I didn’t particularly like the sound of either one and so, my doctor worked out a system where I could go on the lowest possible hormone treatment and just have an operation every year and a half to “clean me out”. I really believed for many, many years that I was on a good path. I had entrusted my body to a specialist and he had heaps of experience with women and Endometriosis. Surely, he must know what was best for me?
It was only after the 7th operation that I started to recognize that my body just couldn’t carry on like this anymore. My Endometriosis had controlled so much of my life up until this point. I had to be in a secure job, to ensure I had medical insurance. I had to pick jobs that weren’t too stressful, do things that weren’t too physically demanding and make sure I always had time to myself. Somehow, Endometriosis still had a bellowing voice – a loud one! It shouted so loud and made sure it was never forgotten, sending me pain messages from out of the blue.
At the age of 35, I finally gave in. Not to the Endometriosis but to the longing to change. To change what I had been doing to my body. I had been ignoring all those many signals it was sending me for years. The aching in my stomach, the tender shoulders, the allergies, the headaches, the nausea and yes of course the loud and bellowing Endometriosis pain. I started to notice the signals and how they connected to what I ate and what I drank. After a night of drinking, my Endo pain flared up. After too many sweets, I felt depressed and got a really runny stool. I got headaches when I ate certain foods and my bloating increased with others. I started to connect the dots. Those dots lead to questions and those questions lead to a huge, giant puzzle of answers.
I started to realize that those individual symptoms, signals and the Endometriosis weren’t separate from each other. They were all joined in this amazing thing, called our bodies. It was all interlinked and if I solved the imbalances, I could solve the cause and effect of every single one of them – including Endometriosis!
It has been nearly 3 years since I gave in to my body and started listening. I have made some amazing changes. I started with Dairy as my allergies and my constant snotty nose were calling out for that one to go. Then it was sugar and my constant craving to find love in chocolates and cookies. Finally, I gave in to the pain of gluten and gave up all breads, cupcakes and yes, the cheese sticks had to go too.
For me, the greatest changes have occurred after taking out gluten and really allowing my digestive system to heal. I was finally able to absorb all those amazing nutrients from my food! I was finally able to expel all the stuff my body didn’t want.
A miracle started to happen. A shift started to happen. It was a shift in my body but also in my mind. I started to care. I started to care about myself and my own bodies health. I started to make choices based on providing the best nutrition for my body, rather than just “feeding my face”. I started to love and respect the amazing workings of my body and how it came to develop these imbalances.
My journey has taken me far beyond just wanting to heal myself from Endometriosis. It has taken me to a place where I can fully love all of my body and myself. It has taken me on a voyage to help women who are faced with Endometriosis to seek alternatives and to heal using nature as their source.
The body is an amazing, intricate being and we forget just how powerful it’s healing can be, when given the opportunity to truly shine.
You can read my journey and all the information I have discovered along the way, on my blog www.endoangel.com.I have created a wonderful support group for women with Endometriosis who would like to try more natural methods in healing and it is a beautiful positive space with hope and possibility.”
By Melissa
Do you have a story to share? We’d love to feature you in our Endometriosis Awareness Campaign! Share your story, “here.”
Join us March 14th (11am PST) for a special tweet chat to raise Endometriosis Awareness.
The topic: Endometriosis: The Invisible Disease and the Women Who Suffer. Click here, for details.
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