Kate* always had long and painful periods, some of which made her think “I can’t live like this” — but, like many women, she never really questioned whether the severity of that menstrual pain was normal. “I don’t think that, when you’re young, you really ask other girls how bad it all is,” she told 7NEWS.com.
au. It wasn’t until she had surgery to remove a lump on her ovary, discovered during a pap smear in 2009, that she was told: “You’ve got endometriosis. It’s on your uterus, it’s on your bowels, it’s everywhere.
” Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today She said she was “lucky enough” to have her children but, after the two births, her endometriosis got worse and she was left “feeling really sick and unable to function” for days each month. That’s when she underwent some ultrasounds to explore treatment options and discovered she also had adenomyosis — which professionals describe as the “cousin” of endometriosis. Endometriosis occurs when the endometrial tissue grows on the outside of the uterus, while adenomyosis is the condition caused by endometrial tissue growth deep into the uterine muscle, which thickens the walls of the uterus.
Kate had a Mirena IUD inserted for several months before it was removed due to the painful, related symptoms it caused her. Then, at the age of 43, she was told by a gynaecologist: “Probably your only option now is a hysterectomy.” The permanency of the suggested hysterectomy, and th.