Hi! Everyday in March 2022 I am going to be walking 10,000 steps (which equals roughly 155 miles) everyday and documenting it along the way in order to raise much needed funds and awareness for Endometriosis UK in honour of Endometriosis Awareness Month🎗️

Endometriosis is the name given to the condition where cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) are found elsewhere in the body. It is a chronic and often debilitating condition that can cause painful periods, painful sex and pelvic pain outside of periods. It may also lead to infertility, fatigue and bowel and bladder problems. Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth, that's as many as diabetes yet very few people have even heard of it.

Ever since the age of 14 my periods have always been debilitating, they would cause me to go off sick from school, college and university often with me rolling about in agony, crying and willing for it to be over.

Throughout the years of 2014 - 2021 I reached out for support from several GP's and hospital doctors but was constantly just told that the pain and symptoms I was experiencing were completely normal. I once even attended A&E due to the pain being so bad only to be dismissed by a consultant saying "what do you actually want me to do about it?" and sending me home feeling ignored and in the same debilitating pain I arrived with.

As the years went by the pain got worse and it became a constant battle with a variety of symptoms throughout the whole of my cycle with what I was told were 'just normal period pains' until early 2021 when a doctor suggested to me that I may be struggling with endometriosis. 

In early 2021, after a long 7 years of pain, I finally spoke to a consultant gynaecologist with a specialism in the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis and finally on the 17th May 2021 I underwent laparoscopic abdominal surgery where I was diagnosed with endometriosis with the cells being found around my Pouch of Douglas, ovaries, fallopian tubes and bowel which were all removed at the time of the surgery.

Following the surgery I had roughly 3 months completely pain free for the first time since I was 14 however, around September 2021 time the all too familiar pain started to return with the dreaded symptoms slowly getting worse again and I was re-referred to Birmingham Women's Hospital. In February 2022 I was seen by a senior consultant gynaecologist who gave me two options for future treatment - be induced into an early menopause at 22 or have the surgery once more and as a result I have been referred to have the surgery again less than 12 months after my first surgery, however the wait is around 18-24 months. 

Sadly this experience is all too common amongst women diagnosed with the condition with it taking the average of 8 years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis in the UK. 

The impact can be felt for life and there is no cure, however your donations mean that Endometriosis UK can continue to support those affected by the disease through national support groups, information provision and their helpline as well as continuing to campaign for change, fairer treatment and eventually a cure for this debilitating illness.

I am still learning how to cope with my endometriosis and to deal with it and its symptoms but nobody suffering with it should have to just learn to put up with it. And so, if you are in a position to do so, please, please, please donate! Your donations truly do make a huge difference in the fight for fairer treatment for those suffering and hopefully we can eventually find a cure!

Thank you for reading - every penny helps.

Always keep fighting & remember no matter what anybody says you aren't ovary-acting!

Charlotte 🎗️

#EndoTheStigma