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Life has brought be a few challenges along the way, starting with the side effects of birth control, and the eating disorder I developed from trying to counteract the weight gain during my teenage years. Because my symptoms were masked for so many years, I had a delayed diagnosis by ten years, and the only reason my diagnosis became priority was because my doctors were trying to understand why I could not get pregnant. An ablation and a divorce later, I decided I did not want to put my body through IVF so I made the decision for myself to carry on in life without biological children of my own.

When I started to put myself first, that’s when I found the love of my life: a man who not only loved me for who I was, but brought tremendous joy into my life. Unexpectedly though, for both of us, once I moved from a hot climate to a very damp one, my body fought against me. A relationship of 3 years and no medical issues was now challenged by massive, life altering, debilitating health conditions that we had to learn to navigate together, but also be true to our own emotions during the tough times. That year, I was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, and was started on biologic infusions, in addition to the 6 hour laparoscopic excision surgery to remove endometriosis from my ovaries, tubes, bladder, colon, spine and diaphragm.

I don’t dismiss that I had a lot of support around me, but at that time in my life I was living alone - across the entire country from my support system. There were days I was living in the bathroom, wondering if I was going to die alone. Needless to say I moved back home, in with my now husband, and leaned into the help that others were constantly offering me. My cup was full, but moving meant finding all new doctors, submitting patient record requests from hospitals across the Nation to build my case and fight for the right doctors. All just in time for yet another excision surgery - each from renowned Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgeons - to remove endometriosis from every facet of my body again. That last surgery was 5 years ago, and going strong!

Sadly though, that last excision somehow caused chronic constipation which is not something taken very seriously in the medical system, let me tell you. I did every test you can dream of, including a defacography, scopes, colonoscopies, colon cleanses, … until I was having to do a colonoscopy prep every 10 days just to have any sort of a bowel movement. The tests had shown my brain and my rectum were no longer communicating, which means I had no muscle control to push poop out. I was finally, after three years of advocating for myself (and during the pandemic nonetheless), I received a sacral neurostimulator that will now remain in my lower back for the rest of my life.

In light of my journey I have done a lot of work to strengthen my mind and my body. I have led a remarkable career, found balance between fight and rest, and recently discovered that I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) which shines a huge light on a lot of my own emotional trauma I have carried with me throughout my life.