My Life

Throughout our lives we encounter certain obstacles that deter us from our goals and dreams. Personally I feel that I have overcome several very serious barriers that could have been seen as “life-ending” to others.

At the age of 17 I was diagnosed with severe endometriosis which is a painful, chronic disease that affects 5 1/2 million women and girls in the USA and Canada, and millions more worldwide. It occurs when tissue like that which lines the uterus is found outside the uterus. This misplaced tissue develops into growths or lesions which respond to the menstrual cycle in the same way that the tissue of the uterine lining does. Menstrual blood flows from the uterus and out of the body through the vagina, but the blood and tissue shed from endometrial growths has no way of leaving the body. This results in internal bleeding, breakdown of the blood and tissue from the lesions, and inflammation -- and can cause pain, infertility, scar tissue formation, adhesions, and bowel problems. In severe cases, this can spread to the spine as well as the brain.

Treatment can come from pain medication, hormonal therapy, surgery, as well as alternative treatments. I unfortunately experienced each level of treatment; each pill, shot, laparoscopy without ever relieving the pain. When I started at Baylor in the fall of 2003 I felt that the disease was under “control” was seemed that way until the fall of 2005 where the pain became more and more intense and constant. I am naturally a very motivated person that strives for perfection but this disease was leaving me tired and depressed. At the “pinnacle of pain” this past spring I was unable to attend class, visit with friends, or even sit up. The doctors had discovered that the lesions had spread up my spine, across my pelvis, and to the underlining of my stomach. The only possibility for me to ever lead a normal life again was a full hysterectomy. At the age of 23 I underwent a massive surgery to remove the lesions in my...