r/Endo

I recently posted about my concerns that my previous surgeon was referring me to specific excision specialists because she’s Catholic.  Well, now I know for sure.

At a follow-up appointment to discuss my recurring/rapidly growing endometriomas and next steps for hormone testing, I asked my doctor to talk me through all of my options to treat my stage 4 endo while preserving fertility if possible.  She said that if I explored fertility treatments like IVF, it would be like putting 40 babies in the freezer and then 39 babies in the trash, and babies should be conceived only in a passionate act of love between a man and a woman. WTF.

And when I said I’m not Catholic, don’t share those beliefs / morals, and am searching for treatment plans grounded in science, she said she only referred me to napro surgeons because non-napro (non-Catholic) surgeons don’t take their time, they’ll just take out my organs and stitch me back up.

At the end of the appointment, as I sat in the chair and cried about the pain I’ve been in for months, asking her for other pain relief methods while I wait for consultation with a different excision specialist, she stood over me and said God is in control. And told me to take melatonin.

This entire thing is wild. This doctor has managed my care for 1.5 years, including operating on me and diagnosing me with endo. I hate knowing that my care has been influenced by her religion the whole time, without her disclosing her limited recommendations. This shit should be illegal.

EDIT: Her name is Dr. Anh-Van Mai. She’s currently in the New Orleans area and has previously worked in Texas.

Well, the day has come. My flexible remote-working job is slowly turning into a hybrid job and I am losing my mind slightly.

I’ve worked remotely for nearly two years and it has worked really well for me. We now have a new manager who is keen to bring everyone together for regular “team bonding” days. I have absolutely no issue seeing my colleagues, but it’s now become a set 9–5 coworking office day every fortnight (yes it could be worse but that’s not the point here).

With my endometriosis, I know there are certain points in my cycle where my energy and symptoms are significantly worse. I can’t predict exactly how I’ll feel on a particular day, but I know that my periods are very heavy, can last up to 10 days, I have to change period pants every few hours, feel disgusting and on top of that need a TENS device to counteract the pain when it peaks (that part usually only lasts 2 days). I also have to take antidepressants for PMDD as I used to spiral into depression and suicidal thoughts before every period so it really is a battle.

I’ve provided a GP note saying I need flexibility around these periods and suggested monthly office attendance as a baseline, with additional days for things that genuinely benefit from being in person - workshops, brainstorming, external speakers etc. Instead, I’ve been told that if I’m not well enough to come into the office, I should take a sick day. I would of course take a sick day if it was a very bad day and have done before multiple times.

The thing is I am usually well enough to work. I can work perfectly effectively from home. I’m just not necessarily well enough to add 2–3 hours of commuting and a full office day on top of it.

I’ve now had repeated messages asking whether I’m coming in despite having already said I’m working from home, and I feel like I’m being made to feel difficult for asking for flexibility.

After posting about this on a legal/work advice subreddit, I got absolutely destroyed in the comments 😂 Clearly a lot of people have no understanding of endometriosis or chronic conditions with monthly flare-ups.

So, fellow endo sufferers - am I actually being unreasonable here, or does this sound like a reasonable request for flexibility that is being ignored?

I am wondering if any other endo warriors go through this cycle where a period is either really painful or I just feel sick; like queasy, no appetite, exhausted, body feels heavy & all I wanna do is sleep.

I’m currently on a sick period and in misery. I haven’t eaten all day because my tummy doesn’t feel good. I took a nap and managed to eat a little Mac and cheese but I’m still struggling through it :( I did also make tea and I have water and electrolytes so I’m hydrated at least. But idk I guess this is better than excruciating pain but also it’s still miserable and I feel like I can’t get shit done bc brain fog. Hell I haven’t even smoked weed today and it’s 3 pm because I’m too fatigued to worry about that at all. And I can’t take an edible bc if I gag I think I’ll puke. I’m a huge stoner, I usually wake and bake or at least have one bowl by now so me not even having the energy to even hit my pen is super telling.

Anyone else get like this?

My friend and I both have Endo I want kids and she doesn’t, often she makes fun of me for wanting kids and positions herself as morally superior. She often invalidates my feelings about my infertility journey reminding me I can adopt, which sometimes makes me feel like shit because I know I can adopt but it feels like that isn’t the point.