A Brief History

Bonjour! And welcome to my new blog. My name is Brodie Joyce (but you can call me Brie) and I was born in the land down under (aka Australia) but moved back to New Zealand with my mother to be with my kiwi family when I was one year old. And little to my knowledge, and my mothers, my future was going to be a roller coaster - a constant up and down with health issues. The first twelve years of my life were as normal as any other twelve year old girls who I went to school with. I had a few fainting episodes at school but it was looked at as a mental health issue which completely confused myself and my parents. Fast forward a year or so, the pelvic and abdomen pains arrived, even before my period had started - but I suppose, my body was preparing itself to begin my menstrual cycle. And when my first period did arrive, it wasn't the best experience of my life, that's for sure. I got it during the night while I was asleep, and woke up in the morning feeling a little bit sick. Once I noticed there was blood in my sheets, a huge wave of nausea came over me to the point I was dry reaching over the toilet. It was not from the sight of blood as I'm completely fine with that. My parents told me that was normal when you get your first period, however now that I know what illness I have, it was far from normal. 

Once I had started getting my period every month, the intense pain started. I went through ultrasound after ultrasound, hospital visits and emotional turmoil. And the confusing thing was, the pain wasn't prominent just at 'that time of the month', it was consistent every week of the month. Being told by doctors and specialists that it was normal and just one of those things, and the pain can be controlled by birth control (the pill). It took a while to find the right type of birth control, around a year. One type gave me morning sickness, another made no difference what so ever. 

To make a long story short - my GP ordered another ultrasound, but this one was different from all the others that I had. The radiologist actually wanted to find out what was wrong and did an internal scan. That is when she found something. A dermoid cyst on my left ovary. It seemed like a negative thing at the time, but endometriosis was found during the surgical removal of the cyst as well as having the Mirena inserted. When I got told by the surgeon I have endometriosis, I had no idea what it was at the time and to be honest, it wasn't explained to me in the detail in which I deserved. So it was up to me to do my own research.  I found out endometriosis is a chronic illness, that there is no cure and no sure explanation as to how it has come about and what causes it. Which did break my heart. The risk of infertility, more surgeries in the future was crushing. Knowing that having this illness will create issues in my future for finding a husband and life partner. I had a boyfriend at the time when all of this happened, but unfortunately we are not together anymore. Endo did make it difficult on the both of us, although he didn't know or was aware of the half of it. One thing that needs to be important to a person with any chronic illness is this; respect. Never take anything less than that from your significant other.

I am making changes in my life that are necessary in order for me to live a normal life as much as I possibly can. Dietary changes and positive thinking. I constantly have a heat pack on my pelvis when Im at home, and am on multiple pain killers. Possibly in the process of having yet another surgery but I'm a very lucky lady. I have so much support in my life from family and friends, I'm so grateful for what I have. I have the opportunity to study, to live, to love, to have fun. In comparison to other ladies, my endometriosis is light. And that, my dear friends, is a blessing for myself. And I wish that I could help every woman with endometriosis.

This is just a light overview of my experiences as an introduction to this blog. My intention is not to complain or anything in that sense. It is to educate others on this illness, this one that is near the top of the most painful chronic illness list. If I'm correct, it's the third one. I am going to share what my life is like, the struggles that I go through and what every day is like for a person going through something like this.

So if you'd like, check back in every now and then to see my new posts. 

Lots of love,

Brie xx