Enduring Endo: An Introduction

 

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It’s been years since I last shared my story with endometriosis online—not because it was a closed chapter, but because I didn’t want to keep revisiting the pain. At the time, it was stage three, a relentless force, but one I could somehow manage. Then, in 2019, after another surgery, I was diagnosed with stage four, the most severe. I chose not to dwell on it. Instead, I focused on what lifted me—the gift of life. My first baby had finally arrived after years of battles, and I wanted to write about what I loved.

But then, the birth of my second child this summer changed everything.

What should have been a moment of joy became a fight for survival. My endometriosis, which doctors assured me would be silent during pregnancy and wouldn’t impact childbirth, flared with a vengeance none of us were prepared for. Missteps were made—ones that nearly took my life and continue to shape my days now. The scars from that night are still healing, but the journey is far from over; another surgery looms, one that may take my uterus before I’ve even reached thirty.

So, I’ve decided to open this space again—not only for myself, but for every woman who lives with this misunderstood, often minimized condition. Endometriosis is more than “very painful periods” or an obstacle to fertility. It’s a relentless assault on the body, often affecting vital organs, and it reaches far beyond the surface.

Enduring Endo is where I’ll share what it means to live with this weight—how it feels to manage a life built on moments of reprieve and resilience, yet marked by days that demand strength beyond words. For those of us who carry this invisible burden, there is nothing “mild” or “manageable” about endo. It’s there when we cancel plans at the last moment, when pain pins us to the ground, when fatigue settles in our bones.

And so, this is where I’ll bring light to the reality of endometriosis—sharing my story with anyone willing to listen, in the hope that it might give another woman the courage to keep going, or the world a reason to better understand.

Joanna Colomas1 Comment