I guess the first thing I should do is tell you what the word means. Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus instead. It doesn't sound very painful but I can tell you from experience that it is, in fact, extremely painful. By sharing my story, I hope I can help girls recognize if they have symptoms. It's important, especially since it can cause infertility in the future. If you're here reading out of curiosity, I hope to give you an insight on what (over 170 million) women might go through if they have Endometriosis.

Alright, now I'm going to start from the beginning. First off, I had the most irregular menstrual cycles. Sometimes it was like 'hey, I'm gonna make you wait over a month until I come back' and other times it was like, 'hey, now this time I'm only going to let you have one week, maybe two, before I come back.' And don't get me started on how my period lasted exactly seven days, sometimes eight, (I know awesome, right?). Because I didn't have any real pain back in the high school days, I never suspected Endometriosis. Sure the usual back pain showed up but it wasn't until sophomore year of college that my period decided it wanted to make feel like I was dying... and that I knew something was wrong.

Time to cue the immense back pain and rectal pain. I've tried describing what the pain was like but I am never satisfied with what I come up with in the end. However, here's what I continually told/tell people: imagine someone taking two 100 pound weights and smashing your lower back between them. Imagine someone taking a mallet and smashing it to your insides. Imagine someone is stabbing your rectum. (Again, pretty great, right?) Sure it may sound like an exaggeration but it's the best I could do to get anyone to understand the pain that occurred during my period. There were times I literally couldn't move. I couldn't do anything for three days. I could never focus on homework. I'm not afraid to admit that there were times I was screaming from the pain. I always tried not to but it was like I couldn't control it. (And yes, I tried lot of pain killers... that never helped.)

After that, I finally went to the gynecologist and discovered that there was indication I had Endometriosis. The first step was trying different birth controls. Apparently, usually Endometriosis pain should go away when you're on birth control, but that wasn't the case for me. Sure the birth control helped to get rid of most of the excruciating pain, but the rectal pain I was still having concerned my gynecologist. After trying two different types (which took like, I don't know, over 10 months), we finally decided it was time to have the laparoscopy surgery done to determine if it really was Endometriosis.

I just had the laparoscopy performed less than a month ago. The recovery was a slow, painful, and long process (for me at least), but worth it. Despite all the pain, I only had minimal/mild Endometriosis (which confuses me because I feel like that's an absurd amount of pain for only mild Endometriosis). Anyway, they were able to laser away the Endometriosis they found, along with nerves that were also causing me pain, and a cyst. The period following that? It was the most tolerable I've ever had.

There may not be a cure for Endometriosis but there are ways to help with the pain. Again, that's why it's important to know if you have Endometriosis. If you think you are suffering from Endometriosis don't be afraid to talk about it. Take it from me, it may have been a couple of long and painful years but I am finally able to say I feel freer than I've ever felt, and I don't want you to have to endure the pain I did. In other words, I don't want you to let the pain control you for as long as I let it control me.

Check out a fellow Odyssey author's article on Endometriosis. She's totally right.

10 Things College Women With Endometriosis Are Tired Of Explaining