Hi, my name is Lillian Green.
I’m a 22-year-old female in the United States Navy, and I have endometriosis. I was diagnosed with endometriosis about a year ago. For years I suffered from what doctors would simply call “painful periods.” Deep down, I always knew something in my body wasn’t right
I got my first cycle at a very young age – around the 5th grade. Since then I’ve lived with pain that most people can’t even imagine. There were times I couldn’t walk or even see straight because the pain was so intense. There were times the pain made me throw up. The amount of times I’ve accidentally almost burnt myself with heating pads and hot baths. Being so desperate to soothe the pain.
Before the age of 18, I had already been through countless emergency room visits. OB-GYN appointments and internal and external ultrasounds. Yet no one seemed to have answers. As I got older, things only got worse.
The pain stopped being something that only happened during my cycle. It became constant. Something I felt even when I wasn’t on my period. Sex became painful, sometimes triggering the worst flare-ups imaginable. Getting sick for no reason. Always being sleepy and having little to no energy for anything.
I remember one day when I was working as a daycare teacher. I had a flare-up so severe that I nearly passed out in front of my students. I was rushed to the hospital. I was put on extremely strong pain medication just to sleep through the pain.
Over the years I’ve been handed Pamprin, Midol, and more Ibuprofen than I can count. Of course, the endless birth control prescriptions. Each one bringing new side effects. Putting my body through even more mental and physical stress as hormones constantly changed.
During that time in my life, I signed my contract to join the Navy. When I arrived at my first duty station was when I was finally diagnosed with endometriosis—and you’ll never believe how it happened. I got food poisoning while I was on my cycle. I do not recommend that combination, by the way ( double dragon). I spent hours in the emergency room before doctors decided to do a full body CT scan. That scan revealed a cyst on my right ovary. After I recovered from the food poisoning, they sent me to an off-base OB-GYN. After explaining my years of pain and concerns, she recommended surgery.
During the surgery they discovered one ovarian cyst on each ovary, along with endometriosis on my uterus. But it didn’t stop there—it had also spread to my bowels. Because of where it had spread they wouldn’t be able to remove all of it. It’s something I will have to live with for the rest of my life. Their solution was to place an IUD and continue trying different hormone treatments.
After surgery, my body went through another difficult change. I gained a significant amount of weight and reached almost 200 pounds. For reference, I’m 5’2, and before that I was already struggling with my weight at around 170 pounds. Endometriosis also causes constant bloating, which makes it even harder. It can feel like your own body is working against you.
Being in the military, there’s no pause button. Flare-up or not, the work still has to get done. It also began affecting my confidence and my relationship. Sex became painful no matter the position. It started to make me feel like something was wrong with me. Like my body was failing me in ways I couldn’t control.
But I refused to let that be the end of my story. I started removing things from my daily life that were hurting my body. I began focusing on my gut health, physical health, and learning how to better care for myself. Today I’m 154 pounds and still working every day to feel better. My flare-ups still happen sometimes, and the pain never fully goes away. It gets worse with intercourse and unhealthy habits, but I’ve learned ways to manage it. Every day I’m still learning, still healing, and still fighting to find new ways to feel better. Even with everything endometriosis has taken from me, I’m still here pushing forward, one day at a time.