My endo journey

I started my period when I was 12 1/2. From the start I had crampy, heavy periods but they run in the family so I thought nothing of it. I would go through a pad every hour and a half to two hours. I often woke up in a pool of blood. The summer after I started I noticed my ribs would hurt around my cycle, I thought it was weird but what do I know about periods. In September 2010 I had pain on my whole right side, I ended up with my appendix removed. We thought that would solve all my problems. Nope, I only got worse. I always hurt, especially after I ate, so I pretty much quit eating. Because of the pain after eating we thought it was a GI problem(gastrointestinal). My GI Dr. did every test imaginable and everything was normal. It always got worse around my cycle. Because of the pain I ended up dropping out of 8th grade, luckily I was ahead so I was okay. Because of the pain and absences my anxiety got really bad. Freshman and Sophomore year I struggled with attendance and being able to get my credits but I did it. Junior year(2013) started just like all the others, struggling with attendance but getting good grades. Around the start of the school year my periods were horrid, so painful and heavy. At Christmas my pelvic area hurt but I was due for my period so I assumed it was that. Even after my period I was still in severe pelvic pain. Many dr.s appointments later I was told about the possibility of endometriosis. Five days after my 17th birthday(February 2014) I went in for surgery. When I woke up I was told that I was covered in endo spots, in addition I had a pool of blood in my belly. To keep the endo under control I was put on birth control after surgery. I was to keep taking them continuously, skipping the blanks. Recovery was going great until it came time that I should cycle(2wks after surgery) then I hurt just as bad as before. We tried changing my birth control, that didn't work so we switched again. About this time I withdrew from school, because I was pretty much bedridden.When birth control pills didn't work we decided the best option was to put me into medically induced menopause. I did the Lupron for 6 months(June-December 2014) as recommended but even that didn't help. I resumed my cycle 4 months in. My pain never got better. It only seemed to get worse. In December 2014 I had excision surgery with a specialist in Ogden. He found that my endo had worsened and spread despite treatment. He got rid of ALL the endo. Now 4 months later I'm still in daily pain. I just started seeing a pain specialist and they tweeked  my meds just a bit but I'm already seeing a difference. I'm getting 1-2 days a week where I can be me again for at least half the day. I'm hoping that with continued tweeking of meds that I can get my life back. Even if I just got half of it back I'd be ecstatic. Just thinking about being able to wear my old clothes again and to be active brings tears to my eyes.

UPDATE September 2015: My daily pain levels have sky rocketed. We're now exploring other options for what could be causing the pain. Hopefully I'll get some relief.

UPDATE January 2016: I had surgery in December. Here's the deal with that.

UPDATE February 2017: I had yet another breast tumor removed(endo related as the hormones the endo feeds and grows from also feed and grow the BENIGN yet painful tumors. This is not well known.) I've had a total of 3 removed since 2012.

UPDATE April 2017: I had a 4cm cyst on my right ovary that needed surgery. It was removed and no visible endometriosis was found( I say no visible because there could still be microscopic endo and that could be the reason for my continued pain or it could "simply" be nerve damage). I am now back on birth control pills and skipping the blanks to hopefully stop the formation of more cysts and therefore prevent scarring of my ovaries.