Running the Numbers

For people who didn't know, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis affects over 5 million people in the United States.

For people who didn’t know, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis affects over 5 million people in the United States. And people who live outside it, I’m sure, but I don’t have the numbers on that.

What I do have are my own numbers:

28: age at diagnosis
14: years between menarche and diagnosis

13: allopathic medical providers I’ve seen specifically for menstrual issues
5: alternative medicine practitioners I’ve seen for the same
3: number of times an allopathic or alternative practitioner has declined to work with me further because I refused to have a hysterectomy

2: diagnostic surgeries for endo
0: surgeries that were also able to be therapeutic

2000: milliliters of fluid in my average period
23: hormonal contraceptives I’ve tried
7: where my hemoglobin level ended up on them
12: months it took to get my iron levels back to normal

24: types of medical and herbal pain relieving substances I’ve tried
1650: milligrams at which I start to believe naproxen is a cruel joke
3200: where the line is for ibuprofen
4000: don’t even get me started on Tylenol

50: percent of my cycle where pain interferes with life functions
1: number of sick days I have left at work this year

I’ve lost count… of the times I’ve been told it’s no big deal.

Here’s the thing: I know that for other folks dealing with endo (diagnosed or otherwise), my numbers are not at all abnormal.