One year since my endometriosis excision

25 Sep, 2026

Today marks one year since I had extensive endometriosis lesions scraped out of me for several hours. Though not my first abdominal surgery, preceded only by my bilateral salpingectomy a few years prior, the excision took a lot out of me. And not just because my bladder decided to stop working a couple days after the procedure, which prompted a traumatizing ER visit where no one paid attention to my bladder about to explode until I became hysterical. Still, I don't regret having gone through with the surgery. I'm incredibly grateful to my surgeon, who told me that I likely would have needed a bowel resection if I had waited much longer.

What's funny is that the "gray-tan irregular tissue fragments" submitted to pathology did not come back positive for endometriosis even though the diagnosis during excision was indeed that—"only" stage II but rather aggressive, according to my surgeon. But officially it was just "chronic inflammation." As somewhat invalidating as that is, I know that if it looks and feels like endometriosis, then it probably is. I don't study this disease, and is difficult to argue against histopathology, but I know how underfunded and therefore poorly understood this all is.¹

While I have a couple of hypotheses I ultimately cannot confirm, I don't know exactly why this happened to me; I'm healthy, active, and eat healthier than anyone I know. I don't know if I have more endometriosis brewing inside me that simply has not made itself known to me yet. I don't know how much my relief will last. Ideally, forever. Who knows how realistic that is though.

All I know is that my life is very different since a year ago. I'd never experienced that much pain before in my life. Until I started trialing a birth control pill in spring of last year that somewhat alleviated my worst symptoms up until my surgery date (and ultimately caused a B12 deficiency that I am only now close to recovering from), I had several sleepless nights each month when I would be jolted awake by pain that I cannot describe as anything besides like several knives mutilating my abdomen. I suddenly became so bloated almost daily that simply peeling myself from my bed or floor to go for a walk made me tear up. I had to attend pelvic floor therapy for months because my right pelvis was so clenched, always braced for the stabbing pain that I honestly cannot say I'd wish upon anyone.

Yet even before I first started to feel pain in December 2024 that I initially mistook for appendicitis, some things were not quite right for I don't even know how long: I couldn't drink so much as 500 ml of tea without needing to pee at least three times in the subsequent 90 or so minutes. I didn't realize until after surgery that I took this as normal, having to carefully schedule hydration around professional and social obligations so that I didn't need to empty my bladder so often. Honestly, I think most of my twenties were spent like this. In hindsight, it makes sense: besides lesions elsewhere, my surgeon removed a nodule that was pressing on my bladder and likely causing such urinary frequency. Between this and my post-surgical misfortune, it's no wonder that it took a while for me to trust my bladder again. A year later, it still shocks me sometimes that I don't need to make sure a restroom is always within eyesight whenever I go out in public.

So, yeah. Happy one-year anniversary to me. Fuck endometriosis and the patriarchal system that keeps patients from getting the treatment they need for it. I consider myself lucky for getting into surgery as "quickly" as I did.

I had a hormonal IUD inserted during the surgery that I wish I would have gotten a decade ago because I love it so much. So, now I'm chilling without a period and, more importantly, without any haunting symptoms of endometriosis. However, I cannot lie and say I never fear that tomorrow I will wake up greeted by that pain again.

Just enjoying being pain-free and also the official release of an amazing album today.