Endometriosis, Type 1 Diabetes, and Finally Getting an Answer
Arden was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at two. After years of pain, excision surgery found endometriosis on her uterus, ovaries, rectum, and colon. This is her post, in her own words.
Arden shared this on Instagram on the day of her surgery. It appears here with her permission, as she wrote it. See the original post on Instagram.
Today, I underwent laparoscopic excision surgery for endometriosis. During surgery, they found endo on my uterus, ovaries, rectum, and colon. They also discovered that my colon was adhered to my pelvic wall. Suddenly, all of my years of pain had a reason behind them.
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at two years old. Thyroid problems at 12. Iron deficiencies and debilitating periods by 15. PCOS in high school. I’ve spent so much of my life in doctors’ offices, emergency rooms, and hospital beds, searching for explanations and trying to understand why my body feels like it’s betraying me.
I thought it was all normal, ya know, parts of being a woman. The joint pain. The bloating. The nausea. The headaches. The exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. The brain fog that makes you feel like you’re losing your mind. The stomach issues, urinary symptoms, painful sex, acne, and weight fluctuations. The pain in my ribs, shoulders, back, knees, and ankles. Periods that don’t just hurt, but completely take over your life.
“Suddenly, all of my years of pain had a reason behind them.”
Arden BennerAfter enough pain, doctors, hospitals, medications and the hate I started to feel towards my body, I decided it was enough. Today I got to see there was a physical explanation for the pain I’ve been experiencing most of my life.
Chronic illness is hard for most people to understand, it takes away your life. You cancel plans. You miss experiences. You lose relationships, opportunities, and parts of yourself. You watch other people your age live so effortlessly while you’re calculating whether you’ll have enough energy to make it through the day. And at some point, you start to resent the body that’s keeping you alive.
However, as much as I hate this stupid body… It’s gotten me through every diagnosis, every hospital visit, every needle, every sleepless night, and every day I thought I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s not perfect. It hurts. It changes. It makes my life a hell of a lot harder than I’d like it to be.
But it’s mine. And it’s pretty fucking cool.
P.S. Thanks mom and dad, I love you.
See the original post on Instagram →
Listen to the Juicebox Podcast
Conversations about diabetes, five days a week, since 2015.
Read the full disclaimer
