Dr Stephanie Lipnicki, DACM, LAc

(Trigger Warning: Please note this story contains graphic descriptions of endometriosis. Not for the faint at heart, but funny if you can get through it).

My kids went through a period of time where they were obsessed with butts. I am working on some stories about their butt antics, however this isn’t one of the stories about “the butt” it's sort of about my butt.

There are so many aspects of endometriosis that are painful, and so much educating needs to be done.

I can look back and laugh at some of them now, and some are still painful to discuss. I try to find humor in as much as I can. Living with a chronic illness that is massively debilitating at times doesn’t make it easy. I’ve very often played the card that there are so many others who have it so much worse than I have it. But at the end of the day, that thought process can often serve to diminish how hard some days really are.

Anyway, back to. . .

Did that just come out of your butt?

No. No it did not.

This question was asked of me by one of my twins. Why? Because when children are little they end up coming into the public bathroom with you and into the stall.

One of the issues with endometriosis is heavy bleeding. Very often I would bleed through a super plus tampon and pad (the heaviest tampons you could get at the time were super plus, I believe now there are ultra plus tampons).

In addition to Niagara Falls like bleeding, many with endometriosis pass REALLY large clots. REALLY large. When you wear a tampon, the clots will often sit on top of the tampon and then when you remove the tampon, they come gushing out.

Normally, for this reason, Acupuncturists will recommend pads (diva cups are also newer than the time frame of this story).

Back to the bathroom stall. Rhianna was still in a car seat, and despite nursing her, my period returned when she was around maybe 8 months. So Quentin and Xander were probably almost 3. (Pic below to reference how little they were)

I had driven up to Edison to meet a High School friend and her daughter with the kiddos at Chuck-e-Cheese.

Since bleeding through period products is common, I had to take care of business while we were there. My friend must have had Rhianna and I took the boys into the bathroom with me to have them go to the bathroom and go myself.

After taking care of myself, I leaned forward to dry the gushing blood and one of the twins (which one I actually can’t remember) happened to catch a glimpse of the toilet and very loudly said, “Did that just come out of your butt?”

MORTIFICATION

I could hear the laughter from others in the bathroom and I can only imagine what was running through their minds.

I did tell the kids what was in there DID NOT come out of my butt.

I remember being in pain that day, as was usual for me with endo. And I remember having to take pain meds to get through the day.

For the life of me I cannot recall WHY I thought bringing the kids with me to go to the bathroom when I needed to take care of endo issues.

I do wonder if there are people telling the story of a woman and her kids in the stall at Chuck e Cheese and what it was like listening from their end and wondering what the heck my kids saw.

As I said, there are some stories I can laugh about, and this was one that did not take me years to look back on and laugh about. It was funny when it actually happened.

I just wanted to share that in all of the horror stories, there are a few things I can laugh about in my life. And I want to share the good, the bad, the ugly, and the bloody of endometriosis so that others suffering know that they are not alone.

Every endo warrior experiences this shitty disease differently. But I don’t want anyone to feel they have to walk this path alone.

As always, if you have questions about how Acupuncture can improve your gynecological health, I am here for you.