Bec's Endometriosis and Infertility Story
By Rebecca Malon
Rebecca Malon is a Brisbane based osteopath and clinical nutritionist in women’s health, and is passionate about empowering people to nourish their bodies and live life to the fullest, without compromise. Bec comes to this place of passion and knowledge from her own experiences with endometriosis and infertility, a space where she was keen to create change. Like many affected by endometriosis, Bec was assured many of her most problematic symptoms were normal and upon receiving her diagnosis initially found it hard to accept that she even had endometriosis. As part of Endometriosis Awareness Month, Bec shares her journey to diagnosis and through infertility in the hopes that it will help others who may be affected by endometriosis, infertility or recurrent miscarriages.
CW: This post deals with the topics of IVF, infertility and pregnancy loss. If any of these topics are triggering for you, consider returning to this post at another time and reaching out to your support network.
I’m Bec, I live in Brisbane with my husband, son and our golden retriever Walter. I come to QENDO through both professional and personal experiences. I work as an Osteopath and Clinical Nutritionist in women’s health. Primarily dealing with pelvic pain, endometriosis, infertility, IVF support and pregnancy and postpartum. I have always had a huge interest in women’s health but it was through my own struggles with hormonal issues, infertility, miscarriage and endometriosis that grew my passion and desire to create change in this space with the skills I have. I run my own business, Freya Health, offering nutrition and osteopathy services for women . You can follow me on Insta @freyahealth_.
I was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis in May 2019 after experiencing my 3rd consecutive miscarriage. I vividly remember waking up in recovery with my surgeon at my side explaining the D&C went well but the exploratory laparoscopy he did was far greater than anticipated. They set out to see if there was any explanation for the recurrent miscarriages, 6 hours later I was still on the operating table, unbeknownst to my anaesthetised self, having excision surgery. I was shocked, bewildered and in denial. I kept telling him ‘no I don’t have endometriosis, my pain isn’t bad enough, I can’t have it.’ He reassured me that I did and thought it best he come back the following day when I was a little more coherent.
Once it finally settled in it did in fact make sense that yes, I did have endometriosis, just that my symptoms were a little vague and widespread, not the excruciating pain that many women suffer from. I suffered mild period pain and cramping, nothing really of note and on the odd occasion would take some Panadol or Nurofen, have a hot water bottle and sit on the couch. It was the deeper lying symptoms which got misdiagnosed that really plagued me for many years to come. I suffer from severe cystic acne, I experienced irregular ovulation and ovulation pain that saw me doubled over in agony when I came off the pill at age 23, I was assured this was normal. I suffered endo belly, but at the time didn’t know what that was – I had immense bloating, to the point of regularly looking 6 months pregnant. It was horrifically painful. I was admitted to hospital at 18 and had my appendix removed as they thought I had appendicitis, the surgeon later told me I didn’t, but was best to take it out just in case. At 25 I remember going out for dinner with my mum who had recently moved back from living overseas; on the drive home I was doubled over in pain from bloating and cramps. I ended up sitting in the footwell of the passenger seat of the car the entire drive home.
I also suffered from IBS for over 10 years, this was always dismissed and put down to parasites or picking something up on a trip overseas or stress. Yet it started long before and lasted long after travelling and appropriate treatment. My IBS controlled my life, I would be anxious about eating at certain places or not knowing where the nearest toilet may be. I decided I was intolerant to so many foods – gluten, dairy, fructose, etc etc…. I lived on a restricted diet and yet my symptoms worsened. I also experienced amenorrhoea for nearly 4 years. Doctors told me I was in menopause at 26. That’s heartbreaking. The truth was the gut symptoms and restricted diet caused me to lose so much weight my body decided it wasn’t safe to procreate thus shut down my reproductive system.
When my husband and I decided to try for children I knew it would be an uphill battle. Step 1 was trying to regain a menstrual cycle, this involved weight gain, which in turn involved the return of cystic acne, severe bloating, cramping and ovulation pain. I was incredibly lucky and in disbelief to fall pregnant 3 months after my period returning. This was September 2017. On December 21st , 2017 I discovered I had miscarried, our daughter had a chromosomal abnormality. The moment looking at the ultrasound screen and being told there is no heartbeat is so strongly etched in my memory. You don’t know what to say or do. Miscarriage is sadly such a taboo subject that no-one speaks about it. I carried shame, guilt and felt like a complete failure. Sadly, we went on to conceive another 2 times and lost both babies, there was no clear explanation why. We had conceived naturally. When seeking professional help, we were told IVF would be the best course of action to achieve our dream, a big part of me knew something else had to be the reason for our troubles and that IVF wasn’t the only solution. Having been so consumed and so hurt by our losses we decided to try several rounds of IVF; unfortunately, that also was not meant to be.
After many unsuccessful attempts at IVF, IUI and 3 miscarriages the fertility specialist, who is an incredibly skilled surgeon, decided a laparoscopy may shed light on why we were struggling to conceive and maintain pregnancy. The surgery revealed endometriosis on my ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder, uterine wall, pouch of Douglas, bowel and broad ligament. 2 months post-surgery we conceived our beautiful baby boy who is now 7 months old. My gut symptoms whilst still there to a degree have vastly improved. I can eat a wide variety of foods without worrying how I may respond, and I haven’t suffered the debilitating cramping and bloating again.
I know I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to the pain experienced due to endometriosis as mine was fairly manageable. My biggest issues have been the ongoing IBS and infertility. It was heartbreaking, demoralising and at times all encompassing, yet this rollercoaster of emotions has provided clarity of my purpose – I want to help as many people as possible suffering infertility, recurrent miscarriage and the common yet often missed and more subtle symptoms of endometriosis.
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