The Never Ending Endo Battle
Well, I am working from home today. And tomorrow. I finally got up enough balls to ask my school if I could work from home when I get my period. Talk about incredibly embarrassing. First I wrote a very passionate email to our HR director explaining to him the details of my condition. It has not been as much of an issue until this point because before, I could work from home whenever I wanted... and then I was on Lupron, so I did not have my period for a long time... but now that my body is kind of back to it's horrible self, here I am, feeling ill. I explained to him that its incredibly stressful to worry about when my period is going to come and then knowing that I HAVE to go to school because a) I gotta get work done and b) I do not want to use sick days (because I would still work at home due to necessity). I plead my case and explained that I had been a solid, responsible employee for 5 years, and that this privilege is not something I would abuse.
SO... the HR guy (cringe) edited all medical stuff out of the email and sent something to our principal. HE called me into his office. I do not feel shamed telling people about endo and how it affects me, but it is emotional. I began to explain to him the situation and welled up with tears. Not sure if THAT is what convinced him, but he said I could have days as I needed them. There were two caveats: 1) that I would fill out FMLA forms with my doctor that said I needed to be home and 2) I just need to say "as per our conversation" when I request the time. THAT is what I find embarrassing - like I want him to know each and every time I have my period!!!
But oh well. He has 4 little girls, so he is going to have to get used to period talk in a couple of years anyway.
Last night, I was not sure if I was going to get it TODAY or not, but I decided it was likely, so I asked to work from home for today and tomorrow. Good thing I did. Around 10am I got the tell-tale punch in the gut followed by a wave of nausea that always kicks things off. But I am so glad to be home. I cannot explain how much it has lowered my stress level, and therefore, lessened some of the pain of what I will deal with over the next 48 hours. Uh, it could be the excessive use of advil as well.... but I really do believe that lowering my stress level helps.
So that brings me to today's research: the endometriosis diet. Dear LORD, help me please!!! The endo diet eliminates the following: wheat, sugar, diary, & red meat. Of course it does!!! I was sick all last week and the only stuff that was staying in my body was BREAD and DAIRY. I eat more carbs and cheese than anyone else I know. But I guess I am willing to try. At this point, I might as well, right? But it is daunting... I barely cook for myself now, so to really carve out this time to make special food focused on fruits, veggies, and non-wheat stuff, is scary. I downloaded an ebook with a lot of recipes, but a lot of them were for drinks. Since I have no problem just drinking water all the time, this is not a big deal for me. But when I think of lunch (sandwiches), I have to do a little reconsideration. How will I substitute? Will it be hard? I think this is do-able: just use non-wheat tortilla wraps. Yeah, I can do that. And breakfast... I do love me some cereal... but there ARE other cereals out there, I just have to do some hunting. Dinner will be the tough one, but I think if I buy more veggies ( and commit myself to actually making them ) and pick up some more brown rice and quinoa.... maybe I can do it. I really have to pep myself up for this, because losing convenience and flexibility is tough. I think the worst part for me is snacks. I eat a lot of granola bars... hello sugar! Sometimes they even have flour in it. But there are a few whole foods places around here, they have to have SOME substitute, right? I can also eat rice cakes, which I actually really love.
Okay, so I am already feeling a bit better about this having written out my thoughts. Just small substitutions. And do I have to totally eliminate all that other stuff? Maybe not. Maybe if I just cut it way back it will help?
But I am really confused - why aren't there more people out there who promote this or know about it or could help me accomplish this? Why aren't there doctors who say this works? When so many people are having good results, why is it not promoted more? It is disconcerting.
So I guess I will see how it goes and try to chronicle things here as I can. I remember when I was younger and I barely knew I had my period. I remember having no pain and no problems. And then it all changed. Why did it? I don't know. But it was a stark change. I hope that maybe I can have another stark change and go back to feeling healthy. :/
SO... the HR guy (cringe) edited all medical stuff out of the email and sent something to our principal. HE called me into his office. I do not feel shamed telling people about endo and how it affects me, but it is emotional. I began to explain to him the situation and welled up with tears. Not sure if THAT is what convinced him, but he said I could have days as I needed them. There were two caveats: 1) that I would fill out FMLA forms with my doctor that said I needed to be home and 2) I just need to say "as per our conversation" when I request the time. THAT is what I find embarrassing - like I want him to know each and every time I have my period!!!
But oh well. He has 4 little girls, so he is going to have to get used to period talk in a couple of years anyway.
Last night, I was not sure if I was going to get it TODAY or not, but I decided it was likely, so I asked to work from home for today and tomorrow. Good thing I did. Around 10am I got the tell-tale punch in the gut followed by a wave of nausea that always kicks things off. But I am so glad to be home. I cannot explain how much it has lowered my stress level, and therefore, lessened some of the pain of what I will deal with over the next 48 hours. Uh, it could be the excessive use of advil as well.... but I really do believe that lowering my stress level helps.
So that brings me to today's research: the endometriosis diet. Dear LORD, help me please!!! The endo diet eliminates the following: wheat, sugar, diary, & red meat. Of course it does!!! I was sick all last week and the only stuff that was staying in my body was BREAD and DAIRY. I eat more carbs and cheese than anyone else I know. But I guess I am willing to try. At this point, I might as well, right? But it is daunting... I barely cook for myself now, so to really carve out this time to make special food focused on fruits, veggies, and non-wheat stuff, is scary. I downloaded an ebook with a lot of recipes, but a lot of them were for drinks. Since I have no problem just drinking water all the time, this is not a big deal for me. But when I think of lunch (sandwiches), I have to do a little reconsideration. How will I substitute? Will it be hard? I think this is do-able: just use non-wheat tortilla wraps. Yeah, I can do that. And breakfast... I do love me some cereal... but there ARE other cereals out there, I just have to do some hunting. Dinner will be the tough one, but I think if I buy more veggies ( and commit myself to actually making them ) and pick up some more brown rice and quinoa.... maybe I can do it. I really have to pep myself up for this, because losing convenience and flexibility is tough. I think the worst part for me is snacks. I eat a lot of granola bars... hello sugar! Sometimes they even have flour in it. But there are a few whole foods places around here, they have to have SOME substitute, right? I can also eat rice cakes, which I actually really love.
Okay, so I am already feeling a bit better about this having written out my thoughts. Just small substitutions. And do I have to totally eliminate all that other stuff? Maybe not. Maybe if I just cut it way back it will help?
But I am really confused - why aren't there more people out there who promote this or know about it or could help me accomplish this? Why aren't there doctors who say this works? When so many people are having good results, why is it not promoted more? It is disconcerting.
So I guess I will see how it goes and try to chronicle things here as I can. I remember when I was younger and I barely knew I had my period. I remember having no pain and no problems. And then it all changed. Why did it? I don't know. But it was a stark change. I hope that maybe I can have another stark change and go back to feeling healthy. :/
posted by FireWithin at 2:23 PM
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