I was Diagnosed with Endometriosis at Age 22

After waking up, the first thing I noticed was my very dry mouth and throat. I tip my tongue to the roof of my mouth and wipe the dried tissue. I attempt to swallow, then try to breath deep, but I don’t get very far.

The second thing I notice is the ache in my stomach, painful and uncomfortable. The air pumped into me will dissolve fully in a few days, but right now it feels like someone blew up a balloon in my abdomen.

I gaze around the hospital room. Same one as before the surgery, ugly yellow walls and thin white blankets. My mom sits with a book in the corner; brown wavy hair pulled back in her usual bun. The only difference from before is I have a needle in my hand. I trace the tubing from my hand to the empty IV.

Mother’s intuition kicks in and my mom hops up from her chair. She leans over my bed and smiles at me. “How are you feeling?”

I open my mouth and croak. “Okay.”

She puts a hand on my arm as the nurse walks in, “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

I nod. “Alright.”

“Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?”

I nod again.

She rattles off a list of food and I pick toast with peanut butter. After she leaves, I try to pull myself up in the bed. After only a second of struggle, my mom helps me sit up. She starts telling me what the doctor told her, but I start to wonder about my school work; college doesn’t care that you had…