Dereham woman's plea over checking for endometriosis

Jai Page from Dereham has shared her story of endometriosis, which has plagued her life since 2014.

The uncurable condition is where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries, causing cysts and long-term chronic pain. 

Jai Page from Dereham has shared her story of endometriosis (Image: Jai Page)

The 32-year-old was sitting in the gynaecologist's room at the age of 24 when she heard that it would be near on impossible for her to have children of her own.

Despite this, she had a little girl, conceived naturally - but is calling on people to listen to her story and get checked.

“My teenage years were full of heavy periods, extreme pain and fatigue, which I thought was normal for girls my age,” she said.

Jai Page from Dereham spent every day burning her stomach with a hot water bottle to try and ease the pain (Image: Jai Page)

“If it weren't for my mum taking me to the doctor, I would never have had tests done and got the answer.” 

Reaching her twenties the pain became constant, flare-ups daily made people think she was pregnant.

“I spent every day burning my stomach with a hot water bottle to try and ease the pain,  this has now left me with no nerve endings and burns all over my stomach,” Miss Page added.

She had two operations to try and remove the endometriosis, one burning the endo cells and then the second cutting away the endo from her organs - revealing to suffer from stage four complex endometriosis, scattered around her kidneys, bladder, bowel, cervix and uterus.

The young mother added: "I'm so lucky to have gotten my little girl and to have my mum and dad whose love and support have helped me through, but I am pleading if my story sounds similar, to get yourself checked." 

She is on the waiting list for a hysterectomy but is determined to give her little girl the best childhood she can.