# The Brutal Reality of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis with Georgie

An episode of [The Cyclist](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1799823350), 23 Sep 2025, 52 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/101bd2764/podcast/play/108683416/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-8-23%2F5cce0d14-db23-3d04-9e15-f2fed6df9dff.mp3

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Georgie, who courageously shares her real story with endometriosis and adenomyosis. She speaks honestly about the symptoms she’s lived with, the multiple surgeries she’s endured, and the ongoing challenges of navigating life with chronic pain. We dive into how her diagnosis has reshaped her day-to-day - from the difficulty of holding down work to the way her dreams of having children have shifted. Georgie’s openness is raw, relatable, and a reminder of the resilience so many women draw on while navigating these conditions. Follow & Connect:Instagram: @wearethecyclistWebsite: wearethecyclist.com Hit play to listen in and join the journey.

## Transcript

[0:06] This is The Cyclist, the podcast that finally talks about your
[0:10] reproductive health the way your group chat does.
[0:12] No awkward silence, no sugar coating, just the real messy.
[0:16] Holy shit, why did nobody tell me this convos about your body.
[0:20] I'm Jess Quinn and I'm Catherine Douglas.
[0:23] We've been where you are, confused, dismissed and left
[0:26] figuring it all out on our own. So we're gathering the
[0:29] information we wish we had. We are the cyclist.
[0:33] Your cycle decoded. Hello everyone, welcome back to
[0:42] The Cyclist. It's Jess here.
[0:44] I wanted to jump straight in and give you a little update.
[0:47] And I promise that my updates aren't always going to be post
[0:51] miscarriage stuff. But I know a lot of you have
[0:53] been following along and I know a lot of you are on a similar
[0:57] journey and I think just talking about periods is important.
[1:00] So I just finished my first period post miscarriage and can
[1:06] I just say I have never been. I was going to say so excited
[1:10] for my period to come. I was really excited but it was
[1:13] such a mix of emotions for obvious reasons.
[1:16] I had had a lot of people and no shade at all.
[1:18] It was so helpful to hear such encouraging things.
[1:20] But so many people be like I was pregnant.
[1:22] Like I didn't even get a period in between.
[1:24] I was pregnant straight away and I thought that was going to be
[1:27] me ITMI but timings were right and I had all these symptoms and
[1:35] I wasn't sure when my period was going to come back.
[1:37] And it got to like day 45 and I was like maybe I'm pregnant
[1:40] because I have never had such sore burbs in my life.
[1:44] They were so painful. I was getting all of the
[1:47] symptoms and I thought maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, maybe I'm
[1:52] pregnant straight away after miscarriage.
[1:54] And although that came with so many different emotions, I did
[1:57] feel a little bit excited. I did record myself taking a
[2:00] pregnancy test because I was like, imagine if it actually
[2:02] happens. Like that would be wild.
[2:04] I got a negative. I did take another four
[2:06] pregnancy tests over the next week because I was like, why is
[2:09] my period still not coming yet? I have all the symptoms.
[2:12] So that was a. Roller coaster of emotions that
[2:15] week and I was I was kind of relieved because I wanted to
[2:19] give my body time to recover and if it needed that time, then
[2:22] that's what it needs. But at the same time for this
[2:24] process to just this snow with which it wasn't with Marla would
[2:28] be really nice with Marla. It took us nearly a year
[2:31] postman's carriage to get my to get pregnant again with my cycle
[2:34] to normalise and we'd already been trying for a year at that
[2:37] point. So I guess all of this just
[2:39] feels really triggering for me and there's so many unknowns.
[2:42] But I'm just holding on to the fact that I do strongly believe
[2:45] in the timing of all these things and it will happen when
[2:48] it needs to happen. And right now we are obviously
[2:50] really, really busy with our special projects.
[2:52] So I figured if that's what if that's what I don't know, maybe
[2:57] it just doesn't the right timing right now.
[2:59] Any home. I finally got my period and it
[3:03] was such a relief. I have never felt such relief to
[3:07] get my period because all of a sudden all of my symptoms went
[3:10] away. I posted this on the Instagram
[3:12] so you may have seen but I had such bad bloating to the point
[3:14] that I looked as pregnant as I would have been had I not
[3:17] miscarried, which was such a mind fuck honestly.
[3:20] It was horrible. And now post period I still
[3:25] don't feel 100% myself, although whatever does that when you've
[3:28] got chronic health issues. But I feel a lot better.
[3:31] It was like the biggest buildup of my life.
[3:33] And even if you haven't had a miscarriage, you might be able
[3:36] to relate to that with periods that are kind of all over the
[3:39] show. The build up of the PMS could be
[3:41] so much when you have kind of cycles that are all over the
[3:44] show. So yeah, I wanted to share that.
[3:46] Just to share a little bit about where I met personally.
[3:49] I said the other day, like how relieved I feel that we're
[3:53] through it kind of feels like we're through the miscarriage
[3:55] now. And the sense like it was such
[3:57] an unknown post miscarriage of when my cycle was going to come
[4:00] back. And now I'm have had a cycle.
[4:02] I don't know, it just feels nice.
[4:03] I'm really interested to see what this next cycle brings,
[4:06] hopefully the pregnancy, but it'll be interesting to see if
[4:10] it starts to get to 1 normal length or because the cycle was
[4:13] 50 days, but that's obviously normal after miscarriage doesn't
[4:15] always go back to normal. So yeah, I wanted to share a
[4:19] little bit about that. As you can say on our socials,
[4:22] we are working so hard on our secret project.
[4:25] And if you're listening to this maybe like a day later than
[4:29] launch and then this episode coming out, then you might
[4:31] already know what her name is. It's so exciting.
[4:35] I, I'm not sure if I'm overhyping it or I'm under
[4:38] hyping it. I just can't wait to bring it to
[4:39] you. I also wanted to say thank you
[4:41] so much for people who bought tickets to our community event
[4:44] and the bigger. Sorry to anyone who missed out
[4:46] because that sold out so fast. And unfortunately, we only had a
[4:51] really limited capacity the, the they knew that way holding it
[4:54] only holds X amount of people. But because we saw such
[4:57] interest, we're definitely gonna do more events.
[4:58] We have another one coming up in October.
[5:00] So I know it's not gonna be in Auckland for those of you who
[5:03] aren't in Auckland, which is really exciting.
[5:05] And we would really like to keep doing these because building
[5:08] community and connecting with you guys in real life is what's
[5:10] so important to us. So that's really exciting.
[5:13] You'll be seeing hints. A lot of you probably already
[5:14] know what the product is if you're watching the hints.
[5:17] We're just so excited. This all means a lot to us.
[5:20] We've been through a lot in the process of building this
[5:23] business and it's something that we wish we had access to when we
[5:29] were going through. And he's it was something that I
[5:32] guess we, I'm going to stop, I'm gonna give it away, I'm gonna
[5:35] stop. But I, we're just really excited
[5:36] to bring this year. We've been working so hard on
[5:38] it. We've been working with
[5:40] incredible, incredibly smart people to bring it to life.
[5:43] And we just really hope you guys love it too.
[5:46] And what we launch on launch day, the 6th of October is just
[5:50] the beginning. There is already so much plan.
[5:52] So yeah, we're really excited and we hope you're really
[5:55] excited too. Now the other thing you keep
[5:57] demanding is real stories, our real stories on our social.
[6:00] Are what Pop? Off the most you guys obviously
[6:02] love, and I love as well hearing from people who have walked
[6:05] similar paths do because sometimes that's just what you
[6:08] need. And one of our models from the
[6:10] photo shoot lives with Endo. She shares a bit about it on her
[6:13] socials. She's also got adenoma and has
[6:15] gone through so many health issues to the point where she
[6:18] really struggles to work and has just been through a lot.
[6:20] So when I was talking to her at the shoot, I really wanted to
[6:22] get her on the podcast. So we managed to make it happen.
[6:24] And that is what today's episode is.
[6:26] So today we have Georgie. She tells her story so openly.
[6:30] She goes into her relationship and dream of wanting to have
[6:34] children and where she's at with that, her multiple surgeries,
[6:37] her diagnosis, the alternative treatments she's trying, the
[6:41] mainstream treatments she's tried.
[6:42] She speaks so openly about everything and I'm really
[6:45] grateful for that because it's so nice to hear other people's
[6:48] stories. I did want to say when we share
[6:50] real stories that obviously these people aren't medically
[6:53] trained, they're just sharing their stories.
[6:55] So please, please speak to your doctor.
[6:57] If if you're interested in anything, please speak to your
[7:00] doctor first because this is just one person's experience.
[7:03] But we've really want to hold space for people to share their
[7:05] experience exactly as it is and their emotions and their
[7:07] feelings. So if this brings up anything
[7:10] for you, please go see your GP. Please talk to a psychologist if
[7:12] you need. Just make sure you have that
[7:14] support and get the advice that you need.
[7:17] But we really hope you enjoy this episode, loved interviewing
[7:20] Georgie, and will be in your ears next week.
[7:22] Talk. Soon, Georgie, welcome to the
[7:24] cyclist Hi hi excited. This is so fun when.
[7:29] You. Have you been on a podcast
[7:31] before? I love.
[7:32] Them I listen to them. I mean, I have my seasons when I
[7:34] listen to them all the time, but.
[7:35] Stop. So we are breaking your podcast.
[7:39] I just thought I didn't know. That great place to.
[7:41] Start this is so fun. We've had a lot of we share real
[7:44] stories on the cyclist and they're almost engaged content
[7:47] that's on our social page. But except for the odd real that
[7:50] people would say, well, do they really say that out loud?
[7:53] Those always go well, but we we shared a few real stories
[7:57] recently and people just really love and I'm someone who really
[8:00] loves just hearing from people who have been through it.
[8:02] And so when I met you. So for those who don't know,
[8:05] ohh, most of you and I will launching every secret Georgie
[8:08] is actually an on Georgie was one of our models.
[8:11] We found her on the ground and because I mean, we wanna do well
[8:16] because of your amazing. Well, my mother lists South.
[8:22] Little itself, but also the fact that you had indoor was so cool
[8:25] to have a model who's like lived and breathed what we're about
[8:29] and who also does modelling. So that was just an absolute one
[8:32] for us and we wanted to use people from the community.
[8:35] So that's really exciting, but that is how we met for everyone
[8:39] who's wondering and we got talking and I just your stories
[8:41] obviously really amazing and I love how open you are about
[8:44] sharing your story on your social.
[8:45] I mean, like you kind of what not not anybody, but like I
[8:48] said, like I have naturally it was going to get her.
[8:51] It was kind of a given. I feel like when Snapchat first
[8:53] came around, I was on stores all the time talking about anything
[8:56] and everything. I've never been like a closed
[8:58] off type of person because I think I just love people and I
[9:00] love connecting. And so when it came to my
[9:03] journey with Indo, it was just kind of a given and I think I
[9:07] find it wasn't even quite relate to people.
[9:09] I didn't even know It was when I first got diagnosed.
[9:10] But I also just feel like, not to sound like really myself, but
[9:15] we need more people like me or like asteroids and can, I don't
[9:20] know, give off, No, not even advice.
[9:21] Just have that relatability to people because I wish I had
[9:24] someone like me back then, you know?
[9:26] He's like vocalise the journey. Yeah, I think it's so important,
[9:29] but it is not always easy sharing your story.
[9:32] But I know a lot of people appreciate it.
[9:33] We like to start with a question.
[9:35] What have you demystified about your body as an adult that you
[9:38] wish you knew when you were younger?
[9:44] I think I probably, I don't even know cliches rightward, but I
[9:48] think that being a woman really is not that easy.
[9:51] Like as a whole it's not even down to, I mean obviously sixes
[9:55] and little things like that, but how we are portrayed, how young
[10:00] women, girls and adults are portrayed on TV as so far from
[10:05] the truth. Like obviously we are over
[10:06] sexualised. So naturally what we grew up on
[10:09] TV watching is kind of the expectation we have grown up in
[10:11] my household. Not that it was anybody's fault,
[10:14] but we didn't really talk about health, Women's Health, sexual
[10:19] health, periods, all the things like that.
[10:21] And so I didn't really go into adulthood with any knowledge
[10:24] about what to expect. My mum especially like in her
[10:27] generation, she didn't grow up with that.
[10:28] They do not talk about periods. You kinda just harden up, get
[10:31] over it as a part of life, move on.
[10:33] It's the life of being a woman. And then when I started growing
[10:37] up, that's kind of the mindset I had, but I also knew that there
[10:40] had to be more to it than this is normal.
[10:42] This is the expectation of being a woman, deal with it, move on.
[10:46] Because there are a lot of things that I thought was really
[10:48] unfair. When I started having my
[10:49] periods, they were really heavy. Again thought it was normal and
[10:52] it was like being woman. Plus, outside of my household,
[10:54] that was what I guess all of us would hold or not hold
[10:59] differently as it this was kind of.
[11:02] It wasn't that they were expectations set, it's just that
[11:05] everything was normal. The pain was normal, the heavy
[11:08] bleeding was normal, the sore breasts, the, I don't know, like
[11:13] what to expect from boys and other things.
[11:14] Like everything was just normal. That is so not normal.
[11:17] And then I had to unpack that myself because I started feeling
[11:19] off and I was kind of like, this shouldn't, but everyone else is.
[11:22] It's normal. So maybe it is normal.
[11:23] I don't know. So yeah, I think to put a long,
[11:29] long, long story or answer short, I think it was just my
[11:32] expectations. Well, well off.
[11:34] And I think a lot of us are in it these days.
[11:37] Here's why I love talking about it.
[11:38] And I'm so open and I'm such an open book because I didn't, I
[11:42] didn't know all this stuff growing up.
[11:44] And it's good for someone like my sister who went through very
[11:47] similar journey to me. And I was, and we were all kind
[11:49] of like even my mum were all discovering all these sorts of
[11:52] things, these expectations, these narratives that we have
[11:55] been fed and grew up with. We all learned that through me
[11:57] and my journey. Yeah.
[12:00] It's like someone's got to set the tone right.
[12:02] And I think I always say to Todd, my husband with my all of
[12:06] my issues, I'm like, sometimes I wish I could just jump and your
[12:08] body or someone else's body. Sorry, other way around.
[12:10] I wish you could jump in my body and be, I love jumping, right?
[12:14] Jump in my body and be like, ohh, that's not normal.
[12:17] Or like, no, your brain talks. That's not rainbow.
[12:18] That's just the human experience.
[12:19] You know, it's like so hard to know if what you're experiencing
[12:22] is normal, isn't or expected. You know, it's so confusing.
[12:27] You mentioned you've had heavy periods and I know a little bit
[12:30] about your journey, obviously from the apps that we've had.
[12:33] But what, what did your journey look like in terms of your
[12:36] woman's health? When did you first start to
[12:39] realise something maybe wasn't right?
[12:41] Ohh that's such a long story. But, And that will be the end of
[12:43] book, yeah. That'll be done like just my son
[12:49] of my life cycle. I did have periods from 13 now
[12:51] always heavy will put on the pole like it's just you're very
[12:54] typical normal woman's story put on the pole anyway.
[12:57] And when I was about I think it was like 19 and things started.
[13:02] I was working full time as a receptionist at a home building
[13:05] company and love my boss who was absolutely amazing.
[13:08] And I'm so thankful that I had him because that's sort of when
[13:12] my woman, no, not in my womanhood.
[13:15] When my cycle started to really go downhill and it was really
[13:20] painful periods now it was like more than the cramp.
[13:22] It was to the point that like I would be hunched over all day or
[13:25] would have to take the first day or two of my period off because
[13:27] it was so painful. I was bedridden and then I was
[13:31] back and forth all the doctors and it was the typical here's
[13:33] some codeine, here's some panadeine, here's some tramadol.
[13:36] And I was just like, none of us is obviously working, but I
[13:39] trusted in our medical system. Here's mistake.
[13:42] I do think it has a place. I will say just for the record,
[13:45] I do think our that medical systems do have a place.
[13:48] But for situations like mine, nobody was listening to me.
[13:51] I kept saying this isn't working.
[13:53] I'm in so much pain. And then it got to a point that
[13:56] one night after I think it was a friend's birthday, one of my
[13:59] husbands, we had intercourse as you and it was absolutely
[14:07] painful. Like my vagina literally felt
[14:08] like it was on fire. Wow, most pain ever.
[14:10] We stopped. And then from there I was like,
[14:12] OK, something really isn't normal because this is not
[14:14] normal. You cannot tell me that this is
[14:16] normal. So anyway, back to the doctors.
[14:17] And I say the same thing isn't pain relief.
[14:19] It's just cyclical. It's whatever all the things I
[14:22] love to tell us. And then I rang while I'm crying
[14:25] because I'd come back from the doctors not listening to her
[14:28] again. And she had said leave it with
[14:30] me. She literally rang the doctors,
[14:31] She yelled at them over the phone as mums do.
[14:35] Yeah, the one you don't want to miss 1.
[14:37] So she rang them screaming. They were like, well legally we
[14:39] can't, you know, give you her details or anything like that,
[14:41] but we'll get her atal gynaecologist and he's like,
[14:44] it's about time. I think that one of the been
[14:46] like 5 months of back and forth of this and mind you I had full
[14:50] health insurance as well, but you know.
[14:53] Still didn't help. Help.
[14:55] So then I booked another appointment and then I wonder if
[14:59] the doctor was literally scrolling through a list of
[15:01] gynaecologists and was just like, who do you want?
[15:02] And then ask like, I don't know, like you're the professional.
[15:05] Tell me. It's just like I've hit this
[15:07] sounds like a good reviews. Not so much.
[15:10] Okay. And she was like, ohh, Sun has
[15:12] really good reviews. He's laughing.
[15:13] I was like, we'll book him, booked him in.
[15:15] And then I had my appointment, had my consultation with him
[15:19] when doctor surgery straight away I cried cause he was like,
[15:21] well the first thing he said to me was like, I believe we are
[15:23] symptoms. You don't need to tell me a
[15:24] story again. We'll book you in for leprosy
[15:25] and well, and I'll say ohh, my gosh.
[15:27] At this point, did you, had you done your own self research and
[15:30] be like, I think this might be X or were you just like, I don't
[15:33] understand what's going on? You didn't you weren't like
[15:36] chasing a certain diagnosis. It was like, what is?
[15:39] This I don't know like I did not know endometriosis existed.
[15:42] I didn't know any woman's health conditions existed at all.
[15:45] I just knew periods, pregnancy, like all the very stock standard
[15:49] things have been a woman going back to like the whole
[15:52] expectations of being a woman. Thing is, I just, I don't know
[15:54] any of this world existed because it no one ever talks
[15:56] about it. It's such a taboo thing.
[15:58] Women don't have pain and problems and all these sorts of
[16:00] things cause they're so dramatic.
[16:01] So this was just, I don't know, I thought I was in my kid and
[16:04] that this was normal. It just goes back to that whole
[16:06] concept of normal. And so no, I wasn't researching
[16:10] anything. I didn't not to look into.
[16:11] I didn't even know where I saw my gynaecologist what Indo was.
[16:15] Never heard of it before. Had he mentioned that in that
[16:17] first consult you said I wanna book you for a surgery, Yeah.
[16:18] So he might have been though. Yeah, right.
[16:20] Tommy, kind of what to expect that it could be cause we did
[16:23] the pre consultation, post consultation testing which was
[16:27] like an internal swab ultrasound, internal ultrasound,
[16:31] external ultrasound, bloods like all the things just to fully
[16:34] rule everything out and nothing showed up.
[16:35] And he said from that, if nothing shows up, it was likely
[16:39] to be endometriosis. The scan was clear.
[16:41] Yeah, all the scans were clear, No.
[16:43] How many years ago was this? This was in 2017.
[16:46] OK so nearly 10 years ago, which makes sense cause I know the
[16:48] technology for internal scans has gotten better, but it's
[16:50] interesting because I know that spoiler alert, how far along
[16:53] your endo had progressed that point.
[16:55] So interesting that didn't show up on an internal scan.
[16:58] Exactly. And the scary thing was that I
[17:00] had my surgery like a month later.
[17:02] I had stage 3, borderline, stage 4 endometriosis.
[17:06] Endometriosis. But the thing that was scary the
[17:08] most was that he had said to me if I'd waited even two more
[17:10] weeks to see him, I could have lost my ovaries.
[17:12] That's how bad the endo. Was because it was on your
[17:14] ovaries. Close to it.
[17:16] It was everywhere, literally everywhere.
[17:18] There's not even over dramatising.
[17:20] It was literally everywhere except my ovaries.
[17:21] Wow. So it was on my bow, it was on
[17:24] well my rectum, it was on my pouch of Douglas.
[17:26] It was on ligaments and ribs and other things like that.
[17:31] And that like always gets to me because all these months, years
[17:35] that I've been going to the doctors for like just get tired
[17:39] and it's typical. And then I was like at 19 years
[17:41] old, I could have lost my. Ovaries, which is such a scary.
[17:44] So that's terrifying. But like, thank goodness for
[17:47] your confidence and self advocating and then your mum and
[17:50] then finally finding a gynaecologist who listen to you.
[17:53] Yeah, it's such a series of events that have to go right,
[17:56] unfortunately, which is what really.
[17:58] Frustrates it shouldn't be a fight like why can't you just be
[18:01] for the person who generally. OK, so you had your laparoscopy.
[18:04] How did you feel post surgery? What happened?
[18:07] They diagnosed you post surgery. Yeah, yeah.
[18:09] So I got the diagnosis the day after my gynaecologist came in.
[18:13] I've had, I know if this is spoil these, but I had two other
[18:15] surgeries in the processes. The investors now are quite
[18:17] different. I he came in the day after I am
[18:22] because I'm health insurance. I got private gynaecology, which
[18:24] is why I was able to get seen so fast, which I think is the thing
[18:26] that a lot of women don't know either.
[18:28] I didn't see it as any like, what's the word?
[18:32] I didn't say it as any privilege because I didn't know anything.
[18:35] I didn't, I just yeah. So I'm very lucky that I have
[18:38] always been with a private gynaecologist.
[18:39] And so I get sync. What can I get better treatment,
[18:42] unfortunately, which is again a huge privilege.
[18:44] And I feel bad for having, you know, I guess the system and
[18:47] woman. But yeah, anyway, he came in the
[18:50] day after my surgery, told me the situation that he'd found X
[18:53] amount of Indo had shown me his little drawing that he had and
[18:56] we're all sort of things. And I again, I still didn't
[18:59] really know what that meant. I kinda just thought, okay,
[19:02] whatever I had is now no longer there.
[19:04] I'm good now. So he was confident they had.
[19:06] Removed. Yeah, yeah.
[19:07] And he's always explained to me work.
[19:10] I don't know. A lot of people seem to know
[19:12] him. A lot of women seem to know MVP
[19:13] saying he's based in Hamilton. I've got amazing.
[19:15] There you go. Come through the community a lot
[19:18] when we ask for gynaecology recommendations.
[19:20] Highly recommend cause he finds Indo so small.
[19:23] I don't like literally a speck of dust, rain and sand type
[19:26] thing. He's very thorough in his job,
[19:28] which is great because you get what you pay for with him.
[19:31] But he yeah, told me all the things, told me what it was,
[19:34] what it meant and that it had been fully removed.
[19:37] And then he pulled out the booklet of the photos that they
[19:40] took and I was not prepared. That's why I gagged.
[19:43] I was like like, I'm not not. Once again nothing this is me
[19:46] out smells pictures like nothing grosses me out but looking at
[19:50] literally my insides was discussing especially post
[19:53] surgery coming off anaesthesia I was like.
[19:56] Did you have the moment? This is what got me the most was
[19:58] like the gynaecologist, they just smashed it.
[20:00] So there's your ovaries and this is your uterus and this is this.
[20:02] I was like, this just looks like a muddy mess.
[20:04] Like how like in my head, the whole race in the uterus is like
[20:06] that cute little diagram that we've always.
[20:07] Seen which spoilers? It does not look like that.
[20:09] It's just this little thing like that's tucked away like this.
[20:12] I know it's so wild. I was like ohh I thought my
[20:15] insides are way cuter than that not.
[20:16] Really. Yeah, they're not really,
[20:18] unfortunately. But yeah.
[20:20] And then sorry, Tom, the diagnosis, all the things, and
[20:22] then I'd have follow up and kind of just like what to expect for
[20:24] the next cause generally it's two, I have two weeks off post
[20:27] surgery or two weeks off work and that'll be kind of sore take
[20:31] it easy pain relief or things like that.
[20:33] And I didn't like it was fine. It was hard.
[20:36] Like I couldn't make straight for the first week and a half,
[20:39] almost the whole 2 weeks. I was like, I was propped up
[20:41] fully like pretty much like this.
[20:43] Wow, couldn't sleep like straight down anything like
[20:45] that. Again, I didn't bring much work
[20:46] cause I didn't when I had no expectation going into work.
[20:48] I didn't know what it was. I've never had surgery before,
[20:50] never been under anaesthesia and never I've always been, I've
[20:53] always had a weak immune systems.
[20:54] I've always been sick, but I never had anything wrong with
[20:58] broken bones, none of that. So I kind of went into it with
[21:01] no expectation, which I think was probably a good thing.
[21:04] It was just yeah, saw for the first.
[21:07] Can I ask, just interrupt? I know there will be a lot of
[21:09] people listening. I'm someone who surgeries is
[21:11] just like, it's like my most. I've just, I've been around the
[21:14] block. Yeah, I've had a few surgeries
[21:15] and I'm so for me, like going into a surgery as much as like I
[21:18] think surgery is always going to be daunting, is something I'm
[21:20] very used to. So I'd love to hear because I'm
[21:22] sure there's a lot of people sitting at home being like, I
[21:23] need to have some kind of surgery, my woman's health.
[21:25] And I'm feeling really overwhelmed by the thought of
[21:27] that. How did you do?
[21:29] Was it as scary as you thought it was gonna be?
[21:31] Do you have any types of someone who maybe has an experienced
[21:33] surgery and a feeling that anxiety?
[21:35] Well, because I like I said, I like have never experienced
[21:39] surgeries or anything like that and therefore I had no
[21:41] expectation. I think there was no time for me
[21:43] to work myself up. For me it was ohh, my gosh,
[21:45] someone's listened to me and finally getting answers.
[21:47] However, when I had my second surgery, my anxiety was through
[21:53] the roof even though I knew what to expect.
[21:55] Actually, I will say with my first surgery, when you get like
[21:58] all your booklets of like what to expect and they're
[21:59] anaesthesia book, it seems like one in 100,000 people are
[22:03] conscious during surgery or something.
[22:04] And I was Maria, I'm gonna be that one person.
[22:07] I'm gonna feel everything. I'm gonna hear this walking
[22:09] number. I don't know all three
[22:11] surgeries. I have not.
[22:12] So I can't confirm that I'm not the one, and you may not be the
[22:16] one either. The odds are very slow.
[22:18] Yeah, exactly. But yeah, with my second
[22:20] surgery, I think because I did kind of know what to expect.
[22:23] And again, spoil is my second surgery, I was diagnosed with
[22:28] analysis as well because of that.
[22:31] I didn't know what that was either.
[22:32] But because of the whole year of their, my anxiety was through.
[22:36] I drew my anxiety through the roof anyway.
[22:37] So coming into my second surgery, I was very, very
[22:40] anxious. But I think because I knew the
[22:43] hospital, I was going into the staff and my gynaecologist
[22:45] because I knew I was going to be well looked after.
[22:47] It was COVID 2, no or just kind of that's another little Yeah, I
[22:51] think I was. It's the only thing that calmed
[22:53] me. And when the anaesthesia hurts,
[22:55] I'm out. That's no time to stress, no
[22:58] time for anxiety. So I was fine.
[23:00] But as it's daunting because I mean, if you're an over thinker
[23:04] like me, I think I'm either not going to wake up or I am going
[23:07] to wake up during or pain's gonna be like all these sorts of
[23:11] things are not good for someone that isn't very, very anxious.
[23:15] But I think the thing that keep kept me going for it and the
[23:19] thing that got me through is just knowing I'm getting
[23:23] answers. And if I don't get answers
[23:24] through that, I know where to go from there then.
[23:27] And that's the only thing you really can focus on.
[23:30] I like that kind of seeing something that can be quite
[23:32] daunting, which is like the actual surgery as like more of
[23:34] like a path towards something that you're wanting, you know,
[23:38] opposed to focusing on the actual surgery because you are
[23:41] in for the most part hopefully and really great hands, you
[23:44] know. So I just, I don't know, it's
[23:45] nice to talk about because I know that a lot of people out
[23:47] there find the thought of the surgery understandably.
[23:50] Yeah. I mean, I find it daunting and I
[23:52] had a million, so yeah, it's a lot to go through.
[23:54] So you then got diagnosed. Sorry.
[23:57] How far after your first surgery did you need a second surgery?
[24:00] So my first surgery was 2017 and then I again didn't know the
[24:04] time, but I became symptomatic of adenomyosis at the start of
[24:07] 2021. And so at the time, because from
[24:10] my first surgery I had a Marina and sorted while I was under
[24:13] thank goodness and Horror Story. I'm not about, I mean I have a
[24:16] high pain tolerance, but I'm not about pain, you know, watch on
[24:18] foot going myself if I can avoid it.
[24:21] And so when, yeah, I became really sick at the start of
[24:24] 2021, like I woke up dry retching look kind of happened
[24:28] consistently for a couple of months.
[24:29] And then it was dating like an appetite, the pain,
[24:32] inflammation, all the things like that and the swelling or
[24:36] yeah, all those sorts of things. Yeah.
[24:37] So then I kind of, I started seeing different specialists.
[24:39] The thought of Indo coming back did not cross my mind for ages.
[24:43] And by that point it had burned something.
[24:46] It had been four years since I've had my first surgery.
[24:49] So I was seeing specialist, I had hydrocyanic flushes, I was
[24:52] getting bloods done, went back to the doctors because I kind of
[24:56] was at my wits end. And then I kind of thought, ohh,
[24:57] maybe my marina's at its expiry date closer because they have
[25:01] like a three to five year olds now.
[25:04] I think they depend on who asked.
[25:05] Some people say 7 years, some people say 5.
[25:07] And then I thought, ohh, maybe it's due to be replaced.
[25:10] So I e-mail my gynaecologist and I said, hey, I'm having all
[25:13] these symptoms. I think I need to replace my, I
[25:16] think I need to replace my Marina.
[25:17] We'll have to replace. I didn't know what the symptoms
[25:19] were, if it was wearing off, but it kind of felt like it was
[25:22] wearing. Don't know why.
[25:24] I've never had them, you know, prior to that.
[25:26] Anyway, we did that because of the state of my endo and the
[25:34] pain, that trauma essentially that had happened or the extents
[25:39] of my last surgery. He put me under anaesthesia for
[25:41] my Marina change did that. And then I kind of came right?
[25:45] But still not really. And the daily notion was just
[25:48] kicking my ass like I could not handle it.
[25:51] And then at the start of 20, 22, I just had this ohh, my gosh,
[25:57] what if it's Indo again by e-mail, my gynaecologist again.
[25:59] And I was like, Hey, my symptoms haven't subsided since Marina
[26:02] replacement. I think it might be Easter
[26:04] again. And he was like, because again,
[26:07] I've got health insurance and it's and come for him.
[26:10] I guess he was like, no doubt. We'll book you another surgery.
[26:13] We'll book another Crosby, do the thing.
[26:15] And then if we're not find anything, we'll deal with it
[26:19] from there. We'll figure out what to do from
[26:20] there. Have my second surgery and and
[26:23] sort of like towards the start of 2022 stage 2 Indo and adding
[26:29] around Soho. Also, Oh my God, it's like
[26:32] lovely sister. Yeah, exactly.
[26:36] And that for me, again, I didn't know what Amaris was.
[26:39] That's basically the same as indoors like except it's just
[26:42] not removable. So again, I had to relearn my
[26:46] whole body again because when I had my first surgery up until
[26:50] that decided 2021 when I got sick, I was back to life as
[26:53] paranormal. Like I thought that was me done.
[26:55] I thought, cool, I'm cured, I'm healed.
[26:57] That's me for the rest of my life.
[26:58] Great news. All fine.
[26:59] For a while I thought I was straight back into the gym,
[27:01] weight lifting. I was doing my yoga, like living
[27:04] my best life and then got circum, Then it was down here
[27:07] and then it was like, ohh, this is Elena May Isis.
[27:09] It's never going away. Well, yeah, yeah.
[27:13] Yeah, and I was kind of like, ohh, my gosh.
[27:15] So then it was brain learning my body what that meant that it
[27:20] isn't going away and how to live with that and deal with that.
[27:22] And but for me, again, it was nice because it was confirmation
[27:27] that I wasn't going crazy and I wasn't making up my symptoms.
[27:29] And I, you know, these things weren't normal.
[27:33] There's an explanation as to why why I was going through all of
[27:36] that. Can be such a relief.
[27:37] I know that a lot of we've spoken about it a lot in the
[27:40] community that a lot of people get that sense of relief
[27:42] afterwards, but which feels like a weird thing that's not raising
[27:45] it totally makes. Relief, but they're not like no
[27:47] OK, now this is my reality. Like that sucks and it shouldn't
[27:51] be a thing, but. So where are you at now with
[27:54] your endo and your Atenolol and your health journey?
[27:57] What? What is your kind of day-to-day
[28:00] week to week month to mum look like?
[28:04] We need a lot of time for this side Yeah okay I tried to put
[28:08] another Long story short. So just because of personal
[28:10] reasons in life last year. Ohh sorry two years ago at the
[28:14] end of what we now turn patching port in the 2023 I got over life
[28:17] and I said to my husband I wanna move to Australia.
[28:19] I'm sorry thank you wanna runaway.
[28:20] So we did that for us. It was great because we could
[28:23] just make more money. All these sorts of things like,
[28:27] you know, I was getting my groove back into life because
[28:29] crushed up fresh start basically.
[28:31] And I'm not one to do that. I'm such a homebody, but it just
[28:33] felt like I needed to just getaway from everything that
[28:36] I've not. Then four months into their
[28:39] during that time, I was sort of like looking for work, throwing
[28:42] up my feet because my husband was working in the mines.
[28:44] Great money, which meant for him as well.
[28:46] He said to me like, I don't even care if you get a job or not,
[28:49] cause we're fine. But if you want to do something,
[28:51] do something. If you don't, great, don't care.
[28:53] And the nicest way either. Yeah, do that.
[28:59] And so, yeah, four months into that, I became really sick
[29:02] again, except this time I was actually vomiting.
[29:05] I my inflammation was horrendous.
[29:08] It was the appetite was gone. The nausea was through the roof.
[29:12] I wasn't, uh, just everything that could has been going wrong
[29:19] was going wrong. And it was really hard to be
[29:21] sick away from home with my husband doing FIFO.
[29:25] So I was technically like home alone.
[29:26] We were flirting with friends, but they didn't really know this
[29:30] world, you know? And no one knows you better than
[29:31] like your partner, the one that you live with the most.
[29:33] And so yeah, I was going back to the doctors.
[29:37] Healthcare in Australia is different.
[29:38] There are a lot nicer, really do care about you.
[29:40] Not to throw shade, but also I was still in good hands and we
[29:46] were doing all the tests. I got CT scan done, more bloods
[29:49] done, vaginal swabbs, internal external ultrasound, everything
[29:54] possible that I could get at the time.
[29:56] I got nothing came up. It's asking away, OK, am I going
[30:02] crazy? Am I making this up?
[30:03] Is it stress? Is it anxiety?
[30:04] It's probably all the things, the fact that I'm in a
[30:06] completely different country without my husband, you know,
[30:09] kind of going long distance after being like, we've been
[30:12] together 11 years now and then all of a sudden going long
[30:14] distances. Yeah.
[30:15] And saying so I thought it was just all stress and anxiety,
[30:18] which I'm sure played a huge part in it.
[30:19] But I also knew something else off because every kind of like
[30:23] cyclical mug steps lead up really badly and then the
[30:27] vomiting would happen, all these sorts of things, and so most
[30:30] severe. Symptoms come around when your
[30:32] period starts. Around them out because I've had
[30:34] a Marina for I think like 8 years now.
[30:36] I never really know what as my period or what my ovulation time
[30:41] is. I kind of have a rough idea, but
[30:43] they all kind of blend or one on the same.
[30:45] Now actually if I do know when I'm in malarial phase because
[30:48] everything's sad, I'm crying all the time and I do know when I'm
[30:52] like at my best and I'm like I'm gonna slay the world, I'm gonna
[30:55] takeover the world. I feel amazing me today.
[31:01] Everything OK? We got to go straight away.
[31:05] He came back, I had my third surgery booked in, did that and
[31:10] there was the same diagnosis as last time, which I forgot to
[31:13] mention as well was by seeking out those surgery.
[31:15] It was stage 2 endo adenomyosis and my left ovary was adhered to
[31:20] my uterine wall. So, and that's the kind of pain
[31:24] that I was feeling when I got really, really sick sort of this
[31:26] time last year. But my gynaecologist had said it
[31:30] did not explain. Like that in itself is intense.
[31:34] And I have had at that point then three surgeries.
[31:36] So it's a given that pain of any kind is going to be heightened,
[31:40] any kind of touch or do you think Scottish or things like
[31:42] that? Naturally it's going to be
[31:43] heightened. But he said it's not enough to
[31:45] explain my symptoms. There is something deeper going
[31:48] on. And from there, you know,
[31:50] recommended certain types of things always to, you know,
[31:54] carry on through life. So from there, I had to keep
[31:56] doing some digging. I still kind of don't have
[31:59] answers. I get why resonance scanning
[32:01] done. Don't ask me what scientifically
[32:04] that means. It's kind of like MRI sister,
[32:08] but like not really medically. Um, that's something that you
[32:15] can go to the doctors for. Yeah, something you said, yeah,
[32:18] holistic. That's it.
[32:19] And it's something you see in P4.
[32:21] So I started doing that actually a couple of years before I moved
[32:23] to Australia was like generally my natural hair.
[32:26] She doesn't do it now. So I see someone different, but
[32:28] my net repair that I started getting by resonance scanning
[32:31] from literally saved my life. It's such a detailed look into
[32:35] your body. And again, it was just a more
[32:37] confirmation that I'm not crazy and I'm not making my symptoms
[32:39] up even like post surgery and things like that.
[32:42] You, even though the indoor can be removed, let's say it's just
[32:45] indoor or it's just a cyst or something and it gets removed,
[32:49] you're still gonna have lifelong problems cause when you've had
[32:51] physical trauma down there. And it kind of just at least the
[32:56] way that I have experienced it as their endo and adenomyosis,
[32:59] of course, it weakens your immune system.
[33:02] And it's, I like to call it an attention hog.
[33:05] And there it takes all the attention from my vital organs
[33:07] and the normal function of my body and just directs it to the
[33:10] Indo itself. So then my system start failing.
[33:13] I was close to organ failure. I found out from one of my bio
[33:16] scans, close to organ failure. I had like no stomach acid
[33:20] issues with blood circulation. And so it was answers.
[33:24] But I'm still not all the way there.
[33:26] Yeah, because I'm still unwell. I had this issue with like my
[33:29] bow. It's a very obvious pain.
[33:32] I see my chiropractor who thought it was a distended bowel
[33:35] we worked on that, fixed it temporarily and it's yeah, it's
[33:40] still all there. It's just a.
[33:42] It's a cluster fuck of everything, Like everything that
[33:46] could go wrong has gone. Wrong.
[33:47] It's so confusing with chronic health, and I can definitely
[33:51] relate to what you're saying is it's really hard to, once you go
[33:54] through it or once you're so far into it, to then unravel this.
[33:58] Like it's like a really tangled necklace, right?
[34:00] It's like, where's the start and where's the end of all of this
[34:03] and which thing is causing which thing?
[34:04] And it's so hard to figure that. Out constantly going around in
[34:08] circles and it's like I said it's a snowball effect of things
[34:11] but anything and everything sets it off it's everything and it's
[34:14] nothing it's stress that's anxiety it's the food you eat
[34:16] it's the food you don't eat. It's the exercise you do, it's
[34:18] the too much exercise. It's the discipline, but then
[34:21] it's too disciplinary. So I'm always feel like, I
[34:24] always feel like I am stuck in this middle ground of eat the
[34:28] cookie but don't because you'll have really bad effects.
[34:31] Be disciplined, but chill out. And then I'm like going crazy
[34:35] all the time because I'm like, there's no one answer.
[34:39] So like what am I supposed to? Do you know, I was just smiling
[34:42] and nodding because I've never related to something so much.
[34:45] And I think there will be a lot of people out there nodding and
[34:47] smiling because like, I look at my husband, for example, he's
[34:50] someone who can eat anything, doesn't get infected by things.
[34:52] He doesn't have any health issues.
[34:53] And I compare and be like, I'm doing this to myself.
[34:57] Like, like we'll go out for a coffee.
[34:59] And I spiralled and like, I don't think I really want
[35:02] cookies. Should I have cookie?
[35:02] But maybe I should have cause I'm trying to not eat.
[35:04] And risk. Try not do it but it's really
[35:08] hard like he looks at me like. Just just have it if you.
[35:11] Want it, but I'm like, it's not that simple.
[35:14] And also I agree that I shouldn't create this internal
[35:17] stress around food or around my relationship with movement or
[35:20] whatever it might be. But when you've gone through all
[35:23] of this for so long and you so desperately want answers and
[35:25] results, but also they're often not things that impact you
[35:29] instantly. Like sometimes always something
[35:30] like well. Yeah, it didn't go away.
[35:32] Maybe not. Normally like this.
[35:34] Like it's just so confusing. So I have never related to
[35:37] something so much like wow. And it's hard because it's like
[35:40] one of those things. That's why I'm so vocal on just
[35:43] my socials in general. Not like an influencer, but like
[35:45] I've always. Been she's on her way.
[35:50] But because so when I first had my surgery at the time, like
[35:54] I've always been in front of the camera ever since I had a
[35:57] camera, like a digital camera way back in the day, I've always
[36:00] been behind the camera voice, taking photos.
[36:02] I don't know what it is, but I've always been behind it or in
[36:04] front of it. And when I had my surgery, I was
[36:08] kind of into YouTube. But then again, I don't know if
[36:10] answer, but I started a Part 1 of my journey.
[36:13] It was like post surgery. I thought it was going to be
[36:16] like a two-part thing. This is what happened.
[36:19] Here's my answers. We're good.
[36:21] Like we're done. Turns out that's not how it
[36:24] works and it is forever. And that feels like a lot of the
[36:28] time I'm whining and I'm complaining all the time, but
[36:32] I'm also kind of. And I feel bad about it and I
[36:35] feel like I just need to shut up sometimes within myself.
[36:38] Like it's not bad. Like this is this is my reality
[36:41] and I unfortunately don't have answers and I don't think I
[36:44] maybe I won't get answers. Getting a hysterectomy is on
[36:47] answer, by the way. A lot of women get told there.
[36:51] I know no women that have had hysterectomies because they've
[36:53] been told that's the only answer.
[36:56] You can't have anymore surgeries or things like that.
[36:59] That's just being an advocate for myself and for women as a
[37:01] whole. And I wish I had answers, but I
[37:03] don't, and so I'm just gonna get until I'm in the ground.
[37:07] Totally. They think about it, it's all
[37:09] well and good to sit here and have someone say all the things
[37:11] that they did, but they also want always apply to other
[37:13] people. So actually just hearing someone
[37:15] going through something and finding parallels to your story
[37:19] 100. Percent saw that.
[37:20] Literally, we created the site. Yeah, like it's.
[37:22] Yeah. It's just so nice to not feel
[37:24] alone, especially when you have something that is a invisible
[37:27] and BA woman's health related issue that has often been
[37:30] ignored for such a long time. It is really nice to hear from
[37:32] people, so please keep doing what you're.
[37:34] Doing. I will, I won't talk about it,
[37:36] but I will say if I had a dollar for every time someone told me,
[37:38] have you tried? Ohh, you should tried.
[37:40] I could have cured endometriosis by now.
[37:43] Because it's true. It is.
[37:45] No, it's like anything. There is no one right way to do
[37:48] things. It's just your way of doing
[37:51] things. And honestly, most of the time
[37:52] I'm barely coping. I'm barely keeping it together.
[37:55] My answer was crying. Crying about it.
[37:59] Yeah, exactly. I really want to go to this
[38:03] place, which I know is probably quite an intense topic, but
[38:05] something has spoken about online.
[38:07] You've been really open about your desire and long term dream
[38:11] of having kids, but I know that it's something that you're not
[38:17] sure about. Giving your health situation is
[38:20] something you're comfortable talking.
[38:21] About saying. What have you, how was your
[38:23] diagnosis changed your relationship with that dream of
[38:25] yours, and where do you feel like you're at with all of?
[38:28] That So when I first got diagnosed, I didn't know what it
[38:31] meant having kids because I still didn't know what chronic
[38:35] illness was regarding Women's Health.
[38:39] But my gynaecologist did thank God because I have heard horror
[38:43] stories of women being told after surgery.
[38:46] My gynaecologist never said that.
[38:47] He said to me, you may have pain more so than the average woman
[38:52] when you are carrying, but I don't think you're going to
[38:54] struggle to have kids if you do. After the first six months of
[38:57] trying, we'll revisit your options and we'll look at it for
[39:01] whatever it is, diet, food, whatever.
[39:03] So I'm very thankful in that regard.
[39:05] And so the first couple of years navigating not my new body, but
[39:10] kind of learning what Indo was while getting back to life as
[39:13] Purnell, I did have that sort of thought in the back of my head
[39:17] like, ohh, my goodness, show. Even though I was told I'm not
[39:19] gonna struggle, I just naturally had the thought and the anxious
[39:22] thoughts in my head of, ohh, my gonna struggle.
[39:24] Is it gonna be hard? Which I like now know that women
[39:29] whistle without chronic illness. Should have kids anyway.
[39:31] It's just a natural progression and part of life and being a
[39:33] woman. And then when they adenomyosis
[39:36] thing happened, I was still fine.
[39:37] Like mentally it was a challenge because now zoning life with
[39:41] adenomyosis and what they're meant to look like and things
[39:44] were definitely a lot harder to do.
[39:45] But having kids was it's still excited me, like my husband and
[39:48] I has kind of been like prepping our lives to have as stable over
[39:54] life as we can, to have kids comfortably rather than doing it
[39:58] just because it's something you can figure out along the way.
[40:00] We never wanted to be those type because we grew up and we both
[40:02] grew up in households where they're just forget, you know,
[40:05] our parents had to figure it along the way and we.
[40:07] You know, the branch of there. Unfortunately, I think a lot of
[40:09] us did, but we didn't want to just figure it out.
[40:11] We wanted to be as stable as we can.
[40:13] I know there's no right time to have kids because like the
[40:17] fucking prepare their kids. You know, they have little
[40:19] tornadoes in your household. And then and since I got sick,
[40:24] yeah, last year, really, really sick.
[40:26] And I'm, you know, now not having answers or having a lot
[40:30] of answers, but no real direction as to where I go from
[40:34] here or what that even means for me as I no longer want to have
[40:41] kids. And it's really, I thought I
[40:44] was, I had accepted this. So I don't need Brexit, these
[40:49] kinds of things. First of all, I'm very lucky in
[40:53] that my husband has always then a supportive person and partner
[40:59] he's never said to. Like he's never pressured me to
[41:01] do anything. He's always said to me,
[41:02] especially with my chronic illness, your body's your body,
[41:04] do what you want. So I just want to do life with
[41:06] you. And if we can have kids, great.
[41:09] If we can't, that's okay too. Ohh.
[41:13] Can I take what you feel? Comfortable.
[41:14] No, I do. I just, I know it's always like
[41:17] an emotional topic, but like like I think I have accepted
[41:22] what it is until I talk about it and I'm like ohh, no fresh.
[41:26] It's still it still hurts. Yeah, I at this point in time
[41:31] and since, yeah, pretty much got sick, really sad last year.
[41:35] It's scary for me in ways that are not normal woman anxieties,
[41:43] and I say that very lightly because I know that having kids
[41:46] at any capacity, chronic illness or not, is a scary thought.
[41:49] Because you don't, especially if you haven't had children before,
[41:51] you don't know what to expect. Postpartum is a bitch and it's a
[41:55] very similar thing about having a chronic illness and so like
[42:00] borderline organ failure is not an all thing.
[42:04] Not getting enough food to my brains, not normal thing.
[42:06] And so having this entire list of symptoms, Icona imagine first
[42:10] of all, being pregnant with all of that.
[42:12] Maybe it would help because all the attention would be going to
[42:14] a growing foetus and a growing baby.
[42:16] But then postpartum, what does it look like animals on the
[42:18] mindset of if nobody, even myself, can help me right now,
[42:22] who's going to help me pray and pray during postpartum?
[42:26] Like if I don't have the answers now, what makes me or anyone
[42:30] think that we're gonna have answers magically or all of a
[42:33] sudden men? And so for me, it's just right
[42:36] now it's too much of A gamble to take because naturally having a
[42:45] child or children is a scary for and it's a huge, it's going to
[42:49] be who's gamble to take. But yeah, well, so many health
[42:54] issues and complications, it feels like too much of A risk.
[42:59] And it's easier, at least the way that I see it.
[43:02] It feels easier not to go through with having children
[43:07] than to risk having children. Because then God forbid I end
[43:10] up, I don't know, baby Blues major postpartum cause I deal
[43:15] with depression anyway. I've dealt with depression for
[43:17] well over a decade. Close to 2 probably.
[43:21] What if I'm mega depressed? What if I don't want my child
[43:24] after that? What if I know it's gonna be
[43:26] hard on my husband and I anyway, you know, raising children?
[43:29] But what if I'm going through all these things and end up even
[43:31] more sick? What if I like, it's my anxiety
[43:34] driving the bus and driving the car all the time.
[43:35] But what if I end up in a mental institute?
[43:37] Like that's where my mind goes all the time?
[43:38] What if I die during versus? All these sorts of things and it
[43:41] sounds, I hate using the word crazy, but it sounds crazy.
[43:47] But it feels like more so than normal, normal monthly anxieties
[43:55] because of all the health conditions.
[43:57] Yeah, but it's hard because then I'm kind of like, what's my
[44:02] purpose in life, you know? You have a lot of purpose and
[44:05] thank you for sharing that. I just, I know the conversation
[44:08] around whether or not to have kids with individuals or chronic
[44:12] health issues is a lot. I mean, I also calculated that a
[44:15] lot as someone who struggles day in and day out with pain while
[44:19] being a mum, it's definitely not a lot to go through.
[44:21] And I think it's really incredible how much thought
[44:23] you're putting into it. So I think and I just, I can't,
[44:26] I'm very grateful that you said that because I know it's going
[44:28] to help a lot of people. I hope so because it's very,
[44:31] it's again, like it's not answers anything.
[44:33] It's just a really sad, unfortunate reality.
[44:35] But like I part of me again since I've got really sick, I've
[44:39] lost so much hope in my world of things because I'm so incapable
[44:46] of things. I rely so much on my husband
[44:48] physically, mentally, emotionally and financially.
[44:50] I don't work at the moment. I haven't worked for a year and
[44:52] there wasn't sacked for trying. But it's because I have been so
[44:54] sick. I am physically incapable.
[44:57] My health is so unpredictable that I I can't do anything.
[45:03] I don't have, like, my independence anymore.
[45:07] Yeah. Tasha, not attention.
[45:09] I don't know. That was a perfect Andrea.
[45:12] I again, I think I keep saying this, but I just so I really
[45:16] wanted to get you on because I know a lot of people will relate
[45:19] and I hope you know that you're not alone and everything are
[45:21] going the right now. It can feel really lonely, but
[45:24] based on someone who was in the cycle stairs and in my own DN,
[45:28] there are unfortunately a lot of people and everyone's story is
[45:31] different, but there's so many parallels.
[45:34] So I know it's not easy to find confident these things, but no,
[45:38] you're not alone. This sometimes helpful,
[45:40] sometimes helpful, but also like we all just hang out and relax.
[45:44] And we were just like, try to give drink tea and coffee and
[45:47] things like that. And it's also so unfair, like,
[45:49] it's not okay to, like, go through all these things and
[45:53] other people don't like, it's so unfair.
[45:55] And I don't know the answer or the meaning, but I think
[45:59] sometimes just taking, like, the socks is also okay.
[46:02] Yeah. You know, Yeah.
[46:04] I want to just wrap up on a few kind of questions.
[46:07] What has helped you the most throughout this journey?
[46:11] That might be emotional support you've got to earn.
[46:13] It might be a certain lifestyle you've lived, whether it's
[46:17] removing gloves and I don't know what it is or a certain
[46:20] treatment or a way of thinking. What has helped you the most?
[46:23] If you could pick one thing. Went up at 2.
[46:26] OK, you gonna have to. I'll give you 2 then along
[46:28] stories, I promise. One is the bioresonance skin and
[46:31] the other is my chiropractor, specifically based on Hamilton.
[46:35] He shouts out. Shouts out.
[46:37] I choose chiropractor has been I mean his own chiropractor ever
[46:41] seen, but for understanding my body in a different light and
[46:46] going back to the hole. I'm not crazy and I'm not making
[46:48] these things up. He can he for the from my first
[46:50] appointment. I've been seeing him for about 3
[46:51] years now. From my first appointment.
[46:53] He read me like a book and I didn't even tell him anything
[46:55] like I had my console sheet where it was kind of like rusty
[46:57] what I had, but he knew what was going on just from he does like
[47:01] special thing, the bulbs rather than like his mother, just like
[47:04] a cleck step of the beck and Nick sort of chiropractor, but
[47:07] it works on your fresher. I swear he's like spiritual in
[47:10] some way, shape or form. He's been the most help
[47:14] alongside the bioresonance scan and massage, all the really
[47:17] expensive things, physical maintenance so that I just
[47:22] physically can like get out of bed by myself, you know, walk to
[47:25] the kitchen without being in so much pain.
[47:26] Literally basic what should be normal human functions are
[47:31] really hard for someone like me, so it's.
[47:33] Just the maintenance can't put a price on managing there.
[47:36] If you could go back and talk to your younger self at say 15,
[47:39] just starting the Pearl and thinking heavy periods were
[47:41] so-called normal, what would you say?
[47:44] Ohh my younger self, I actually I talked to her a lot myself.
[47:48] Crazy. I'm not crazy.
[47:49] You're not crazy. At all just to keep advocating.
[47:54] I hate saying fighting for because it we shouldn't have to
[47:57] fight for our first of all ourselves, but our health very
[48:01] abnormal things, but just that you're prepared.
[48:07] Hmm. You know, we, like, I've always
[48:09] been independent in my own right and I've always had my own back
[48:14] and that has kept me going through.
[48:16] Like, I have pulled myself out of very dark places.
[48:18] I've always been one to pull myself out of a hole.
[48:20] And yeah, just remember that you're all you need, girlfriend.
[48:25] That, and finally, for someone who's listening, who's in the
[48:28] thick of searching for answers and relating to this so much,
[48:31] what words of encouragement would you want them to hear?
[48:35] Hurleys don't give up as much as I mean I'm in the thick of it
[48:39] still and there are so many times when I wake up and I'm
[48:42] wondering what the hell is the point?
[48:43] I don't have hope for my future, I don't have hope for myself.
[48:46] I don't have a job anymore, I don't, I have no independence.
[48:49] Like what the fuck is the point? But there there is a point
[48:52] whether you like and I even when I feel at my absolute worst,
[48:58] when I feel the most hopeless, what point 1% of me is like,
[49:03] there is a reason. It's a shitty reason that you'd
[49:06] have to go through all of this and whatever answers, even if
[49:09] it's just to benefit other people.
[49:11] I feel like I've always been like a vessel, you know, for, I
[49:14] don't know, teachings and learnings and, you know, so
[49:17] other people don't have to go through it or other people know
[49:19] how to go through it. No matter the circumstances and
[49:21] the situation is shitty as it can be, there is always a
[49:23] reason. And I can confidently say that
[49:25] because so much of my life has led me to so many different
[49:29] points of life, The shittiest things that have happened to me
[49:32] have led me to greater things. It's like the, it's not that
[49:35] it's really a saying, but No 10 min yes.
[49:39] You know, like misdirection can be redirection.
[49:42] It's like, well, it's in the stereotypical things.
[49:45] It's very much that. Like just keep on keeping on as
[49:48] much as it sucks and as much as you don't want to.
[49:50] And my favourite quote, I have it on my screensaver on my phone
[49:53] is you've made it through 100% of your worst days.
[49:56] They love that one. And it's so true.
[49:58] Like, yeah, it's really, really hard to go through and it's so
[50:02] isolating. No matter how many people can
[50:03] relate, no matter how many people are going through it.
[50:04] I know woman that goes through it and can relate to so many
[50:07] things but I still feel like I'm not only woman in the world
[50:09] going through this and that nobody understands me and nobody
[50:12] knows what I'm feeling, but I've made of 300% of my worst days.
[50:16] We all have. And we love you for that.
[50:18] Have you heard the quote? You were given this mountain to
[50:20] show others how to move theirs. I feel like that might apply to
[50:23] you and I think it's such a good one.
[50:25] And I think people think, ohh, that means I need to go get a
[50:28] million followers and share that stuff.
[50:29] Like literally within your community.
[50:30] Like it's the flow on effect of these things that I know.
[50:33] Like sometimes I think finding meaning, if that's the only
[50:36] thing we can find, it's really. Helpful so 100% and like it's
[50:39] like I'm not an influencer, but like when I first started, like
[50:42] I said, I've been yapping since Snapchat was around just since
[50:44] forever about on social media anyway, when I first shared my
[50:48] story on Indo, I think probably Snapchat and I think Instagram
[50:51] stories was maybe just becoming a thing as I found out most
[50:54] women are just high school with head head indoor was way as was
[50:57] on some kind of weight loss and I was thinking this is the most
[51:00] common thing, like the most connection I've had with people
[51:03] that I never spoke to in high school went to work with and
[51:07] everyone has it all of a sudden. That's wild.
[51:09] Yeah. Yeah, there's so much more
[51:11] common than you realise. Georgie, thank you so much for
[51:14] coming on the Cyclist. I could sit here and keep
[51:15] yapping with you. And I just.
[51:16] I really know that there's a lot of people out there gonna be
[51:19] listening and just feeling comforted and seen and I don't
[51:23] know parallels to their story as with yours.
[51:26] So thank you so much for being so vulnerable.
[51:27] Thank you. It really will make a.
[51:28] Difference. Give me a place to share my
[51:30] story. Like I say I've ohh Yep
[51:31] everywhere. But I mean, even if this, I
[51:34] don't know, helps one woman, or if it just gets men thinking
[51:38] about it or partners or friends just thinking about it, I think
[51:42] I've done my job decently. We will put Georgie's handles
[51:45] and stuff below that. You can go follow her journey
[51:49] cause it's nice to see them being so real.
[51:52] Thank. Thanks Galen.
[52:02] Thanks for listening to The Cyclist.
[52:04] To join the community. Follow us at We Are the Cyclist,
[52:08] Your cycle decoded. Ohh.

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