For some, infertility is a complete surprise, but for others, they know going into it that they might have trouble conceiving down the line. The latter situation is common for those who are diagnosed with endometriosis, PCOS, and other conditions that may lead to infertility. These diagnoses absolutely don’t guarantee a negative impact, and each condition is treatable. Fertility troubles or not, endometriosis can cause serious pain in your everyday life, a topic we will get into with this week’s guest.
In this episode, we hear from Andrea Ford about her experience with an endometriosis diagnosis, and how having access to fertility coverage enabled her to make better decisions about treatment. While more research is needed, Dr. Colleen Casey discusses current treatment options available for endometriosis, and explains core fertility testing options such as PGT-A and PGT-M.
We also hear from Andrea how she was able to afford treatment through employer sponsored coverage from Progyny.
Guest: Andrea Ford
Expert: Dr. Colleen Casey, Center for Reproductive Medicine
Host: Dan Bulger
See RESOLVE’s website for fertility advocacy resources in your state and Progyny’s Talk to HR page for assistance in requesting coverage from your employer.
For more information, visit Progyny’s Podcast page and Progyny’s Education page for more resources.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram, @ThisisInfertilityPodcast and use the #ThisisInfertility.
Have a question, comment, or want to share your story? Email us at thisisinfertility@progyny.com.
Here are some highlights from this episode:
Andrea’s Experience with Endometriosis
9:28 – 11:25
Andrea Ford: So, I’m having a lot of pain; pain while going to the bathroom, pain just sort of in general. It had really started around my period, but then that pain would last throughout the month, and it was pretty uncomfortable. I laugh, but it was not great. So, I pursued it with my primary doctor first, and then she had referred me to an OB. That OB really had talked about when I described my symptoms, just the pain that I was having. She really said, I think this might be endometriosis and sent me to a specialist who read my chart. He looked at me, and the first thing he said was, ‘I hear you’re in a lot of pain,’ and I just cried. I literally just started crying. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, somebody gets it.’ I ended up having survery and it was much longer than it was supposed to be – about three and a half hours. I was diagnosed with stage three endometriosis, which means that things are starting to connect to other things. So, my ovary was actually connected to my abdominal wall. At that point, I would say maybe two or three months later, when I’d kind of healed, I felt like a new woman. I was like, well, this is what this is supposed to feel like, this is amazing. So, I think that was a big turning point for me of realizing that there’s so many women that just have no idea that they have endo, and that just kind of put up with the pain.