I look nine months pregnant but the horrible irony is I can't have kids

AT the age of 14, Casey Reisner got her first period.

While this is a normal thing for most women, the now 40-year-old, says it was the worst thing that ever happened to her.



At the start of her menstrual cycle, the event planner said she would bleed between seven to ten days each month and would be in excruciating pain.

It wasn't until she was 34-years-old that she was finally diagnosed with endometriosis.

A condition that she says has left her looking like she is nine-months pregnant, although she can no longer have children.

Endometriosis is hard to treat and hard to diagnose.

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The condition refers to when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside in the abdomen.

Common symptoms include pain during intercourse, heavy periods, infertility and excessive menstrual cramps and one in ten women worldwide are believed to have the condition.

Despite every woman in her family having had a hysterectomy by the age of 40, Casey, who lives in New York, US, says doctors brushed her pain off for 20-years.

She underwent a hysterectomy last year in an attempt to help her endometriosis, however, she is suffering more than ever.

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Casey said: "I look like I am pregnant all the time. It's ironic because it's a condition which can make you infertile, but you look and feel like you're carrying about the whole time.

"I have had multiple people ask me when I am due and even when I was moving house, a removal guy told me not to pick up anything because of the baby.

"I even have to buy maternity clothes to comfortably fit over my stomach.

"I eventually underwent a hysterectomy in September last year as a last resort to help me with the pain and symptoms, but since then things have only gotten worse."

The constant pain has meant that Casey struggled to work, and she says the condition has taken over her life.

"I was tiny and my belly looked as if I was pregnant.

"I had to start wearing maternity clothes because I couldn't stand anything tight being over my stomach and to try and cover the bump as best I could", she said.

Finally, in 2020, Casey found a doctor who would take her pain seriously.

I'd always wanted to be a mum. I have an amazing relationship with my mum, she is my best friend and I wanted to have that too

The doctor suggested that she had a hysterectomy, however, Casey declined because she still dreamed of being a mother one day.

She said: "Instead of a hysterectomy, in 2020 I had a uterine artery embolization.

"It helped me for a while. I thought I was cured and I was living my best life, however, it all started coming back again.

"The doctor said that because this had worked, it shows that a hysterectomy would greatly help with my pain.

"I was still relatively young and I wasn't ready to give up on having kids, but the pain was so bad I wasn't even living my life."

The signs of endometriosis you need to know

Endometriosis is different for everyone – but the most common symptoms are painful periods.

If you are struggling to manage the pain then you need to see your GP.

Here are the other endometriosis symptoms to look out for:

  • Pain during ovulation
  • Pain felt in the pelvis
  • Pelvic pain when not having sex
  • Spotting
  • Bad pain when you have a poo
  • Bleeding from the bowel OR IBS type symptoms like diarrhoea and bloating which is worse around your period
  • Pain passing urine
  • Back pain 
  • Leg pain
  • Fatigue and tiredness 
  • Depression

She said that the pain had become so bad that she was unable to get out of bed.

Casey had been keeping the hysterectomy on the back burner, as a last resort.

But in September last year, she had the procedure, removing her right ovary, appendix and cervix.

Initially, she said she thought the procedure had gone well, but she ended up passing out two weeks later.

"It turns out the surgery had disrupted my body.

"I'm now seven months post-op and it's worse than it has ever been. My flare-ups are unbearable."

Casey said her stomach swells by the second and feels as though she is back at square one.

"It feels like no one knows what they are doing and there is nowhere near enough understanding about endometriosis.

"It's ruined my life.

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"I'd always wanted to be a mum. I have an amazing relationship with my mum, she is my best friend and I wanted to have that too.

"But as everyone woman in my family has suffered from the same thing, I wouldn't want to bring a daughter into this world to have to go through the same things and have her life taken from her too."


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