At the beginning of my second year as a Ph.D. student, I started to spend hours each month curled in the fetal position on the floor, unable to leave the house, let alone work. I thought the stabbing pelvic pain and alarming blood loss were just part of having a period, to be handled with painkillers and an extra-large menstruation cup. As the months passed, the pain and cramps became constant, interfering with my days, my Ph.D., my life.
After three doctor’s visits within 2 months, I saw a specialist. A lengthy investigation of my uterus by 3D ultrasound revealed lesions and a mandarin-size ovarian cyst—signs of endometriosis, a chronic disorder in which tissue that typically lines the uterus grows outside it. The disease, which strikes one in 10 people who menstruate, causes extreme pain and often results in infertility.