There are days when a single Instagram reel hits harder than any workout ever could. Last night was one of those nights. I was scrolling in that half-distracted, half-exhausted state that often comes at the end of my day when a reel stopped me cold. It was someone talking about endometriosis, not in the usual “here are the symptoms” way but in a “your neuroimmune system might still be affected years later” way.
Neuroimmune system.Not a phrase I’ve heard before.Not something any doctor has ever mentioned to me.Not something I even knew existed.
But as soon as I heard it, something inside me went still. I could feel a puzzle piece shifting into place. Actually, not just shifting — slamming.
And suddenly, I wasn’t scrolling anymore. I was remembering.
Remembering the years of pain I thought I caused.Remembering the constant stiffness I blamed on “not trying hard enough.”Remembering the panic attacks that came out of nowhere.Remembering how easily I get disoriented during movement.Remembering how many practitioners told me to “just rest.”
And then I remembered that my hysterectomy was nearly a decade ago.
So why am I still dealing with all of this?
It never occurred to me — truly never — that there might be lingering effects long after the lesions were removed. As far as I understood, hysterectomy meant the end of the story. The lesions were gone, so the problem was gone.
Except… it never actually felt gone.
💡 Transcripts, links and more: https://mybodycan.substack.com
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