Kate Cooper, 24, Bordertown, SA
It was the day after my 23rd birthday, but instead of feeling queasy from too much cake, I was waking groggily from a life-changing operation. I'd given birth to my son Aidan a few months earlier, but I knew I'd never be a mum again. I had just had a hysterectomy - and as the enormity of it sank in, tears stung my eyes. Devastating as it was, I'd had no choice.
For years I'd suffered from endometriosis, a condition that causes painful periods and fertility problems. After four miscarriages, I'd been amazed to fall pregnant with Aidan. But when I'd started having contractions at just 21 weeks, I was terrified I might lose him. Fortunately, after 13 weeks of bed rest, he'd been delivered - a healthy boy. For the next month my husband Shane, 31, and I basked in the bliss of becoming first-time parents.
But my next period was painful and heavy. Soon I was bleeding for eight days at a time and getting agonising stomach cramps. Finally, when Aidan was seven months old, the doctor diagnosed me with adenomyosis, a condition where cells that grow in the uterus invade the muscles lining it. 'A hysterectomy is the only way to cure this,' he told me. During the op, the surgeons removed my uterus but left my ovaries. I hoped it would be enough to end my agony, but eight weeks later I started getting stomach pains again. This time, the specialist told me an ovarian cyst had burst inside me and he needed to perform exploratory surgery to see if anything else was wrong. 'Just remove my ovaries if you have to,' I sobbed.I just wanted the pain to stop, and finally doctors removed my ovaries because the endometriosis was so bad.
My body was thrown into an early menopause. I was allergic to most of the hormone replacement therapy treatments available, meaning I had to endure night sweats and hot flushes. I felt like a 50-year-old woman. Finally I tried a different HRT treatment - an implant called Oestradiol that was put into my stomach. It stopped my menopausal symptoms and I felt like a new woman. But earlier this year I was told that the manufacturers weren't producing it anymore. Determined to do whatever I could, I started a Facebook campaign and petition to bring it back. Four months on I've got almost 600 signatures but whatever the future holds, I know I'm blessed to be a mum. I draw strength from that.
To join Kate's campaign visit Facebook here.
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