My Story Might Sound A lot Like Yours
Hi!
My name is Megan Cooper, and at the age of 26, I was diagnosed with endometriosis after a tennis ball-sized cyst was discovered in my right ovary. Endometriosis is a painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus. This tissue reacts to hormones by engoring with blood and then shedding each month. This causes pain and scarring as that shedded blood has nowhere to go. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis.
After seeing a conventional western doctor, I was treated with Lupron shots for 3 months in hopes of shrinking the cysts and managing my pain. Lupron did nothing for me except give me the worst menopause symptoms. I felt miserable and I eventually had the cyst laparoscopically removed along with a few other lesions. Thankfully, my ovary was able to be saved.
A short time after, I was very fortunate to become pregnant with my first son and then subsequently a few years later with my second son. I breastfed both my children and due to hormonal shifts, didn’t feel too many endo symptoms. It wasn’t until my second son was about 3 that I started to feel those slight twinges of familiar endo pain again.
I tried an IUD, which was not for me. I managed my pain with ibuprofen. After seeing three doctors, I was re-diagnosed as having endo with adenomyosis. Adenomyosis occurs when the endometrium (uterine lining) infiltrates the muscular layers of the uterus. Like endometriosis, the displaced tissue continues to act normally — thickening, breaking down and bleeding — during each menstrual cycle.
This diagnosis presented a new challenge because there was no longer a way to surgically remove the endometrial implants in my uterus without the complete removal of my uterus.
Therefore, I was given two options for a treatment plan:
1. a total hysterectomy or,
2. be on cycle stopping synthetic hormones for the next 15 years until I went into menopause.
At 35, neither seemed like a good option for me.
I was not ready to go into early menopause and having a major body part removed for symptomatic relief just sounded CRAZY! I also wasn’t keen on the idea of hormonal therapy as I had “been there, done that” and did not feel good on synthetic hormones.
Instead, I took my health into my own hands and opted to do extensive research on functional medicine and natural healing approaches in order to recover.
These alternative methods and protocols allowed me to effectively treat the condition I had been suffering through for most of my adult life.
While researching endometriosis and learning as much as I could about the disease I became aware that endometriosis is a disease primarily driven by two things:
inflammation and hormonal imbalance.
Therefore, in order to calm the inflammation and balance my hormones, I had to address what was driving them. Once those driving factors were addressed my symptoms started to go away. This was true not only for my endometriosis symptoms but my general PMS as well. That’s because PMS symptoms are also driven by hormonal imbalance and inflammation, as are most other female-related conditions such as PCOS and fibroids.
By taking a functional approach to my lifestyle, I’ve been able to lead a normal, active and balanced life.
I’m sharing this with you because you can take control of your own health too with the help of this course. I’m driven to share this information because, frankly, most western medically trained doctors are more concerned with the “what” than with the “why” when it comes to a medical diagnosis and offer very limited treatment options. I’m here to help explain the “why” and give you a multitude of other ways to help heal your hormones and banish your PMS. Let’s get going on the way to take control of your own health.
More recently, I have been certified through the Institute of Functional Medicine as a Functional Medicine Health Coach. This has allowed me to build a deeper foundation in helping women with their overall health, as well as their endocrine health. Seeing how others have benefited from my approach, has been one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. Building relationships through this platform has been so amazing. The transformations that have happened because of this course, is the motivation to share this further.
The journey that led me to functional and holistic medicine is what inspired me to develop this program. I set out to accomplish this by approaching women’s health in a new and innovative way. By addressing the root cause, we’re able to get to the “why” behind the issue. Rather than solely focusing on how to deal with the symptoms, we’re addressing the root cause and why you have them. Even more so, providing you with a deep understanding of how your biology works.
Once you know why, you can begin to heal and reverse what is causing painful and unwanted hormonal symptoms. It’s all about the why..
These programs are designed to be the foundational knowledge you need to feel your best! Hormones are part of all of us, but they don’t have to rule our lives!
I’ve struggled with Endometriosis, PMS from hell, and a slew of other hormonal disruptions from fatigue, sleep issues, acne, weight fluctuations, and fertility issues, I’m guessing my story sounds a lot like yours. By taking this approach, I’ve been able to overcome all of these symptoms, and easily apply these practices to allow me to feel the most vibrant I’ve felt in years! I’ve also been so inspired seeing what this approach has done for others.
It’s truly magical.
