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Instead of suffering in silence, one woman just got real [3] about endometriosis and exactly what it does to her body. But Thessy Kouzoukas didn't just write about her experience — she also displayed it with two raw photos that capture the physical impact it has had.
Although over 5 million women in the United States [4] suffer from this painful and chronic condition [5], many don't feel comfortable talking about it. "This is quite shocking to people. This is me. This is endometriosis [6]," she wrote on Instagram. "I never intended to share these photos hence why I'm naked, but my god I can't believe the amount of DM's I've received from girls who have endo too and feel alone."
The photo on the left shows Thessy's abdomen three weeks after she had a ruptured ovarian cyst compared to what she looks like two weeks later. "The right is me now, on a drug called Synarel that has stopped all my hormones and sent me into menopause at the age of 27," she wrote.
Thessy is taking this medicine to prep her body for an upcoming operation [8] to hopefully treat her condition by removing the endometriosis, the cysts that she currently has, and her organ adhesions. "Endo is no joke. I'll be operated on for 7+ hours and hospitalized for a week," she wrote. "Please, spread the word about endo."
One out of 10 women [9] suffer from this condition that occurs when endometrial tissue is found outside the uterus. Symptoms can include severe pain before, during, and after your period, and it is often debilitating. "If you know anyone with bad period pain PLEASE tell them to get checked for this," she wrote. "And to my girls with endo . . . you're not alone."