A mum who had a hysterectomy at 30 due to severe endometriosis says seeing babies now makes her upset. Jenna Latham, 39, had the procedure to try and combat constant pain.
But she says the emotional toll has been tough - affecting her ability to work and her relationships, although she says partner Carl Mann, 54, has supported her for nine years. And Jenna, from Manchester, says she doesn't "feel like a lady anymore" - and struggles to look at newborns.
She said: "It's affected me mentally and emotionally massively. I don’t go out, I don’t want to get ready. And emotionally as a woman I just don’t feel like a lady anymore.
“I didn’t plan to have any more children but the thought that I couldn’t was really really bad. I'd see new babies and be upset. I’ll never experience that again and that was the best experience of my life.”
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Jenna started experiencing pain and heavy, irregular bleeding when she was 17. She fell pregnant a year later and gave birth at 19, when her symptoms began to flare up again.
As she experienced heavier periods and mood swings, she was referred to a gynecologist who found endometriosis deposits around her womb. At 21, she gave birth to her second daughter – and her symptoms soon began to get worse, leaving her mentally and emotionally drained and in pain 24 hours a day.
At 26, Jenna was given a Prostap injection, which is used in women with endometriosis to temporarily stop the ovaries from functioning to prevent the production of estrogen and help manage symptoms. She says she was under the care of the same consultant for nine years, but only once saw the consultant herself, at which point she was referred to a private doctor who organised for her undergo surgery.
During surgery, she discovered that her bladder and bowel were fused together and was diagnosed with endometriosis growths on her urethra and both ovaries. And said she was told if things hadn’t improved, the only option was a hysterectomy to help relieve the chronic pain.
Tragically, things didn’t improve and at 30, she underwent a hysterectomy, where endometriosis growths were also found on the inside of her womb. Despite the extensive surgery, Jenna says she still experiences severe symptoms now and says she worries about her daughters going through the same thing.
“I was so young to have a hysterectomy,” said Jenna. “It’s affected my relationship and I’ve been at rock bottom many times. Even now at 39 years old, I’m still back and forth with doctors and medication and I constantly get bladder, kidney and urine infections.
“Endometriosis is a very difficult thing to diagnose, if it hadn’t taken nine years [to get an investigation] things wouldn’t be as bad now. I spend every day with pains in my bones, I went from 10 stone to seven-and-a-half stone, it feels like I’ve been left and ignored.
“It affects relationships because the man doesn’t understand what the woman is going through, and it affects things in bed. It’s not easy, I’m on three to four tablets every day including antidepressants and I want it over and done with, but there’s no end to it.”
