“I was 35 when I first got sick,”
Dolly Parton penned in her book Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton. “I went to the very bottom as far as my emotions and my health [were] concerned.” Dolly confessed: “I was getting away with murder. I wasn’t watching what I ate, I wasn’t conscious of nutrition, wasn’t taking care of myself.” The songstress may have only have been in her 30s at the time, but she began to experience “stomach problems and female problems”.
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While some women may not have any noticeable symptoms, for some, the condition can be debilitating.
Pain may develop in the lower stomach and back, which usually worsens during a period.
Furthermore, there may be pain during or after sex, or when going to the toilet when menstruating.
Other symptoms might include sickness, constipation, diarrhoea, and blood in the urine. There may also be difficulties with falling pregnant.
Treatments can involve painkillers, surgery to cut away patches of endometriosis tissue, and removing part or all of the organs affected by endometriosis.
The latter treatment option is known as a hysterectomy, which Dolly experienced.
A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the womb, meaning the opportunity to fall pregnant naturally is removed once the operation is completed.
The removal of the womb will stop menstrual periods too, and the recovery period can be a lengthy one.
