Kelly’s Battle Against Endometriosis: “Ask Questions And Fight For Your Health”

Taking care of our health doesn’t just mean paying a visit to a physician’s office. There are times when patients don’t feel heard or seen in a doctor’s office. At that point, the patient has to do their own homework. Knowing how to identify and treat a diagnosis sometimes involves a bit of advocacy.

For Clinical Research Coordinator, Kelly Walker, going to the doctor for help in fighting her endometriosis wasn’t enough. She lived with the disease all her life but no physician could help her. Walker had been dismissed and discriminated against. Unfortunately, the Black community faces one too many instances like Walker's in the healthcare world. We are often stereotyped as being void of pain or drug-seeking and even ignored.

Walker experienced all of those things in the doctor’s office. Though, the hardship only strengthened her willpower and pushed her to speak out. Now Kelly Walker has become an advocate for endometriosis and cautions others to follow these simple rules, “Ask Questions and Fight For Your Health.”

She Spent Years Living In Pain

Kelly Walker may have been a bright and young woman, with a medical background. However, nothing prepared her for her endometriosis diagnosis. Walker had been living with the reproductive disease since she was 10 years old. Back in March 2021, she told The Black Wall Street Times that her menstrual cycle had become a “constant source of pain and fear.”

At first, she assumed all women endured the same painful process. It was just a part of womanhood. To ease her so-called “cramps,” Walker would take over-the-counter medications like Midol and birth control pills.

However, at 20, the Clinical Research Coordinator could no longer hide her pain after enduring a painful and huge blood clot. Four months later, she started spotting and remained in constant, agonizing pain. It became clear to Walker that she wasn’t just having the normal, everyday menstrual cycle. This had become a medical emergency.

Soon after, Walker made an appointment to have an ultrasound done. Her gynecologist informed her that she would need Exploratory Surgery. The doctor assured Walker that everything would be fine and the surgery would only last 30 minutes. However, Walker’s surgery wasn’t going to happen as quickly as she would’ve liked. Instead, it was scheduled a few months out.

By that point, Walker’s pain only worsened over time. The surgery ended up not being a success. An hour and a half later, she woke up with a swollen pelvis. Her lower body felt as though it had been lit on “fire.”

Making matters worse, her diagnosis now moved on to stage 2 endometriosis. Without any real treatment plan or guidance from her doctors, Walker was left to deal with her daunting fate alone. She was taken off her birth control to allow her body to heal and given a long list of painkillers.

Within a month, she recovered. Though, she was covered in stitches that ran along her stomach and pelvis. Not long after, an IUD (intrauterine device) was implemented into her body. Still, Walker endured more pain than she could ever imagine.

Even though she knew its source, her doctors failed to give her the right medication to soothe the pain. Walker had to wait four years and three surgeries later before she received the treatment she needed. Better yet, she also had to wait years before finding the right doctor.

Doctors Tried To Silence Her

Walker only endured more hardship after moving to Texas. She found a new gynecologist, but she had entirely dismissed Walker’s pain. She even disregarded her earlier diagnosis and claimed that she had dysmenorrhea instead.

“This diagnosis only covers pain during menstruation. My symptoms and proof that I had endometriosis went unheard and the pain continued,” Walker told The Black Wall Street Times back in 2021.

Due to a delay in finding the right doctor, she experienced heat burns on her stomach, thighs, pelvis, and back. Walker was on more medications than she needed.

Even worse, Walker had ER bills piling up from previous visits. She had been in and out of the hospital and received invasive and painful pelvic exams that never lead to the right treatment plan. Walker says that eventually doctors started accusing her of being a drug seeker and treated her unfairly. One male physician even tried to accuse her of being delusional. Walker even started asking herself “Am I crazy?” The doctor attempted to silence her, but Walker soon discovered the truth.

Finding The Right Doctor

Unfortunately, she had to undergo another surgical procedure, which lead to yet another daunting diagnosis. She had developed stage 3 endometriosis. The news wasn’t what anyone wanted to hear. Though, Walker did one good aspect out of the surgery. She switched out her gynecologist for the one that performed her procedure. The Clinical Research Coordinator was even put on a treatment plan, one that was more effective in treating her endometriosis.

Furthermore, Walker’s doctor started her on Orilissa, which is a medication that specifically treats the reproductive disease. Additionally, her doctor started Walker on pelvic floor physical therapy. It took her three months to make a recovery. Now Walker had the right doctor and effective medication to help treat her chronic illness. Life was looking up for the young Clinical Research Coordinator.

She Tells Others To Practice Advocacy

Walker was downright lucky to find a doctor in time before her situation got worse than her stage 3 endometriosis. Walker says that though she still struggles daily with the disease, she knows how to demand help. She’s cautioning other Black women suffering from endometriosis to remember these simple rules for advocacy; “Ask Questions and Fight For Your Health.” Walker says in her essay, that no matter the sort of pain or abnormality you experience, demand laparoscopy. In other words, Black women need to fight for their right to better healthcare.