Featured ENDOSister: Tiffany Silvera

It’s been 8 years of living with pain, hiding and questions.

It’s been 8 years of living to discover happiness, life, peace, loving me and life style changes.

I was 25 years old when my life changed. It was a normal hot November day in Florida when I had this sharp right side pain. It was unrelieved for hours and tender to touch, my first thought was appendicitis so I rushed to the Emergency Room. After various testing, I was diagnosed with a 4.5cm ovarian cyst and was told I needed to follow up with an OBGYN. Found the best OBGYN in town and was sent for an MRI because the pain was so unbearable only to learn that the cyst grew from 4.5cm to 6cm in one week as well as a second one grew that was 4cm and both were sitting on a nerve which limited my mobility. After a successful surgery later that week, I woke up to learn not only did they remove the cyst, the cyst damaged my right ovary and right fallopian tube so bad that it had to be removed, and that I had Stage IV Endometriosis.

Imagine waking up to hear that your surgery was successful but your chances of having children are cut in half and now you have Endometriosis? That was a lot to process. I was only 25 years old. Why? I kept questioning God why? I was devastated. I was hurt. My confidence was shattered. Who will want to marry me, much less date me? Does this mean that my dream of being a mother is over? Am I less than a woman? Does this mean I’m officially weird? Theses thoughts ran through my head constantly as I tried to process everything. It took me about a 3 months to accept my diagnosis, understand my diagnosis, and collaborated on a treatment plan that worked best for me. I initially started with pain meds and birth control pills. It worked for about a year and a half until the pain was unbearable again. After much research, I completed 4 months of Lupron therapy. Going through Lupron puts your body into shock basically and menopause. It was an awful 4 months in seeing my hair fall out, gaining weight in my stomach and face but once I completed the therapy, my body returned to its baseline. I felt like Tiffany again. My pain was gone, the weight left, and my hair grew back.

I began to research lifestyle changes and with the guidance of my doctor, I changed my diet to what I call the “Endo-terian Diet”! This diet is a combo of foods you should eat while living with Endometriosis, a couple cheat items (I’m human) and all things vegetarian minus soy! I incorporated daily vitamins A, C, and E (oral pills) as well as ensured that I increased more “greens” on my plate to have a balance of alkaline vs acidic foods daily. I’ll be honest I was never a fan of red meat so that was easy to eliminate but chicken wings are my weakness and a must have! I had to find a balance and also do what was tasty, stay true to me, and my pockets (eating healthy can add up). My motivation through this was eating clean equaled a better quality of life, reduction in pain and one day become a mother.

I say this to share with you, that don’t let a diagnosis beat you up, discourage you, or make you feel less than who you are you. Let the diagnosis add to your survivor story, teach you more about yourself than you’ve known and allow it to connect you to others. I’ve teamed up with EndoBlack to share recipes with you to incorporate into your daily diets.

Lets journey together one bite at a time!