What is endometriosis? Lili Reinhart recalls having infertility fears before receiving treatment

Lili Reinhart is now fostering awareness on endometriosis as she encourages people to pursue medical examination when chronic symptoms are ignored. The actress says, "t's heartbreaking... to see how universally women's pain is ignored and pushed aside."

Riverdale star Lili Reinhart, 29, recently opened up about her fear of infertility even before she was diagnosed with endometriosis. In an essay for a leading media outlet the 29-year-old actor discussed how frustrating and long process it is to find the answers to the lingering pelvic and bladder pain.

Lili Reinhart's health update

The actress, who is well-known for her role as Betty Cooper, described that she had met with number of doctors throughout her life but none ever considered endometriosis as the initial cause of her symptoms. Only a session with her pelvic floor therapist was when the condition was first mentioned.

She said, "During one session my pelvic floor therapist asked me if I had ever considered endometriosis as a cause of my symptoms. None of the eight or so doctors I had seen before her had mentioned it. I hesitantly brought it up to my urogynecologist not wanting to be dismissed. She seemed neutral about it but gave me the name of a doctor who specialized in minimally invasive gynecologic care. I had an ultrasound before being sent for an MRI."

Following the recommendation, the actor mentioned the option to her urogynecologist, and he referred her to a specialist in minimal invasive gynecologic care. After an ultrasound and an MRI scan, preliminary findings did not show endometriosis, rather it showed a different ailment called adenomyosis. The Mayo Clinic says that adenomyosis develops when the tissue that usually lines the uterus starts to develop into the muscular wall of the uterus. Some of the common symptoms of this medical condition include:

1. Excessive menstrual bleeding
2. Abdominal pain
3. Discomfort in the pelvis

Lili Reinhart's endometriosis, adenomyosis diagnoses

In the lengthy eassy Reinhart acknowledged that after she was informed of the diagnosis, she Googled it, and she came across one of the symptoms, which immediately drew her attention, and that was infertility. In her words, "I Googled the word 'adenomyosis' and was stopped cold by a symptom listed: infertility. I had no plans to become pregnant within the next few years, but I know I want kids eventually and suddenly the desires I had for my future felt disrupted.

"I went home, woke up my boyfriend and cried in his arms. He asked me what happened, but I didn't have the words or energy to explain it in the moment. He just held me while I cried through my pain, confusion and frustration." Nonetheless, Reinhart did not have most of the common symptoms of the disorder, which is why she was still confused despite the diagnosis. To have a second opinion, she approached a specialist in endometriosis.

The 29-year-old notes, "In an instant, I felt validated. My pain, discomfort and suffering for over a year was no longer an unknown question. I went home with confirmed diagnoses of endometriosis and adenomyosis. My surgical photos were stapled together with pen marks circling the visible disease, including an unexpected cyst that was removed, along with two hernias. They also removed my appendix."

Her story has also highlighted a larger problem that is affecting women in the field of healthcare namely the late diagnosis of conditions like endometriosis. Observers observe that it takes years to get the right diagnosis of chronic pelvic pains, and during this time, most women go through a lot of searching the answer to the problem.

"Sharing my experience led to a friend finally getting a diagnosis herself from my surgeon after being ignored by countless other doctors," she concludes. "It's heartbreaking and disturbing to see how universally women's pain is ignored and pushed aside. I was lucky that my diagnosis didn't take multiple years, which it often does."

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