I remember the day endometriosis introduced itself like it was yesterday. I was in my 8th grade science class when I realized something was wrong- very, very wrong. I had gotten period cramps before, but never like this.

The room was dark, with the exception of the glowing overhead projector. It had been a particularly boring day in class, silently copying the chapter notes. Boring, that is, until I felt an arrow rip right through me.

The pencil slipped from my hand involuntarily, and I watched as it rolled off the desk onto the floor. I pressed my hands into my abdomen, desperately attempting to alleviate the pain. I froze. My mouth opened slightly as I drew in slow, deep breaths, hoping none of my classmates would notice my agony in the dimly lit classroom.

60 seconds had passed and the pain had not subsided. Panic set in. “Is this normal?? Do all the other girls get cramps like this?? How long is this going to last??? What is happening?? It’s still not going away. Oh no oh no oh no. What do I do??”

I hesitantly raised my hand, feeling scared and humiliated. I asked my teacher if I could go to the nurse, PRAYING he wouldn’t ask me why. He did. Again I froze. I wasn’t prepared to answer. What do I say? “I feel like my insides are being torn apart? I’m having scary cramps and I want my mom?” I tripped all over my words, until I finally uttered, “My stomach….is in pain.” He raised his eyebrows in a half puzzled, half annoyed expression, “Go.”

The nurse was not pleased that I had come down to her office for, “just period cramps.” She begrudgingly called my mom to come pick me up, and I waited for her on the cold, plasticky, polyester bed in the back of the office. I hugged my knees to my chest and closed my eyes, again wondering if this was “normal”.

It had probably been no longer than 30 minutes when I heard a voice I knew very well, speaking to the nurse. My dad had arrived to pick me up, and those feelings of humiliation came rushing back. “Great. How do I explain to my dad that I’m having ‘unusually horrible cramps’? He’s a dad. He doesn’t know what period cramps feel like, let alone excruciating period cramps.”

Looking back, I didn’t give him enough credit. He never had to experience cramps to understand that his daughter was in pain, and that’s all that mattered.

I had no idea that this was only just the beginning. I had never heard of endometriosis. The extent of my menstrual cycle knowledge was limited to:

1. You bleed once a month

2. Kotex with wings

3. Pregnancy is now a thing that can happen

Little did I know, back on that day nearly 12 years ago, that I was on the precipice of learning one of the toughest lessons. Life isn’t always fair.