Meet Our #COTW Jessica Dragoo – ‘I Just Want Women to Be Aware and Open to Talking About Endo’

Our second #WCW post goes out to Jessica Dragoo – a young woman who had a vague idea of what was going on with her body before her diagnosis thanks to her supportive EndoMom.

“My mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Endometriosis when I was about eight,” Dragoo said. “At first they thought it was cancer, but after the biopsy came back (negative) they went in to explore more, and it was all over.”

Sadly, Dragoo’s mother was told that she would need to have a hysterectomy. From that point on, Dragoo, her mother, and their doctor watched for the inevitable signs of Endo to show in Dragoo, too.

“I was having pretty painful and heavy periods for about a year when I was put on birth control… in case it [Endometriosis] was heredity.” (Note: Endometriosis is hereditary.)

The birth control brought on unwanted side effects, including weight gain and mood swings.

So at 24, Dragoo decided to stop taking birth control. Soon after, Draggoo (who isn’t just an EndoBabe, but a special education teacher, too) launched a fitness coaching business, and then her Endo symptoms began to flare again.

Her periods were painful and heavier than ever. And sex was unbearable. Although Draggoo thought her healthy eating habits and workouts were healing her symptoms, she soon realized that her new active lifestyle was only making things worse – the pain was so bad she was unable to complete her workouts.

One day, Draggoo experienced pain that was so excruciating she had to leave work; she said she thought a cyst had exploded.

“I couldn’t even stand up straight,” she said. “I had an ultrasound, and everything came back normal.”

Dragoo and her doctor talked about starting another round of birth control but eventually came to the conclusion that it would be better for her to take a month to track her symptoms, and if she wasn’t feeling better, a laparoscopy would be considered.

“It obviously didn’t get better,” Dragoo admitted.

“We thought there was about 90 percent chance that I had it, but there was no way to know for sure without surgery.”

The scariest part for Dragoo was living with the constant fear of not knowing what was wrong with her. This fear, combined with a desire to live her life on her own terms, gave her the courage to have her first laparoscopic surgery in June 2018. During the surgery, her surgeon found Stage I Endometriosis and successfully removed it. Now, her treatment plan is to continue taking low doses of birth control until she’s ready to start a family.

“I’m so glad I knew about Endo and all the symptoms when I was young. If I wouldn’t have known, I would have probably thought it was totally normal to have so much pain,” Dragoo said. “I really just want women to become aware and be more open to talking about Endo. It shouldn’t be a dirty word or something we are ashamed of. One in 10 women in the US suffer from Endo and probably more than that – they just don’t know it! If your period seems off, tell your doctor and keep telling them until you get answers. Getting answers was a turning point for me.”

Want to know more about this fearless EndoBabe? Check out Dragoo’s profile on Instagram @fit_dragon.