Kirklyn Yates

Peach of the Month

My name is Kirklyn Yates, I’m 23 years old. I am currently pursuing a masters in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action with a focus in women and children’s care advocacy. I live with my military husband, and my mini aussiedoodle on Fe Warren Air Force Base. At 22 years old, my life change forever when I was finally diagnosed after a decades long battle with endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Endometriosis had riddled my body since I was 10 years old. With intense pain every month I began having cysts rupture due to the abnormal growths probably once a year. I often passed out from pain or blood loss. The first time I passed out I was 14, I was at a basketball game with my sister and my friends and I went and laid in the car because I was scared my friends could hear me screaming in pain from the bathroom stall. The most graphic period I remember peaked when I was home alone with my big sister while our parents were at work. I was 16 and I asked her to come with me to the bathroom in case I passed out so that she could catch me if I fell. She saw the amount of blood and panicked and called my grandmother to come and take me to the hospital. My mom regularly took me to the gynecologist but they told me this was normal. They told me it would get better if I could gain a little bit of weight and it would level out as I got older. But as I got older, my symptoms only grew worse. No one regularly talks about the medical gaslighting within the community of women’s health, especially reproductive health. After seven opinions, I finally found a doctor who believed me and was willing to do the surgery that ended up saving my life. At 21 years old I almost bled out and decided something had to change, and that I couldn’t keep bleeding like this every month Over one year ago, I had a total hysterectomy. I still remember the day in the doctor’s office signing the paperwork for surgery and wondering if I had made the right decision by giving up my fertility to preserve my life. I know now I did. I know that my life is worth so much more than my uterus, or what my body can or can not do. I often reminisce and think back on the evenings that I would be in bed weak from the day, lying with a towel and the thickest fuzzy pants I could find to put on, still knowing I was going to bleed through my sheets before morning. I think about the times that my husband found me at home and carried me to the tub and helped me get my clothes off and just held me there until the bleeding slowed down. I think about the times he took me to the emergency room only to be sent home by doctors because “bleeding on your period is normal, and you need to get used to it if you’re a woman” and all the horrendous things doctors have said to me over the years. I hope to one day achieve my Doctorate of Education in Community Care and Counseling as I believe education is the only pathway to a healthy and inclusive future that promotes safety for all women. This journey has inspired me to serve. I want to make a difference for other women who may be struggling who see no way out. I now work for Imani Milele Children that seeks to rescue Uganda’s at-risk children, and seeks to educate young girls in rural villages about reproductive health and how to stay sanitary and safe in regards to their cycles. We are all on the same journey, some of us just have better resources to care for ourselves and our well being. I really hope that my journey can make a difference in helping someone else. I’m thankful for my journey. I’m thankful for my health. I’m thankful to be alive. I’m thankful for the adoption process we are going to pursue one day, and I hope I can make my children proud of their mom. I am thankful that my daughters will grow up knowing that they are worth so much more than the pain their body causes them, or that disabilities that limit them don’t define them. But most of all I’m so proud to be a fighter. And I won’t ever stop.

My name is Kirklyn Yates, I’m 23 years old. I am currently pursuing a masters in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action with a focus in women and children’s care advocacy. I live with my military husband, and my mini aussiedoodle on Fe Warren Air Force Base. At 22 years old, my life change forever when I was finally diagnosed after a decades long battle with endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Endometriosis had riddled my body since I was 10 years old. With intense pain every month I began having cysts rupture due to the abnormal growths probably once a year. I often passed out from pain or blood loss. The first time I passed out I was 14, I was at a basketball game with my sister and my friends and I went and laid in the car because I was scared my friends could hear me screaming in pain from the bathroom stall. The most graphic period I remember peaked when I was home alone with my big sister while our parents were at work. I was 16 and I asked her to come with me to the bathroom in case I passed out so that she could catch me if I fell. She saw the amount of blood and panicked and called my grandmother to come and take me to the hospital. My mom regularly took me to the gynecologist but they told me this was normal. They told me it would get better if I could gain a little bit of weight and it would level out as I got older. But as I got older, my symptoms only grew worse. No one regularly talks about the medical gaslighting within the community of women’s health, especially reproductive health. After seven opinions, I finally found a doctor who believed me and was willing to do the surgery that ended up saving my life. At 21 years old I almost bled out and decided something had to change, and that I couldn’t keep bleeding like this every month Over one year ago, I had a total hysterectomy. I still remember the day in the doctor’s office signing the paperwork for surgery and wondering if I had made the right decision by giving up my fertility to preserve my life. I know now I did. I know that my life is worth so much more than my uterus, or what my body can or can not do. I often reminisce and think back on the evenings that I would be in bed weak from the day, lying with a towel and the thickest fuzzy pants I could find to put on, still knowing I was going to bleed through my sheets before morning. I think about the times that my husband found me at home and carried me to the tub and helped me get my clothes off and just held me there until the bleeding slowed down. I think about the times he took me to the emergency room only to be sent home by doctors because “bleeding on your period is normal, and you need to get used to it if you’re a woman” and all the horrendous things doctors have said to me over the years. I hope to one day achieve my Doctorate of Education in Community Care and Counseling as I believe education is the only pathway to a healthy and inclusive future that promotes safety for all women. This journey has inspired me to serve. I want to make a difference for other women who may be struggling who see no way out. I now work for Imani Milele Children that seeks to rescue Uganda’s at-risk children, and seeks to educate young girls in rural villages about reproductive health and how to stay sanitary and safe in regards to their cycles. We are all on the same journey, some of us just have better resources to care for ourselves and our well being. I really hope that my journey can make a difference in helping someone else. I’m thankful for my journey. I’m thankful for my health. I’m thankful to be alive. I’m thankful for the adoption process we are going to pursue one day, and I hope I can make my children proud of their mom. I am thankful that my daughters will grow up knowing that they are worth so much more than the pain their body causes them, or that disabilities that limit them don’t define them. But most of all I’m so proud to be a fighter. And I won’t ever stop.