Woman turns fibroids pain into purpose, helps women advocate for their health: 'I was humiliated'

Latasha Addison had experienced extremely heavy bleeding and debilitating pain during her menstrual cycle for two decades but didn't know why it was happening.

"It got to a point where it was just getting unbearable for me. The pain and the heavy bleeding" described Addison.

Things were so bad for Addison that she would stay home during her cycle. She hit her breaking point one day at her office. "I was new at this office and I had an accident at work, and it was all in my chair. And then I had this coworker come by and saw the chair as I was trying to, you know, gather myself and was like, what's that in your chair."

Addison, who is now an entrepreneur and owner of Qulture Consultancy, remembered feeling embarrassed. "I was humiliated.

And I was just like, OK, I got to do something about this."

After several different doctors. She finally found a physician who took her concerns seriously. It was discovered that she had fibroids.

Uterine Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that can grow in and on the uterus. According to health experts, 80% of women will experience uterine fibroids by the age of 50. For black women, they are diagnosed with fibroids two to three times more than white women. The fibroids are detected earlier in life and they tend to experience larger fibroids along with more severe symptoms.

Studies seem to show a link between things like vitamin D deficiency and fibroid development. We know that black women are more likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiencies than white women, in part because of the melanin that gives their skin their color," explained Dr. Brian Brimmage, an OBGYN at UNC Rex in Raleigh.

Brimmage said most women who have fibroids don't know they have them, Showing up as small knots or as large as a baby's head. Causing excessive or painful bleeding during your period, frequent urination, bloating, pain during sex, and infertility issues.

Dr Brimmage said women have three options for treating fibroids. Medication to shrink the fibroids and control bleeding. Surgically Removing the fibroids or a Hysterectomy.

"Generally, in my practice, I see that hysterectomy tends to be a last resort treatment for most women. Most women before jumping all the way to the most extreme treatment, which is a hysterectomy. They will want to try some less invasive, less aggressive treatments first, " Brimmage explained.

For Addison, a mom of two, a hysterectomy was the best choice for her. "I had done enough research to know that I wanted a hysterectomy, and get it out because I didn't want to deal with it ever again. And I was adamant that that's what I wanted," she continued.

More women are sharing their stories with the hopes of helping others, including Sateria Venable.

She is the founder and CEO of The Fibroid Foundation , a national non-profit that grew out of a painful experience with fibroids.

"The fibroid foundation sadly grew out of my personal experience, I've had four fibroid surgeries. After every procedure they returned in under a year, which was heartbreaking," said Venable

She has been advocating for women's health through her foundation since 2013 and now there are 26 chapters including one in Raleigh. "Through those networks, women are able to have a friend to accompany them to the doctor, they're able to get advice for surgery, or just wanna hear everyone's personal experience because that always helps," she explained.

And that helps extend beyond sisterhood. It made it to Capitol Hill.

"We led the introduction of the fibroid bill, which is in Congress now, which would provide $150 million of research funding to the National Institutes of Health specifically for uterine fibroids. And we're still waiting to see the passage of that," continued Venable.

July is Fibroid Awareness Month and Venable and Addison are using it remind other women to advocate for their health.

"No one feels what's happening inside of your body except you. No one else can tell you how you feel emotionally or physically. So it is up to you to push for yourself," Addison said.

WATCH | ABC11's Lauren Johnson shares person story of dealing with fibroids

ABC11 anchor Lauren Johnson shares a personal health journey and spotlights other women in their health battles for Fibroid Awareness Month.