A mother-of-one with a cyst the size of a bowling ball on
her uterus has overcome the debilitating condition to reach the finals of a
curvy modelling contest.
Elisha Perez, 37, from Greenwich in Connecticut, USA, was
misdiagnosed by doctors who thought she was suffering from IBS.
Over 15 years her condition continued to worsen, leaving
her writhing in pain for hours at a time.
She found it hard to walk, could hardly eat and had to
struggle throughout the day and night to sleep and was eventually diagnosed with
Adenomyosis - for which there is no known cure.
After multiple consultations she decided to go ahead with
an abdominal hysterectomy - the removal of her uterus and ovaries - to restrict
the pain.
The procedure was painful and frightening for Eliza but since
the surgery she has found a new lease of life and felt confident enough to
enter herself into the 'Star in a Bra' competition by fuller-figure lingerie
firm Curvy Kate. She's, of course delighted to find herself in the final.
Elisha, an administrative assistant, said: 'Every job I
had I was in fear of losing because I was almost always late due to the fact I
was incapacitated.
'I looked normal and healthy on the outside but inside I
was losing a battle. By October 2012 I was in danger of losing a job for the
third time and the pain was the worse it had ever been.
'After a trip to hospital and several large doses of
painkillers - none of which worked - I accepted I would have to start the
process of doctors, tests and medication again only this time I demanded
certain things be done.
'Later that month after requesting an MRI I was told I
had Ademomyosis and cysts on my ovaries, Adeno is a granular tissue disease -
they don't really know what causes it and there's no cure.
'The uterus haemorrhages within the muscle and since it'
in the muscle it doesn't shed, causing it to grow becoming larger and heavier.
'I was basically walking around with a small
bowling ball in my pelvis. The weight of it was crushing my other organs and
creating the digestive issues because the colon was in impinged.