Sydney cheerleader reveals painful symptoms that led to diagnosis

The 24-year-old Sydney woman had spent the day painting her house when she was suddenly struck down with an excruciating pain.

Before Kaylee Burns was rushed to hospital one night in excruciating pain, she had never considered that her periods had been unusual.

In fact the Penrith Panthers cheerleader and early childhood worker had assumed it was normal to suffer through a heavy monthly cycle, cramps, digestive upsets and painful sex.

“I would have such heavy bleeding that I also had a lot of abdominal pain, I had back pain,” Kaylee, who is also studying early childhood education at university, told news.com.au.

“I had a lot of trouble with food, bowel movements, going to the toilet, like my bladder would always hurt as well.”

When she began having sex and found it painful, Kaylee thought it was normal for it to be uncomfortable in the beginning.

Kaylee Burns always assumed her painful periods were normal. Picture: Supplied.

“I was very conservative, so I didn’t have it until I was much older anyway,” she said.

“But even when I did I was like. oh yeah, it should be painful at first, I haven’t done it. (But) it kept continuing and I was like, surely this isn’t normal?”

Kaylee’s symptoms came to a head when a day of painting in June 2020 saw her raced to hospital, where staff discovered she had a ruptured cyst.

“I did it for the whole day, I painted my house with my parents, then that night I started getting really bad pain,” she said.

“I thought maybe I had pulled a muscle or something.”

After her hospital visit Kaylee, now 24, was referred to a gynaocologist who began asking her about her period.

Sex was also painful for the Sydney student. Picture: Supplied.

“The more he asked me, the more I realised I had been suffering for so long and I just hadn't known any better,” she said.

It was around this time that Kaylee’s symptoms began to get worse and began occurring “nearly every day”, not just when she had her period.

“After my cyst had ruptured it felt like everything had just magnified,” she said. “All my pain was worse than it had been before, it just sent something right off.”

Just five months later Kaylee underwent laparoscopic surgery and was diagnosed with endometriosis in January last year.

Endometriosis is an illness that causes tissue similar to the one that lines the uterus to grow in other areas such as the ovaries and fallopian tube.

This causes a range of painful symptoms as well as organ dysfunction and infertility in some cases.

As well as studying at university and working in early childhood, Kaylee has been a Penrith Panther cheerleader for the last seven years. Picture: Supplied.

Kaylee underwent another surgery for endometriosis in July 2021. It’s now believed either the infection she caught after having the procedure, or the fact she had two surgeries so close together, triggered a second illness.

“I was sleeping constantly, I would get home from work and just sleep,” she said.

“But then at night I was always tossing and turning but I couldn’t sleep … I’d feel like I had this severe headache and everything was hurting, I could barely stand up.”

Kaylee underwent tests and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in September, a chronic condition which causes pain and tenderness in different parts of the body.

Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia seemed shattering at first, Kaylee said.

“I had never heard of fibromyalgia before and I was getting put on medication and I just felt really overwhelmed,” she said.

“I went from one day feeling like I was OK, to my world just being flipped over.”

She hopes that by sharing her story, other women will have their abnormal periods investigated. Picture: Supplied.

Kaylee underwent a third laparoscopic surgery for her endometriosis in January which has helped ease her symptoms further, however, she still has to pay close attention to her body and what triggers can aggravate her symptoms.

“I’m really mindful about my eating, I make sure I get plenty of rest, I don’t book too many things in one day that I know I can’t handle,” she said.

“If I am feeling tired, I’ve learnt to just rest.”

But leading such an active life which includes running after small children and cheerleader training, people often find it hard to believe she has two chronic illnesses.

“Everyone will be like ‘really? Oh my gosh that’s happening, you’re going through that?’” Kaylee said with a laugh.

Kaylee hopes that by sharing her story it can encourage other women to get any unusual health symptoms checked out.

“Any doubts check it out, because you can go to the doctor and be all in the clear, or you can go to a doctor and get help,” she said.