Meet Kellie And How It Led To Kosi

My name is Kellie and I have stage 4 endometriosis. I got my first period at the age of 12, and from
the beginning, my pain was not normal. I was throwing up and my mum had to call a doctor out to
my house. However, people didn’t take period pain seriously back then, so I dealt with it for another
10+ years until I nearly passed out in the bathroom at a party from excruciating pain. I finally went to
a gynecologist and I was diagnosed with endometriosis via scan. This is not typical, but I had a large
visible endometrioma around 5cm in diameter. These are also known as chocolate cysts and they
cause internal bleeding and scarring. They put me on the pill to manage my symptoms and sent me
on my way.

It wasn’t until I came off the pill around ten years later that I realized how much my endo had
progressed. I still had severe period pain during that time, but after this I started throwing up or
semi-losing consciousness again. I went to another gyno who booked me in for a laparoscopy. He
found stage 4 endo, meaning it had grown across all my organs, as well as the inside my pelvis and
everything was stuck together. My fallopian tube was twisted and bleeding. I felt better after
surgery, but unfortunately, my endo recurred only one year later and everything is stuck together
again.

Endo took a lot from me. I have spent many years in pain, struggling to maintain work, attend social
events and it has affected my relationships. I spent 4 years trying unsuccessfully to have a baby with
a total of 5 pregnancy losses. However, the friendships I have gained within the endo community are
everything. Together we are getting better at advocating for ourselves and making true changes to
the way endo is treated.

While dealing with chronic pain, I struggled to find a heat pack that sufficiently helped. My pain
would radiate throughout my whole torso, into my back and down my legs. I would use 2 heat packs
and shove one down the back of my pants and one down the front. But then my pants would start
falling down and I couldn’t hold the heat in the right place. All the heat and weight of the pack was
concentrated in one spot, which was so uncomfortable on my endo belly and would leave big burn
marks. So I taught myself to sew and invented and patented Kosi, a 360 degree, hands-free heat
pack. It completely encases your abdomen in evenly dispersed warmth and I immediately noticed a
difference, plus it was so much more convenient and comfortable!

Endo has been such a tough journey for me, but turning it into this positive experience where I have
created something to help other people like me, is truly the best thing I have ever done! And now I
am about to give birth to a baby girl! Chronic illness is really tough, and if you are going through it
right now, I see you and I feel you! All we can do is hold on to those silver linings and positive
moments. And of course, lean on each other in the endo community.

If you would like to check out Kosi you can go to www.kosi.au or follow us on insta