A Liverpool woman has shared the terrifying ordeal of suffering a collapsed lung everytime she has a period — in what doctors believe is a rare form of endometriosis.
Jennifer Pickering, 39, led an active lifestyle until September 2023, when she thought she pulled her shoulder blade at the gym.
But after suffering for two days in pain, an x-ray revealed her right lung had collapsed.
Ever since, the former pilates teacher has suffered a collapsed lung once a month — timed perfectly with her menstrual cycle.
While she doesn’t have an official diagnosis, doctors have ‘informally’ said she has thoracic endometriosis — a rare form of the reproductive condition in which tissue from the uterus spreads to other parts of the body.
Jennifer Pickering, 39, who led an active lifestyle until September 2023 when she thought she pulled her shoulder blade at the gym
After suffering for two days in pain, an X-ray revealed her right lung had collapsed. Since the former pilates teacher, from Liverpool, has suffered a collapsed lung once a month — timed perfectly with her menstrual cycle
Typically, the tissue grows in the abdominal and pelvic area, such as on the bowel or bladder.
But in thoracic endometriosis — said to affect around one in 10 women with endometriosis — the tissue grows in the chest cavity, affecting the lungs.
Endometriosis affects around 1.5 million women in the UK, and causes extreme pain, usually around the time of a menstrual period.
It can also cause bowel problems, fatigue, trouble getting pregnant and pain when urinating.
Thoracic endometriosis behaves like the lining of the womb, each month with the menstrual cycle it builds up and then sheds, according to Endometriosis UK.
It can cause chest pain, lung collapse, sometimes sufferers cough up blood, or blood is found in the chest cavity.
Without treatment, the condition could be deadly.
However, for many women these symptoms go undiagnosed for years, Endometriosis UK adds.
If further tests confirm Ms Pickering’s diagnosis of thoracic endometriosis, she may be prescribed the contraceptive pill to help, as well as following a strict, healthy lifestyle.
Ms Pickering said: ‘I feel like thoracic endometriosis has taken my whole life.
‘I used to like to travel, hoverboard, go to the gym — it’s been really, really difficult to give it all up.
‘The treatment has been incredibly painful, too.’
In September 2023, Ms Pickering was ‘cooling down’ after a light workout at the gym.
She completed some yoga stretches on a mat, focusing initially on her legs and glutes.
But when she moved into a certain position, she felt something ‘tear’ in her right shoulder blade.
‘It was like somebody had stabbed me in the back, it was very painful,’ she said.
‘I was a bit like, “what on earth is going on?”
‘I immediately left the gym — just thinking I’d pulled my shoulder.’
Two days later, after realising the pain hadn’t gone away, she decided to drive herself to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital torequest a scan.
But the scan showed her right lung had spontaneously collapsed — and she’d need to see a lung specialist to get it re-inflated.
Following her surgery she spent six weeks having consultations with the lung specialist — believing it ‘probably’ wouldn’t happen again.
Thoracic endometriosis behaves like the lining of the womb, each month with the menstrual cycle it builds up and then sheds, according to Endometriosis UK
Ms Pickering began to think her lung collapses could be linked to her menstrual cycle — but doctors dismissed this at first, as she hadn’t been diagnosed with pelvic endometriosis
‘It happened a second time in October 2023,’ Ms Pickering said.
‘I was kept on the respiratory ward in the Royal for a week, until the first week of November.’
For the first time, Ms Pickering began to think her lung collapses could be linked to her menstrual cycle — but doctors dismissed this at first, as she hadn’t been diagnosed with pelvic endometriosis.
She also hadn’t experienced any of the symptoms of pelvic endometriosis — such as heavy periods and pelvic pain.
In November, she was referred for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) — which involves a tiny camera and surgical tools being inserted into the chest — to treat her lung collapse, and spent ‘months’ in recovery.
In November, she was referred for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) — which involves a tiny camera and surgical tools being inserted into the chest — to treat her lung collapse, and spent ‘months’ in recovery
Ms Pickering spent two months in recovery — until her lung collapsed for the third time, in January 2024
She said: ‘During post-op, they have to give you something called a chest drain.
‘It drains any excessive fluid or air — which, if not drained, could be really dangerous for the heart.
‘They’re very painful, it’s very hard to sleep with them in — it literally feels like a foreign body inside your chest.
‘Beyond that, you’ve got to be very cautious for the first three to eight months – you’re given quite a detailed recovery programme.
‘It says stuff like you can’t hoover until you’re 12 weeks in or pick up a child until 10 weeks in.’
A sample has been sent for a biopsy — and Ms Pickering is still waiting for the results, but has been told by doctors it’s ‘more than likely’ to be endometrial tissue
Ms Pickering spent two months in recovery — until her lung collapsed for the third time, in January 2024.
‘After January, it continued every month like this,’ she said.
‘I sat down and worked it out — it was 26 days apart, every time.
‘I was really suspicious that it did have something to do with my cycle.’
In April 2024, Jennifer was re-diagnosed with cyclical lung collapse.
She was sent to a radiologist who had experience diagnosing thoracic endometriosis — and an MRI revealed she has ‘nodules’ around her chest cavity.
A sample has been sent for a biopsy — and Ms Pickering is still waiting for the results, but has been told by doctors it’s ‘more than likely’ to be endometrial tissue.
In the meantime, Ms Pickering has started raising money on GoFundMe in order to fund a thoracic endometriosis training day for doctors.
‘We’re in the early stages of planning it, at the moment,’ she said.
‘I want to clue doctors up on the condition because it gets missed in a lot of scans.
‘It would be about training radiologists on what to look for — and I’m hoping to bring mine in to give a talk.’
