‘Every time I think I’ve got it under control, it throws me another challenge,’ says Jen Pickering, 39, of her unusual health diagnosis. In late 2023, Jen, from Liverpool, felt a sudden pain near her shoulder blade, and assumed she’d pulled a muscle while stretching in the gym. But countless tests revealed a shocking diagnosis: her right lung had collapsed. It marked the beginning of a long and painful journey, until Jen was finally diagnosed with thoracic endometriosis. While endometriosis is more well known as a reproductive condition, thoracic endometriosis is a complex form of the disease, when tissue, similar to that found in the lining of the uterus, grows in and around the chest cavity, most commonly on the diaphragm, and also in the lung.
