Endometriosis: A life sentence for women

At the very beginning when her periods started, Katy Phillips didn´t understand why she was struggling with an unbearable menstrual pain more than the most of her friends.

When she realised that this pain wasn´t normal, she decided to visit her GP, but she wasn´t met with understanding.

"I´ve got a really good nurse in my area, but GPs didn´t believe in the seriousness of my condition," she said in the beginning.

The advice from her doctor was to keep herself occupied and if she wanted to be cured, she should´ve got pregnant.

But pregnancy is considered as one of the most popular myths about curing the endometriosis.

Due to the lack of understanding of endometriosis by GPs, the diagnosis of this condition is very often delayed for years.

And this was crucial for Katy. The problems with debilitating pain started with her first period when she was 11, and she was diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 32 in 2012.

Since 2012, Katy has been put through the various hormonal treatments and has had 4 surgeries in total.

"The hormonal treatments helped with controlling the symptoms for a while but then I felt like my body started reacting to it. I was feeling so poorly."

She also went through four courses of in vitro fertilization to help her with the fertility, but it wasn´t successful.

Katy made a definite decision to undergo a total hysterectomy after unavailing endometriosis treatments and four courses of IVF.

This meant the treatment would help with controlling endometriosis symptoms, but she would lose the chance to carry her own children.

That day came at the end of October 2019 and she´s been recovering since then.

Katy´s life is still highly affected by Endometriosis despite her previous hysterectomy, as the convalescence has been painful.

She thinks that a non-hormonal treatment might be promising but a better understanding of endometriosis by specialists is more necessary.

"It´s so important to have a good support network around you. If you feel that people around you don´t understand what you´re going through, educate them. There´s a lot of resources."

Becoming a mother is one of the most significant moments in life for many women.

According to Endometriosis UK, 30 to 50% of women experience difficulties with fertility.

Hormonal treatments are significantly affecting this.

After withdrawing from birth control medication, women often struggle with getting pregnant.

But for Anna Cooper, there was a miracle.

She started struggling with chronic pain when she was 14. Nearly four years later, she was diagnosed with endometriosis.

After her main part of surgery, the disease struck back in Anna´s body agressively and she was diagnosed with Stage 4 widespread severe endometriosis.

Since Anna was diagnosed, she has gone through twelve surgeries to help with pain relief.

At the age of 18, Anna was advised to go through the hysterectomy but she refused because she wanted to have a family.

Women with endometriosis feel isolated very often and in Anna´s case, she wasn´t socialising at all due to the health complications.

"I was lucky I met my husband at very young age and he understands what I´ve been going through."

Anna got pregnant when she was 22 despite the negative prognosis.

She faced multiple complications during the pregnancy such as hyperemesis gravidarum and which escalated to a premature labour.

As a result, she had to go for Ileostomy, which was given to her as the only option.

The combination of endometriosis and parenting has been challenging for Anna, but she has found the right support from her husband.

The Coopers were trying for the second baby but they weren´t lucky like the first time.

Anna has been advised that the hysterectomy might help her to control her endometriosis.

At the moment, she´s taking pain relief medication in combination with the hormonal treatment, but it brings side effects.

She was left heartbroken after being told she shouldn´t have children anymore.

Anna supports more research into endometriosis treatments if it´s done correctly.

"There must be something out there which helps. It´s very debilitating so I would do anything to help me and other women."

Endometriosis UK is the biggest charity for endometriosis patients in Great Britain.

It´s the main partner to research groups and raises awareness about the illness.

The charity noticed that the percentage of people who know about this condition is decreasing each year.

"Only 50% of the population knows what Endometriosis is. We´re expecting it to be 25% soon," said Emma Cox from Endometriosis UK.

Endometriosis UK has been closely cooperating with Doctor Horne´s team.

As well as raising awareness, the funding for research is important for Horne.

The experience of patients still illustrates the reality that Endometriosis is an underestimated condition in its importance.

But Cox, who is from the biggest British Endometriosis charity, has noticed progress with celebrities starting to speak out about it.

Historically, topics like periods and menstrual pain haven´t been discussed openly in public.

But the trend is turning and the taboo around menstruation is disappearing.