KL's Endometriosis Surgery in Romania: March 2024

I am a Canadian Health Care Worker who is being forced to seek Health Care from a specialty hospital in Bucharest Romania for a surgery to simply allow me to live a more normal life. I'm still trying to process it. 1000 Canadians join me in a support group specifically for Canadians traveling to this specialty hospital for this specific surgery. Hundreds have already gone and help guide me.

It is with sorrow but also great hope, that I make this Go Fund me. Some of those who have suggested I go this route offered to create the page for me... including one of my Canadian doctors! But I've decided to tell my own story in hopes it helps others with this disease... 1 in 10 people with a uterus have it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also sincerely hope that those who read my story will vote with health care in mind so other Canadians will not have leave Canada for health care.

I understand times are economically quite difficult with inflation etc. If you are unable to contribute to this surgery financially, please know I completely understand. If you are able to contribute, thank you!

I have Endometriosis:

• 1 out of 10 people with a uterus have it

• Tissue similar to that in the uterus forms in other parts of the body. It swells and bleeds but the blood has nowhere to go which causes severe pain, internal scarring, bleeding, infertility and more

• There is no known cause and no known cure… but there is surgical intervention with a proven record of alleviating symptoms and slowing the disease progression.

Here is my story:

As a young teenager (13) I was experiencing extreme lower abdominal pain. The pain was so intense and happened so often that I would regularly be caught off guard and faint, vomit and/or uncontrollably cry out of seemingly nowhere. My widowed father fought for me to have a female GP with the best intentions.... The GP at the time though told me, it was all in my head. She said, I didn't want to be a woman because my mom had died and the pain was psychosomatic then with my periods. She referred me to therapy, but the symptoms were still there and the disease was growing. Being in agonizing pain while being told it is in my head from, “those in charge” caused panic attacks and major depression. Sometimes I admit I thought about ending it. I’m thankful I stuck around!

After years of being gaslit and told it was all imagined by medical professionals, it was my Aunt Sue (a teacher) who did the research and found the name, "Endometriosis". It clicked all the boxes! But this doctor refused to send me to a specialist, convinced I was making it up. Thank my lucky stars for my dad! He took me to his GP who immediately gave me a referral to a gynecologist with a background in this disease. Within a month I was in for surgery, as that was and is the process for accurate diagnosis. I remember waking up with the surgeon standing by my bedside. He told me I have the disease... I was elated with the validation that this was “REAL”! It was physical! I wasn’t “crazy”! There wasn't and isn't a cure but at least we had a diagnosis and a plan moving forward. I was brought back in for laparoscopic surgery within weeks and had many lesions on multiple organs cauterized.

After surgery I was still not out of trouble as there is no cure for endometriosis, so I went on hormone therapies and heavy pain killers. Some put me in early menopause (early twenties and was reversed)... some included daily injections for years... many caused insomnia, nausea, hot flashes, extreme appetite fluctuations, migraines and more. But the intense pain I was getting monthly was alleviated to an extent and I was so thankful!

I went off to University along with prescriptions for experimental hormone therapies and heavy narcotics. This could have been a disaster looking back (I was still a teenager) but thankfully I hated the effects of all of the heavy painkillers so avoided this potential addiction. I would take them when pain was out of control to keep from going to the emergency departments as they could only provide me morphine and fluids until the “attack” was over or calmed down. I’d much rather do this in private as stigma always seemed to follow. I was always terrified of embarrassing myself in public as I wouldn’t always know when I would feel as though being stabbed by a searing hot jagged blade. This disease is invisible to onlookers. It was just me. Alone. I held my own hand. Sometimes I would bite down on a leather strap to keep from crying out when I had roommates and I felt if I talked about it, I wouldn’t be believed. It’s a lonely road.

I am proud to say that during this time I was able to earn multiple degrees and designations. I worked at homeless shelters getting senior citizens out of emergency care and into residential care. I helped sexual assault survivors as a legal and medical advocate. I worked on the MLSE anti bullying campaign and I interned with Children’s Bridge who help sustainably fund 3rd world orphanages. This wouldn’t have been possible without the surgery I received and I thank Canada for it.

This brings us to now. Last year I had an attack that brought me back to that lonely terrified kid. Now in my late 30s I was on a plane when my tummy swelled to look like I was around 7 months pregnant. It was hard to the touch and WOW was that pain intense! I was taken off the plane. Tears were uncontrollable as I tried to walk but my legs were giving out under me. This caused me to alert my medical team. I was put on medications and the next attacks were somewhat under control… until they weren’t. I had another episode in May that made me feel like I was actually dying. I laid in the bath hemorrhaging for entire days just crying and trying to convince myself, “this too shall pass”… but it won’t. It’s getting worse. It is affecting every aspect of my life and something has to drastically change.

Today I am in pain. I am working for a major hospital in Ontario (9 years) but am currently working remotely with a medical accommodation. It has been confirmed that scar tissue is connecting some of my organs that shouldn’t be connected. I can feel a sharp, burning sensation as though my organs are ripping, particularly on the lower left side of my abdomen. I am also fearing desperately for my fertility as being a mom is and always has been a dream. There is a treatment. It works and the women I have spoken to from the Canadian Support Group for going to Romania for this Endometriosis Surgery have told me they GOT THEIR LIVES BACK! So I am taking this giant step toward quality of life.

The $20, 000 estimate was given to me by other Canadians who have gone to Romania for this surgery. We have connected in support groups. It is the budget needed I’ve been told to cover the surgery itself as well as the medical testing before, the trip to Bucharest Romania, two weeks of accommodation within the city (3 days before surgery and 10 days after before flying), food, transportation to and from doc appointments, medications.

Please wish me luck, be kind to someone with endo and I will post updates on my journey.

Endometriosis | Bucharest Endometriosis Center