A Limerick woman is travelling abroad to Greece this week for endometriosis surgery after the disease spread to her heart and diaphragm, significantly reducing her quality of life.
Lisa Walsh (29) was diagnosed in 2023 with stage-four endometriosis after almost a decade of seeking answers from medical professionals as to the source of her pain.
According to the World Health Organisation, endometriosis is a chronic disease associated with severe, life-impacting pain during periods, sexual intercourse, bowel movements and/or urination; chronic pelvic pain; abdominal bloating; nausea; fatigue; and sometimes depression, anxiety and infertility.
Ms Walsh has undergone two surgeries already, but has since discovered the disease has spread to other areas of her body.
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“We did X-rays in February and we found out it’s also in my heart. That was obviously another shock, another hurdle,” she said.
Her surgery is scheduled to take place on November 4th, as Ms Walsh said she “doesn’t like the idea of it [the disease] being left inside me”.
“The surgeon’s going to excise part of the heart, he’s going to remove my right side of the diaphragm and put in a mesh to reconstruct it and he’s going to look at the pelvis, and do the left side as well,” she said.
Recovery will be challenging, she said, due to the extent of the surgery. However, she said her quality of life in recent months has “completely deteriorated” due to symptoms.
“I was doing fine until July of this year when everything went downhill. I have that heaviness on my chest. I can physically take a breath but it’s like my body isn’t registering it so it’s not satisfied with the breath. It’s kind of like a feeling of a little panic attack in a way,” she said.
“I’ve really noticed a decline. More persistent pain. It used to be a dull knots of tense muscle and now it’s a burning sensation coming down the arm a bit. I went into the emergency department once, because the pain in my chest was so bad. I thought it was a lung collapse.”
There will be long-term consequences to her surgery, including increased shortness of breath, and she has purchased a wheelchair to help her on days she is particularly struggling.
The cost of the surgery abroad is expected to cost between €25,000 and €28,000 when travel expenses are factored in.
However, her insurer said they will reimburse the cost of the procedure, and members of the public have donated via GoFundMe to help cover the cost of travel.
The Government is seeking to improve the provision of endometriosis surgery in the State, having earlier this month launched a national framework for care.
However, the framework was met with a mixed reaction, with many advocates criticising the reference to taking paracetamol to help with pain.
