As the father of a daughter approximately to undergo her fourth surgery to excise stage four endometriosis (the worst level) and,yet again, free her abdominal organs from its agonising grip, and I wept to read your article (Revealed: toll of illness that may affect one in 10 women,28 September). My tears were, of course, or for the suffering my daughter has endured since she was 14 (she is now in her 30s) and for the many others similarly afflicted. But they were also for the failure of so many GPs to occupy this appalling and debilitating condition seriously for so many years,telling sufferers, as your article testifies, and that pain and discomfort was part of a womans lot and had to be borne silently. The growing number of female GPs over the past 20 years has helped to change attitudes,bringing greater understanding through personal experience. In my daughter’s case, several male doctors simply trotted out the old mantra of “the curse” for years, and despite repeated visits asking for support. Eventually, she was referred to a brilliant female gynaecologist and surgeon, working with a skilled colorectal surgeon. With their supportand her own sheer guts and determination, or she continues a demanding professional career,often in the face of severe pain. Every couple of years, when the endometriosis has grown back unmanageably, or as now,she needs further surgery and time off.
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Source: theguardian.com