A woman from Ryedale is being forced to go abroad to seek treatment for a debilitating condition that has left her struggling to live a normal life for the last two years.
Emily Keal, 30, who was born and brought up in Norton and attended Lady Lumley’s School in Pickering, is fighting chronic pain caused by repeated bouts of illness.
Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting women where cells that usually only grow in the uterus, spread and grow around other organs, and fuse them together.
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It is incredibly painful for sufferers and is usually managed with heavy duty painkillers and hormonal treatments.
Emily said: “In one way, I have been lucky in that I was diagnosed quite quickly in the Netherlands where I was studying and working at the time when I presented to A&E after fainting from severe abdominal pain. Women in the UK can wait for years before they are even told what's wrong.
“A recent flare up of the endometriosis symptoms landed me in hospital in horrific pain, so I decided that I needed to take drastic action to find treatment.
“In the UK, however bad your symptoms are, you usually have to wait for two or three years for surgery to remove the endometrial cells, which is a long time to have to put your life on hold."
Emily, who had to escape a war zone when bullets started flying in Sudan where she was working with an aid agency, is currently working with vulnerable young people in Edinburgh.
Unfortunately the complex surgery needed to provide long lasting relieve from the symptoms is not available in the UK and the specialist treatment she needs is only available in very few countries.
"My body can’t tolerate the cocktail of painkillers and hormones that are prescribed in the UK, so travelling for the treatment needed is the only way I can go,” she said.
After her latest stay in hospital in Edinburgh, Emily’s flatmates have launched a Go FundMe appeal to help fund her treatment, which is likely to cost around £18,000 to £20,000.
“The latest flare-up of my endometriosis has been a huge blow as I only moved to Scotland in September to start a new job, but when it is bad it is virtually impossible to work or even function on a daily basis.
The pain makes it hard to walk far, disturbs sleep and makes it difficult to eat normally. I am also exhausted all the time.
“I miss my usual routine like being able to walk to work, cycle, cook my favourite meals and even enjoy my morning coffee because I keep worrying about triggering another flare-up.
“I want people to know it is not just bad period pains. It’s so much more than that - at its worse it is absolute agony.”
Emily and her mum, Di Keal, who is Mayor of Norton on Derwent, hope she will have surgery carried out next month in India by an internationally renowned expert in the treatment of endometriosis.
Di said: “It seems like a drastic step to travel abroad for surgery, but it is difficult to see your daughter in as much pain as Emily has been living with in recent months and years. Her condition has only worsened as she has grown older.
“Women suffering with endometriosis have been sadly neglected by the NHS in the UK for years and it is frankly appalling that we are having to seek surgery abroad.
“I can’t thank Emily’s flatmates enough for all the support they have given her and for launching the GoFundMe to help pay for her treatment. I would also like to thank Emily’s many friends from across the world who have contributed - your generosity means the world to us.”
To contribute to Emily’s GoFundMe please go to:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-emily-fund-endometriosis-treatment