Hi, my name is Nicole, and earlier this year my sister, Dani, after years of struggle, was finally diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis.

Stage 4 endometriosis is the most advanced stage, marked by widespread endometriosis lesions throughout the pelvis. It typically includes large ovarian cysts called endometriomas. Significant scar tissue, or adhesions, often forms and can cause organs to stick together or shift from their normal positions. Because of this, Stage 4 can lead to more severe pain, fertility issues, and disruption of normal organ function.

It took over 10 years of fighting for a diagnosis, being moved from waitlist to waitlist, and not being taken seriously to finally get some answers. Unfortunately, by the time anyone properly helped Dani, it was too late. Following her diagnostic surgery and discovering the extent of her disease, she was off work for six weeks and in a continuing huge amount of pain.

Sadly, due to the effects of the advanced, widespread endometriosis, Dani’s chances of having children naturally have dropped to a small 5%. Over the last few months things have got a lot more serious - the scar tissue is widespread and stuck to a number of internal organs, and she’s now at risk of potentially losing her bowel and the ability to have children at all.

My sister is one of the kindest, strongest, funniest, and colourful people I know. She always puts everyone before herself and would never ask for anything in return. She lights up every room with her ridiculous cackle, and she’s supposed to be getting married next year. This has all come at the worst possible time, and if she doesn’t get treatment soon, her life will completely change. She deserves to live like any young woman with her whole life ahead of her.

We absolutely believe in the NHS and free healthcare. We always have. But it’s devastating to see how years of underfunding have left so many people like my sister in situations where their conditions have gotten worse and worse. Sadly the system, in it's current state has failed her again and again. She has had to fight for her reproductive health for over a decade, being pushed from pillar to post, left to deal with horrendous pain and ongoing symptoms without and support and being put on waitlist after waitlist. Dani no longer has the luxury of waiting on NHS waitlists anymore without risking permanent, life-changing damage.

We’re now speaking with a private healthcare team so she can get the surgery she needs as soon as possible - surgery that could stop her from potentially losing her ovaries, bowels, and bladder. This surgery has been quoted at £17,000 due to the severity of the disease. She’s worked hard her whole life, but like most people right now, she doesn’t have the money to go private. Honestly, who does in this economy?

This surgery could mean giving Dani and her partner Brad an opportunity to become parents and start their own family in the near future. Something that they have both always desperately wanted.

So I’m asking - if you do have the means to help, please consider it. She’d never ask for herself, but I can’t stand the thought of her suffering any more than she already has.

Any support at all would mean the absolute world to me and could genuinely change her life.

Thank you for reading!