Hello my name is Lauren, I am 26 years old, and I am living with severe Endometriosis, a disease that has been destroying my health, my independence, and my quality of life for as long as I can remember.
I got my first period at age 11, and from the very beginning something felt wrong. My periods aren’t just painful they are debilitating. As I got older, the pain spread beyond my cycle. Month after month, I am left fighting constant pelvic pain, severe bloating, chronic lower-back pain, sharp cramps, nausea, and vomiting. On my worst days, I can’t lift my arms or legs, speak, and can barely stay conscious from the intensity of the pain.
From age 16, I repeatedly went to doctors begging for answers. My symptoms matched Endometriosis, and with my mum also suffering from the disease, I knew in my gut this wasn’t normal. But everytime, I was dismissed and told to take contraceptive pills to mask the symptoms. For years, no one listened.
Finally In December 2024 after a decade of being ignored a new doctor finally heard me. By this point, my mental health had collapsed. I couldn’t maintain a full-time job, my relationships with loved ones were strained, and I could barely function.
On 7 January 2025, I had a pelvic ultrasound. The sonographer listened carefully, examined everything, and confirmed what I had feared. I had an 8cm complex, haemorrhaging Endometrioma on my right ovary. The doctor told me I would need urgent surgery within 4–12 weeks. But the surgery never came.
By July 2025 seven months later I was still on a waiting list, and the pain has been controlling every part of my life. By this point I was diagnosed with stress induced alopecia to which there was no medication offered to help me I was simply told to “try not stress”. I had another appointment with a different GP soon after and she took one look at me and sent me straight to A&E. A gynaecology consultant confirmed the cyst and said I would need a laparoscopic excision to remove it along with removal of any Endometriosis they find. My case was escalated at the department’s meeting in hopes of speeding things up.
In September 2025 I underwent an urgent MRI and what came next devastated me. The MRI revealed how much worse things had become.
The cyst had shrunk slightly to 5cm, but the rest of the news was terrifying. I have severe Endometriosis. The disease has stuck my ovaries to the back of my uterus and my colon and, my right fallopian tube has grown to 5cm (normal is 4mm) and is filling with blood every period. When I met my consultant afterward, everything changed. My surgery became far more complex. I now need a Laparoscopic excision of Endometriosis, removal of the ovarian cyst and a single salpingectomy (removal of my Fallopian tube). The procedure will last about 4 hours instead of the originally planned 90 minutes, and I will need an enema beforehand due to the risk of damage to my colon. This surgery will reduce my fertility by 30%, and I will likely need further surgeries in the future as the disease continues to grow.
Then came the worst blow. My surgery date would be a minimum 12–18 months away.
After being told in January that this was urgent, I am now expected to wait at least another year while the disease continues to grow, spread, and cause more damage. I am exhausted. I am scared. And I am in pain every single day.
Endometriosis has already taken so much from me my health, my stability, my independence, my confidence, my ability to work full-time, and so many moments of my life that I’ll never get back. I want my life back. I want even one day where I can wake up without being consumed by pain. But because I can’t consistently work due to my condition, private treatment is completely out of reach for me on my own. This GoFundMe is my last option and my last chance to get the surgery I desperately need before things get even worse. I have a consultation on January 26th 2026 which will cost £225. At this appointment I will be told the total cost of my surgery which based on research will be approximately £8,500.
If you can contribute, share, or support this fundraiser in any way, it would mean the world to me. You would be helping give me a future that isn’t defined by constant suffering.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.