Megan Deserves A Life Without Agony

My name is Richard, and I am writing this as a dad who is heartbroken and desperate to save his daughter – my best friend – Megan.

Megan is only 29. She should be travelling, laughing, and building her career as a children’s nurse. Instead, she is bed-bound most days, in relentless daily agony from stage 4 endometriosis and a rare form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

For 13 years the NHS dismissed her pain until the disease had spread so severely it was fusing her organs together and beginning to penetrate them. By the time we scraped together money for private surgery, her case was already extremely advanced. That surgery left her worse – with permanent nerve damage, daily self-catheterisation, and now legally disabled. On her better days she relies on mobility aids and a wheelchair, and on her worst she is completely bed-bound.

Specialists have confirmed that her only chance now is urgent robotic excision surgery carried out by a full multidisciplinary team of experts. A standard laparoscopy is no longer safe because of her rare Ehlers-Danlos and existing nerve damage. Robotic surgery is the only way to remove the widespread disease without risking further permanent organ or nerve damage. The NHS waiting list for this is at least 2–3 years – but Megan cannot wait that long.

Despite the strongest drugs – Oxycodone, Morphine, Fentanyl – her pain never stops. She vomits and passes out from agony, screams during bowel movements, and her bladder and bowel are constantly inflamed. She collapses asleep mid-conversation, while eating, or even walking. She cannot wake on her own and needs someone to help her out of bed every day. Even worse, she has now lost all hope. Her mental health has rapidly declined. She was once so positive and full of laughter, but being trapped in constant pain and missing out on life has left her broken. As her dad, it is devastating to see the light go out of her eyes. We are in a cruel catch-22: in order for her mental health to improve, her physical health must improve first – and our only hope is this surgery.

Megan gave everything to the NHS as a children’s nurse. She worked in intensive care saving babies and children after cardiac arrests and delivering end-of-life care when palliative, then in A&E; caring for children of all ages. I never knew how she coped with such heartbreaking work, but it showed the strength and kindness she carries in her heart. She put others before herself every single day. Now she deserves that same care back.

We managed to pay privately once, but it has left Megan more disabled and in worse pain. We cannot do this again. The surgery now costs thousands, and without it, Megan has no hope.

PLEASE, if you can, help me give my daughter and best friend back her life, and one day give her hope of being the mum she has always dreamed of becoming.

Richard,

Megan's Dad.

We’ve been quoted £20–30k for Megan’s surgery, with our target set at £20k until we see the consultant next week to confirm. If we are fortunate enough to raise more, it will go towards the vital aftercare Megan is still waiting for, including physiotherapy, pain specialists, mental health specialists, occupational health support and medical equipment. After such a major operation, this care is essential to give our Megan the chance of a normal life again. Any funds left over will be donated to Endometriosis UK, to help others facing the same cruel disease.