Trina’s endometriosis surgery

My name is Annick and I’m writing this on behalf of my friend Trina, who is currently suffering with Stage 4 endometriosis. Over the last several months, the pain has increased significantly once again and she frequently finds herself in the emergency room. The surgery that she needs to remove the diseased tissue requires excision specialists, something that is extremely rare in Alberta. She is looking at several years before she can have the surgery she needs. Thankfully, there are experts who can provide this surgery much sooner, but this requires travel. 

More details: 

Endometriosis is a painful and debilitating disease where endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus and attaches to various organs such as the bladder, bowels and kidneys. 

In 2004, after complications from a c-section, an endometrioma attached itself to Trina’s abdominal wall and began growing undiagnosed for years. Trina began having worsening symptoms over the years including pain across her abdomen and through to her kidneys, nausea, vomiting, cramping, fatigue and lower back pain. 

In 2021, Trina had a complete hysterectomy along with surgery to remove a lime sized endometrioma. Disease was found in both ovaries. 

While this has helped with some of the medical concerns, it hasn’t addressed them all. Over the 6 months, Trina’s symptoms have come back worse than ever. She has flare ups which occur without warning, resulting in frequent ER visits. She has had X-rays, CT scans, a colonoscopy and more. Her MRI imaging shows several more endometriomas as well as several lesions and adhesions throughout her pelvis.

In order to receive excision surgery in Alberta, the wait is at least two years because there are very few specialists. She has the opportunity to travel to see a world renowned expert and have much needed surgery this spring but this surgery is not covered by insurance and it is, unfortunately, costly. The cost of surgery will be between $6000-9000 and the cost of travel, accommodations and food will be approximately $6000. She must stay for 10 days post-op to ensure that everything is healing well. Her partner Jeremy will be accompanying her on the trip as well to help her with her recovery. Surgery has been booked for June 9! 

Thank you for taking the time to read this - it is so appreciated!