‘I breathe, I’m in pain’: Woman suffering from endometriosis urges Quebec to take action on disease

The deep breaths are to control the pain Zahra Nourouziardaki can't escape. She can't sit for long and can barely stand. Hobbling around her home, even moving is laboured. This is how she finds some vague semblance of relief. I sleep with pain. I eat with pain. Thank you. I'm talking to you now, I'm in pain. I breathe, I'm in pain. I go to washroom, I'm in pain. I walk in, I'm in pain. I'm frustrated. Nowruz Yardaki has been looking for help to treat her endometriosis for a decade. It's a disease that attacks the uterus. It's not cancer, but it behaves like a cancer. So, we'll have endometriosis implants everywhere. We've seen endometriosis implants in the brain. Okay. We've seen endometriosis implants in the lungs. Without access to the surgery she needs in Quebec, she's spending her savings trying to find a solution elsewhere. I'm miserable, honestly, in my life right now. And I'm very frustrated. I'm very frustrated. I tried so much. But I didn't get anywhere. Nourouzi Ardaki and others suffering from endometriosis wrote to the Health Minister, along with other groups advocating for women's health. They're demanding a concrete action plan to address issues with diagnosis and treatment, more resources to reduce wait times for treatment, and better training for medical staff. Nothing is clear. As a patient, as a citizen, as somebody who is living in Quebec, in Canada, we're paying taxes. This is to have the services, but we don't have the services. While one in 10 women are diagnosed with endometriosis, Murad believes many more go undiagnosed. The government does not acknowledge what we do. It does not acknowledge pelvic mapping. We don't get funding. We don't have enough OR. We don't have enough staff for the clinics. We don't have enough space for the clinics. We don't have enough... We don't have enough nurses with us to help us, we don't have enough ultrasound machines, we don't have enough good referral systems to help us as well. In a statement, Quebec's health minister says for far too long women's health issues have been less recognized and understood. Marie-Carline Laflamme says work is underway to identify needs and actions to implement.