00:00As a young teenager, Catherine's severe period pain wasn't taken seriously by doctors.
00:08Until a school camp and a shattered ankle brought things to a head.
00:12I tripped and I shattered my ankle and I walked on it for the rest of the hike.
00:18Returned to Melbourne and the doctor and they were shocked that I was able to walk on it.
00:23And this is my regular GP and I just said well, it didn't hurt as much as my period did.
00:28A diagnosis took more than a decade.
00:31I was told I was perhaps a little bit hysterical, exaggerating the pain a tiny bit.
00:36And that, you know, when I was older and I got pregnant everything would be okay.
00:41When she did decide surgery was the best option, she went three years without any news from the hospital.
00:47I realised that if it just continued to get worse and I had to wait another 20 years for menopause or whatever,
00:55there was a chance I wasn't going to make it.
00:57Even though Catherine did eventually have an initial appointment with the Canberra Endometriosis Centre,
01:02she was warned it could be another year before she might be able to have surgery.
01:07She decided it was time to go private, despite the financial burden that would carry.
01:12Canberra Health Services can't say with certainty how many people are on the waiting list for endometriosis surgery
01:18because it doesn't collect that data.
01:20But earlier this year there were more than 2,000 people waiting for an appointment with the Canberra Endometriosis Centre
01:26and 700 waiting for gynaecological surgery.
01:29Like Catherine, Chantel turned to surgery when endometriosis pain began affecting her work and relationships.
01:36You can't, like it is debilitating.
01:39Heat wasn't helping, like a heat pack or a water bottle.
01:42It got to the point that I was burning myself because I needed it so hot to even try and reduce the pain.
01:50But after a year with no news and feeling ignored and let down by the system,
01:54Chantel also gave up and went private.
01:57A laparoscopy is not just a one-off.
02:00You can have it, you may need it multiple times.
02:04I'm not going to be able to afford it to go back through private multiple times.
02:10A recently established pelvic pain clinic in Canberra is helping bridge the gap
02:14while patients wait years for appointments at the endocentre.
02:18Lots of patients in this space often have felt fairly dismissed
02:22and have often been under-recognised and under-managed.
02:25Patients can currently get in for an appointment within a few weeks,
02:28but demand is already steadily increasing.
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