Karlee Guitard hoped dropping out of school would fix everything.
It’s what she’d been led to believe, after all. Two years into her respiratory therapy program in Fredericton, she went to the emergency room due to extreme abdominal pain and nausea.
Health-care workers told her she was probably just anxious, maybe had kidney stones.
“I remember they just said, ‘Go get some Tylenol,” Guitard said in an interview.
The truth was that Guitard, now 24, had endometriosis.
It’s a chronic disease that can impact anyone born with a uterus. It happens when cells similar to the lining of the uterus implant abnormally outside the uterus and form lesions, cysts and other growths, which can extend beyond the reproductive area. The disease can cause heavy bleeding, severe pelvic and menstrual pain, anxiety, depression, infertility and numerous other issues.
It has no cure, though excision surgery to remove the lesions is considered the gold standard of care for improving quality of life.
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Amy MacArthur of Moncton launched Endo Project Atlantic in March to bring together endometriosis patients across the region.
Over and over, Guitard was told she just had anxiety. She said she started to feel insane, wondering if it was true,
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