Calm Down Dear teaser
Calm Down Dear teaser by Catriona Walsh.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 So I actually have endometriosis.
00:06 I have PCOS.
00:08 I was diagnosed when I was about 19
00:10 with polycystic ovary syndrome.
00:12 I have a working diagnosis of endometriosis,
00:15 which basically means that they're all pretty sure
00:18 that that is what I have.
00:19 However, trying to get the surgery
00:21 is a completely different story.
00:23 Since the past 10 to 12 years, I've suffered from PCOD.
00:27 And when I was back home in my country,
00:29 I was undergoing treatment for it.
00:30 Eventually, at 37, I finally got through to a doctor.
00:34 What I was dealing with wasn't normal,
00:35 and I was diagnosed with endometriosis.
00:38 When I got diagnosed, I was basically
00:40 handed a leaflet with about 10 bullet points on it.
00:45 I took an appointment, and I went to the GP.
00:47 And funny enough, it was actually a pediatrician
00:50 who they sent me to.
00:51 I showed up, and they basically said
00:53 that I hadn't lost enough weight before the surgery.
00:56 I was in the hospital, going, brace on, ready to go.
00:59 And the GP said, we can't do it.
01:02 Why am I being sent to a pediatrician
01:04 when I should have been sent to a gynecologist?
01:07 And it finally culminated in I was missing that much school
01:10 that they thought I was going to have to stay back a year.
01:12 And the doctor said to me--
01:15 and I'll never forget it-- he said,
01:16 are all your friends this dramatic
01:18 when they're on their period?
01:19 She said, well, there's nothing really I can do about it.
01:21 And she sent me home.
01:23 And I sat in the car for about 90 minutes,
01:27 crying my eyes out.
01:28 And I phoned Lifeline.
01:29 So when you moved to Northern Ireland,
01:31 did you find that you were disappointed
01:33 by the health care system?
01:35 Oh my god, can I say that?
01:36 Yes, you can.
01:37 Say anything you want.
01:38 So it doesn't sound nice, but ever since I moved here,
01:43 I sort of have more respect for the health care in my country.
01:46 When you're sitting in front of a male doctor,
01:48 and you're telling them, I feel like this, as a woman,
01:51 they will never understand that fully.
01:53 Like, it's just simple misogyny.
01:55 I've got a daughter who's 11, so she's coming up to this now.
01:59 So I would really like to hope that there's
02:01 a lot more education brought in about women's health care,
02:04 that not every woman deals with things the same way.
02:06 I know it's a natural thing, but it's not natural
02:08 to be in pain, vomiting, blacking out,
02:12 not being able to eat for a week because you're in so much pain.
02:18 So how are you feeling today?
02:22 I'm feeling probably a lot different
02:25 than how I felt maybe six months ago when
02:27 we started this documentary.