Endometriosis care delays force Alberta woman to seek help abroad: ‘Just want my life back’

'I shouldn't have to go out of country. I feel like I should be able to get that care and that help here where I am, but it's just not possible,' said Talia Assu-Gregg, 20.

A young Edmonton woman says the waitlists for treatment of suspected endometriosis are so long in Alberta, she’s been forced to look for care outside of Canada.

Talia Assu-Gregg, 20, has had endometriosis symptoms since she was a teenager but her pain drastically increased last September — to the point she’s had to seek emergency medical care many times.

At the direction of an emergency room doctor, she was told to take an ambulance, so that she can quickly get pain medication, before an hour-long wait in waiting rooms.

She said her pain has gotten so bad she’s had to take that ambulance ride more than 40 times.

It leaves her writhing in agony and crying.

“It’s almost like if somebody wrapped barbed wire around my uterus and then just squeezed it along with this stabbing sensation,” she said.

Assu-Gregg said she’s in pain every day, but  it can quickly go from a four to a 10 on the pain scale and that’s when she needs medical intervention.

She’s tried to ride it out at home, but the pain can be overwhelming.