N.B. woman spent 20 years in pain, now she's ready to get her life back

For more than 20 years, Nicola Sleep has endured excruciating pain for up to two weeks of every month.

It feels "like razor blades in my stomach, or if someone poured acid in your abdomen and just left it there," she says.

Her only escape has been to "live in" a hot bath or to curl up in the fetal position with a heating pad until it numbs, or sometimes even burns, her skin.

Sleep, 32, of Upper Gagetown, suffers from severe endometriosis, which flares up during menstruation and ovulation.

Endometriosis occurs when cells similar to the lining of the uterus implant abnormally outside the uterus and form lesions, cysts and other growths. 

The disease affects about one in 10 girls and women, and an unknown number of transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse people, according to Endometriosis Network Canada.

In Sleep's case, it's "attacking" her bowel, bladder and kidneys and causing fertility problems. But this summer, she will undergo a surgery she hopes will change her life.

Dr. Craig Morton will perform laparoscopic gynecologic surgery to identify and remove the tissue that has grown abnormally and "unstick" her organs that have fused together.

Morton, her Saint John-based gynecologist, left his practice nearly a year ago to complete a surgical fellowship in Calgary in this specialized endometriosis care.

There is no known cure for endometriosis, but he says excision surgery has become the gold standard.

Laparoscopic surgery is when surgeons use small incisions to insert a laparascope, a thin, flexible tube with a light and a small video camera on the end, along with other instruments, and operate while viewing detailed images instead of opening the patient up.

Excision surgery involves removing the entire endometriosis lesion, whereas ablation surgery treats only the surface of the lesions, which may go deeper and could grow back. 

Morton feels there is "a void" in New Brunswick when it comes to caring for people with endometriosis.

"I found myself wanting to be able to do more for patients, both surgically and medically, and there really wasn't a lot of other providers around."