The Healthcare Life

In 2023 we asked 22 South, Southeast and East Asian women living in British Columbia, Canada to share their stories of having endometriosis during the Covid-19 pandemic through photography. People with endometriosis had varying experiences with the healthcare system. Many experienced long delays to diagnosis and struggled to receive appropriate and timely care.

They experienced mixed emotions including fear, disappointment, shame, promise and hope.

Sensitive Content – some photos and captions depict images of fertility.

So many doctors.. but no answers.

This photo describes the feeling of being “lost” in the medical system. Even though the symptoms and experiences are very real, and impact every single day of my life I am just a number lost in the system while we wait – for Covid to pass and on waitlists once we finally get in to see a medical professional.

This self-portrait depicts the emotions, thoughts, and fears that have accumulated from my interactions with the health care system. As a person living with Endometriosis, the process of seeking thorough and compassionate care has, at times, been a dehumanizing experience that has impacted my sense of self. However, I know that I am so much more than my illness.

Needing the support of health care professionals has been a vulnerable experience – particularly when I have felt dismissed, invalidated, or stigmatized by those who are supposed to help me. I have often felt like a task to be completed rather than a human being seeking support and care. I wish doctors knew that oftentimes people only seek help when there is no other choice, and while it may be a routine day for them, it might be one of the hardest days of a patient’s life.

I was in the ER with excruciating pain that wouldn’t subside when I got there. I wasn’t given any pain medication, but a doctor who saw me said, “Well you don’t look sick.”

People do not see the internal war I am constantly waging with myself: not wanting to be viewed in a certain light for using these medications, but also not wanting to suffer needlessly and having limited options.

This was after a bad day with the intravaginal ultrasound. It’s never a good experience but this particular day, the doctor was very rough and I had a lot of pain. I made cinnamon rolls because they always make me feel better.

It has taken over 15 years and multiple visits to the doctor for me to finally be diagnosed with endometriosis.

This was a few days before my scheduled surgery. I was having a bad anxiety attack at the thought of having a surgery without knowing the outcomes.

Constant visits to the Emergency. Unable to manage the pain at home and was prescribed morphine for pain.

Trying everything for endometriosis relief. Went for acupuncture in hopes it would help.

This photo was taken before work. I found a pair of socks that say ” Ova Achiever” and thought they were appropriate for me due to the 10 cm cyst I had removed from my ovary, and then the cyst they found 2 months later on yet another visit to the emergency room on the same ovary.