Storm, 55, shares the enormous relief she feels following a decades-long battle with endometriosis and adenomyosis. As Women’s Health Week (5 – 11 September) ends, she urges other women to advocate for themselves strongly when it comes to gynaecological health.

Trying to get heard as a woman is very hard. I have had endometriosis and adenomyosis for around 40 years. It got to the point where things were so bad I could barely function. Horrifically painful.

I read some wonderful reviews for Dr Roni Ratner online, and I set up an appointment to go and see her.

A couple of weeks later I was in surgery. She gave me a full hysterectomy, done laparoscopically.

My womb.had adhered to the bowel, to one of my ovaries and everything was stuck in there and twisted around. It was a flipping mess.

She didn’t cut me open, just four little tiny holes. She reset everything, it was a hell of a job.

Four days later I didn’t even need a pain relief. It was life altering.

I would send the entire female population to Dr Ratner if I could, she is amazing.

The surgery was done in September last year. Today I feel one thousand per cent. No scarring. I have a tattoo on the side of my abdomen and she was kind enough to move over so she didn’t interfere with that.

My advice to other women is don’t stop looking. Don’t stop pushing. Don’t stop advocating for yourself.

ENDOMETRIOSIS

Endometriosis is when cells or tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is present outside of the uterus. It can cause pain and infertility.

It can cause organs to stick together and can also invade into other organs.

ADENOMYOSIS

Adenomyosis occurs when cells from the lining of the uterus are present within the muscular layer of the uterus and can cause pain, heavy menstrual bleeding and infertility. Adenomyosis is confined to the uterus.