Anna Sherrington spent over years experiencing debilitating pain and navigating a series of misdiagnoses before receiving an endometriosis diagnosis at age 32. According to The Independent, Sherrington underwent five laparoscopies and a hysterectomy over the years, highlighting the invasive nature of diagnosing a condition where tissue similar to the uterus’s inner lining grows outside the uterus.
The Journey to Diagnosis and Misdiagnoses
Before receiving her diagnosis at 32, Sherrington lived in Lancashire, England, where she was frequently known as the person with a poor immune system, according to The Independent. Over the years, medical professionals misdiagnosed her symptoms with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), glandular fever, and pelvic inflammatory disease. Sherrington noted that she had to compartmentalize and mask her invisible illness for more than a decade.
According to the Mayo Clinic, endometriosis causes painful symptoms when tissue similar to the lining inside the uterus grows outside of it, frequently affecting the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and pelvic lining. The Office on Women’s Health reports that the condition impacts more than 11% of women in the United States. To achieve a formal diagnosis, patients typically undergo laparoscopy, a surgical procedure where a surgeon inserts a telescope through an abdominal incision, per the Cleveland Clinic.
Calls for Less Invasive Diagnostic Options
Sherrington has been vocal about the physical toll of traditional diagnostic procedures, having undergone five laparoscopies and one hysterectomy. She told The Independent that requiring major surgery just to secure a diagnosis is barbaric and stressed that significantly more funding must go toward research to alter the current patient pipeline. She described the lengthy wait times as a situation where patients face medical gaslighting.
Healthcare accessibility and wait times remain critical hurdles across the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. An NHS spokesperson stated that the experiences of many women affected by endometriosis are inadequate, with individuals waiting too long for treatment and diagnosis. The spokesperson added that the agency is addressing these delays by establishing specialized women’s health clinics in local areas across England to handle menstrual problems and endometriosis care.
Research Into Blood Tests and Alternative Methods
To bypass the need for repeated surgical interventions, researchers in Scotland are currently studying the viability of blood tests to detect the condition more quickly. Dr. Gael Morrow, who leads the study at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, emphasized the urgency of finding a rapid, less invasive test to alleviate patient frustration amid long NHS wait times. Dr. Lucy Whitaker, a senior clinical research fellow and honorary consultant gynaecologist, noted that patients typically require a two-week recovery window following a laparoscopy. Whitaker’s research into non-surgical and non-hormonal diagnostic options receives funding from the charity Wellbeing of Women.
Sherrington actively supports these research initiatives, having run the 2025 London Marathon to raise funds for Wellbeing of Women. Her advocacy focuses on increasing public awareness and pushing for clinical advancements that eliminate the reliance on repeated surgeries for patients experiencing chronic pelvic pain.
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