Wearing a black western hat and pink clothes, Ella Brady presents herself as a tough Queensland woman.
But her strength runs much deeper. Ms Brady suffers from debilitating endometriosis while working on a 22,600ha cattle farm in western Queensland.
The 22-year-old said it remains a taboo subject in the male-dominated farming industry.
“I feel like we were raised [as though] “Don’t cry cowboy,” “Be strong,” “You’ll be right,” “Get back in the saddle,” she said.
In the subway [areas]“I feel like there’s more awareness moving forward, so they’re more understanding of it, whereas it can be more difficult in rural areas.”
The long road to health care
Endometriosis causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow in other parts of the body.
According to QENDO, an organization that advocates for people with endometriosis, symptoms include pelvic pain and heavy or irregular bleeding and can only be diagnosed through laparoscopic surgery.
a Laparoscopy is a surgical procedure. Who examines and performs operations on the organs inside the abdomen and pelvis.
For many people in rural areas, the distance to vital health care services can be a major concern – something Ms. Brady knows all too well.
She was diagnosed after collapsing in pain and was flown hundreds of kilometres by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) for emergency surgery at a regional hospital.
“I was there for two weeks, and the surgery showed I had stage 3 endometriosis at that time, and now the disease has progressed,” she said.
To manage her condition, Ms Brady takes 13 different medications and visits a specialist doctor in Brisbane, 1,400 kilometres from her home near Longreach.
“It’s been really hard… a lot of telehealth and communication with RFDS,” she said.
“But it’s an internal illness.” [so] “There’s not much that telehealth can do.”
Huge gap in services in rural Australia
despite of Federal Government Expands Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Clinics Across the country, these are concentrated in major cities or regional centres, and rural residents need to travel significant distances to access specialist treatment.
Michelle Hannan, RFDS’s primary health care officer, said unequal access to health care in rural areas meant people did not always seek medical help.
“The access to health care for people in rural and remote areas is nowhere near what people in urban areas can get,” she said.
As Christine Stokes, 26, pushes her energetic daughter Ellie Hoddle, 3, on a swing at their cattle farm in Glenariff, south-west of Longreach, she is grateful for her family.
Mrs. Stokes says Eli’s existence is almost a miracle.
She and her partner have been trying to have a second child for two years but are struggling with infertility caused by endometriosis.
Her previous job was shearing sheep, and Ms Stokes said working with a crew of men in such a physically demanding job while dealing with the incurable disease was difficult.
“Working in a male-dominated field doesn’t make you want to be looked at like, ‘I can’t do this because I’m a woman,'” she said.
Like Ms Brady, Ms Stokes was unable to receive treatment at home, and in February she travelled to the Gold Coast, a nearly 15-hour road trip, for her third surgery.
“[My daughter] “I had to stay home, and it’s a huge psychological burden for a patient to have such a major operation,” she added.
“You alone, the travel, the time away from home, the money.
“To be in a city [alone] It can be quite uncomfortable, and a very stressful experience. [for people from the outback]”.”
People in rural areas need access to specialized treatment services, especially those who have difficulty leaving remote stations to access healthcare, said Jessica Taylor, CEO of QENDO.
“We certainly see a problem in urban areas but as we go west, it gets worse,” she said.
Women’s health and endometriosis have received a $18.2 million boost from Queensland’s 2024 Budget, with some of the money helping to support NGOs providing vital services across rural and remote areas.
A Queensland Department of Health spokesperson said the funding, which is supported by the $250 million Queensland Women’s and Girls’ Health Strategy 2032, aims to break down the barriers people with endometriosis face in receiving timely diagnosis and care.
“As part of the implementation of the strategy, Queensland Health is leading the development of a service delivery model for pelvic pain and endometriosis in Queensland,” a department spokesperson said.
Comprehensive state-level consultations on this new model are expected to begin later this year.
Communication in isolation
For endometriosis patients in the bush, the disease can be isolating, forcing people to take time off work and travel long distances to get treatment with little support.
Like Ms. Brady and Ms. Stokes, Corinne Akers relies on treatment hundreds of miles from where she lives.
The 34-year-old cook works on a property in western Queensland. She feeds the station staff three meals a day, sometimes in excruciating pain.
But now she feels less alone after finding a community online through social media.
“It’s a lot easier now with social media than it was when we were younger, so I think it’s very vital and very important,” Ms Akers said.
Ms Brady went further during a “difficult period” earlier this year, searching for an online support group for rural people with endometriosis, but found nothing.
So, she created her own Facebook page called “Rural Endometriosis.”
“I feel like I have my chickens, and I can talk to them, and they can talk to me,” Ms. Brady said.
“I may be 100 kilometers from the nearest city, but I’m not alone.”
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