Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, which can cause pelvic pain.
It affects more than one in ten women.
Long ignored and poorly treated by health professionals, the National Assembly has just voted unanimously to declare it a long-term illness, two days after the government announced the launch of a national strategy to fight against endometriosis.
In Cagnes-sur-Mer, a pain management unit opened in October and allows patients to be "listened to" and to have a course "personalized to their needs and expectations", explains Dr Piquet-Raynaud. , at the origin of this center.
“When I wanted to have a baby with my husband, we realized that it was complicated.
We did tests and that's when I learned that the endometriosis I was suffering from was stage 4 and that it could cause infertility, "says Eliana Boreschi, 33, who lives in the Alps. -Maritimes.
This disease affects nearly 2.5 million women in France.
“That is to say that we all know someone around us who is suffering”, summarizes Emilie Piquet-Raynaud, pain doctor at the hospital in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice.
Last October, she created a unit for the management of pelvic and perineal pain.
“Since then, we have been seeing ten patients a week over two mornings.
We even receive women who come from the neighboring department.
This is where I realize that there was a real need because very few centers of this kind exist in France”, she specifies.
Personalized support
In the first consultation, a 2h30 course is proposed and allows to see four specialists: a psychologist – psychotherapist, a physiotherapist, a dietician – nutritionist and Dr Piquet-Raynaud. “An overall assessment is carried out during which the patients receive a great deal of attention and information to best help them treat their chronic pain. It is a personalized care according to their needs and their expectations because there are as many cases of endometriosis as there are women”, adds the doctor.
This multidisciplinary program, which has been thought out for more than a year, prevents patients from going through "a real obstacle course" that they sometimes endure for many years. “I got my period when I was 14. At 17, I was in the emergency room, says Anne-Lise Gauthier, who is now 30 and who was diagnosed and operated on only last year.
"I've been a carrier for a long time.
I chained the professionals who told me that it was in my head, that it was normal to have pain when you had your period.
Fortunately, I came across a doctor in Nice who understood the questionnaire.
But when you realize that you have had part of your organs removed, that this disease affects fertility and that if you had done something before, it would have been different, because you have the means to slow it down and don't forget your plans for children, we have reason to be angry.
She therefore advises women to “talk” and health professionals “to at least be informed and at best, be trained in order to mobilize around these diseases”.
A journey of “active” women
When the State recognized endometriosis as a long-term condition (ALD) 30, Anne-Lise had only one word: “Finally!
A recognition that confirms the need for the unit of St-Jean to exist.
“Our patients are both surprised and happy when they pass through our service because they are listened to.
Every day, they are limited in their professional activity, for example.
These are also diseases that affect married life.
It is very hard psychologically.
So we approach things differently.
With our team, they feel supported and confident.
And they leave with tools.
We want to make them active.
These are women aged 15 to 50 who come to see us.
We want them to be able to live as comfortably as possible with these illnesses.
»
By going there since November, Anne-Lise already perceives an improvement. “The endometriosis progresses but the pain is maintained and managed. It's just wonderful. I am delighted that there are such initiatives and I hope that it will multiply. It also allows for awareness and prevention. Even if it's far from my home [she lives in the Var], I prefer to go on the road and have quality support. We feel a little more carried thanks to this mesh. And for once, everyone comes to you, it's no longer up to the patient to go right to left. It's really a game-changer." Eliana, she feels "understood". “It's hard to live with endometriosis every day, it's emotionally draining. Just knowing that a unit exists nearby,It's already changing my life and it could change that of many other women. »
This center aims to continue to develop and to create in parallel, “a network of competent professionals as close as possible to patients”.
It will also have new premises and "a sex therapy section that must be built".
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