15 Years in Business, a Lifetime Impacted by Healthcare Delays: Why I’m Calling for an Inquiry
15 Years in Business, a Lifetime Impacted by Healthcare Delays: Why I’m Calling for a National Endometriosis Inquiry
Today is officially The Gluten Free Kitchen Company’s 15th birthday. 🎂
Fifteen years of building something I believed in, while delays in accessing appropriate healthcare repeatedly put obstacles in my way.
Those delays have affected my physical ability to work, my financial circumstances and my capacity to borrow to resource and grow the business.
The irony is that The Gluten Free Kitchen Company began because I needed a way to support myself after severe health symptoms forced me to step away from my previous career.
At the time, Jobseeker’s Allowance was the only State income support I could access. It was a temporary payment, and I subsequently qualified for a two-year Start Your Own Business scheme.
That scheme gave me the opportunity to create my own livelihood while my medical symptoms were constantly being mismanaged and I was repeatedly told my scans were “clear”.
I was trying to create a way to support myself while my symptoms were constantly being mismanaged and I was repeatedly told my scans were “clear”.
They weren’t.
My legal process began in 2016, after I collapsed and underwent emergency surgery to remove a septic appendix. During that process, we discovered that abnormalities had been documented on scans but had not been communicated to me.
There is a significant difference between a clear scan and being told your scan is clear.
The radiologist who had correctly reported findings as far back as 2007 joined the panel at my first endometriosis awareness events in March 2024. From what he shared, speaking out came at an enormous personal and professional cost during his time with the HSE. He has since left that employment and now works freelance.
As part of my legal process, I also have a report documenting the loss of opportunity for my business arising from the damage healthcare delays have caused to my personal circumstances.
Loss of opportunity. Three words that hold years of work, plans, income and possibilities.
When I ask for a National Inquiry into endometriosis care, this is part of the reason why.
The consequences extend into our livelihoods, our financial independence and the futures we are trying to build.
Today, I want to celebrate fifteen years of The Gluten Free Kitchen Company. I also want people to understand what it has taken to keep going.
💛 That work continues through Cneasú.
Tickets are now on sale for our 19–21 March 2027 weekend at Ballygarry Estate, including Cneasú the Podcast Live on Sunday, 21 March.
Senator Maria McCormack will join our panel to share why she chose to raise the endometriosis crisis in the Seanad in March 2025, reflect on the phenomenal work that has followed and discuss the action still needed.
This is a not-for-profit event. Ticket prices reflect the costs of running it. Any surplus from the weekend will go back into Cneasú’s work so this much-needed awareness and action can continue.
🎟️ Tickets are on sale now:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/o/cneasu-by-the-gluten-free-kitchen-company-76437028823
✍️ Please sign and share our call for a National Endometriosis Inquiry:
https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/justice-for-endometriosis-patients-launch-a-national-inquiry-in-ireland
Keep signing. Keep sharing. Keep creating awareness.
Fifteen years on, I am still building, still speaking and still asking for the care that would have given me a fairer chance.