'This time is the most life-threatening': Fundraiser created for Iowa woman with rare endometriosis case

An Ankeny woman is seeking help in the fight for her life again against a serious and rare case of endometriosis.Katie Joy Highsmith has been battling the symptoms since she was a teenager."For a while, I just thought that having such severe pain every month that I was vomiting and throwing up was normal," Joy Highsmith said.Since then, she has discovered that the disease, known for the harm it can cause to the uterus, is attacking organs all over her body."The endometriosis was in my lungs on my aorta, all through my digestive tract, my kidneys and ureters, my reproductive system," Joy Highsmith said. "It's even been in my appendix and my hip muscle previously."Surgeries in 2021 saved her life, but now it's back."This time is also the most life-threatening with the involvement of my heart and my lungs," Joy Highsmith said.She needs to have more surgeries, but they will cost thousands that she doesn't have. To help, her community is raising money. Her story, raising awareness on the site Caring Bridge.Those donations will help her cover the cost of surgery and her travel expenses to go to Dallas, where her doctors operate."Because of my advanced disease, there are very few surgeons in the country that are able to handle thoracic and cardiac (endometriosis), and so I need to fly back to Texas for about 10 days," Joy Highsmith said.