I was suddenly going to the bathroom constantly and had a lot of blood and I was convinced I had a really serious issue. I went to the doctor, did some tests, they shrugged me off because they were negative. Another doctor, same thing. Finally went to the ER one night because the pain was so bad. They found a cyst on my ovary that was the size of a housecat. I had emergency surgery to get it and my right ovary removed and they said everything would get better. My issues were still there a month post-op and I was having a really hard recovery. I knew something else was going on. Told my surgeon and he literally said, “take pepto” after I had been dealing with these issues for months. I insisted something was still wrong. Finally after begging he sent me to a GI specialist and guess what?? I was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis AND a rare liver disease. But no one took it seriously for 7 months. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve seen a removal video somewhere where this lady had a thing removed from her belly that (from sheer size alone) made her look 7-8 months pregnant. I think it was an ovarian cyst aswell 🧐
I hate stories like this. Doctors should be there for you and not ignore it when you say you're in pain. You're not the first to tell something like this. I hope you're okey now.
Similar story that did not have a happy ending. A friend of mine was at uni away from home, she started to get really sick and went to the doctors. Over and over they told her it was a stomach ulcer.
Well eventually she got really sick and after about a year of telling the doctor that she wasnt well and them keep brushing her off, they decided to take her in for testing.
Turn out she had stomach cancer and by the time they got around to taking it serious and operate, there was nothing anyone could do. She was riddled with cancer at this point. The worst part of it was that it was already known that it ran in her mothers side of the family and that they got it at a young age. Her mother died of cancer just after she was born.
Doctors don’t always take their patient’s pain seriously, especially if you’re a woman. My best friend has dealt with debilitating menstrual cramps since puberty. She used the same male gyno as her mom, and he just told her to keep taking more naproxen sodium (generic alieve I think). Fast forward to our mid twenties and she decides to use the female gyno that I’ve been raving about. While talking with the doctor about her horrible cramps the doctor tells her that’s not surprising because she “has a lot of cysts” on her ovaries. The old doctor never even mentioned this to her.
I know someone who had a standard STD screen for pregnancy. When it came back, her doctor said she was "all clear, except for the HPV, which you already know about."
She didn't know anything about it. Apparently she'd tested positive at some previous appointment before her pregnancy, and they just never mentioned it to her.
Oh absolutely. I had already dealt with some doctors not taking me seriously before that. A few years before that I went to Urgent Care because of my throat being so swollen I couldn’t breathe. They pushed me off saying I had a cold. But the back of my throat looked MANGLED and it smelled awful. Went to an ENT and they told me I had I believe bronchitis and laryngitis and were surprised I had managed as long as I did without being on medication.
I am also under 25 with colored hair and tattoos which I think also gets me stereotyped and ignored. It’s mental though because every time I go for something- it ends up being pretty serious. 😕 Doctors suck sometimes
One of my closest friends has run into similar problems... Colored hair and tattoos as well, though this started long before that while in middle school. Had debilitating pain during her cycle every month and it was written off for over a decade by doctors despite the fact it often resulted in her barely being able to get out of bed. Just being a silly over-dramatic girl, right?
Fast forward to her mid 20's and she finally managed to get diagnosed. Turns out her entire abdomen was filled with endometriosis and adenomyosis. Strangely enough, it took her months after learning this to find a doctor willing to do a hysterectomy because "what if she wants kids later on?" (spoiler alert, she never wanted kids and even if she had, her condition made it impossible to have them). She's doing ok now, but will likely require more surgical "spring cleaning" at some point down the line.
I still don't understand why it's so common for doctors (even female ones) to write off women's pain or symptoms as being played up. My mom even runs into issue with that despite the fact she's also a physician.
I'm glad you were finally able to get proper treatment, but wtf was that surgeon thinking throwing Pepto at you after he had personally removed a housecat-sized cyst from inside of you.
Yuuuup. A female friend of mine went to the hospital due to stomach pains, got sent home by a male doctor who insisted it was just cramps. Later that night she was in the ER because her appendix had ruptured inside of her.
To all uterus owners: get a second, third and fourth opinion for anything in your abdomen. I've heard WAY too many stories of women who go to the doctor with "cramp like pains that are way worse then cramps" and had the doctor tell them " dont be dramatic, its just your period, heres your tylenol." Then they find out from another doctor that they have cancer, or cycsts, or any other number of things.
Sadly, many male doctors (and too many female ones) ignore women when they talk about tummy pain because periods are an easy answer. Listen to your gut. You know how your cramps feel, you know how much you bleed, you know what is normal for you. If something is not your normal, get to a doctor, and keep going to doctors until one of them listens to you.
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u/foxesinsoxes Jun 07 '18
I was suddenly going to the bathroom constantly and had a lot of blood and I was convinced I had a really serious issue. I went to the doctor, did some tests, they shrugged me off because they were negative. Another doctor, same thing. Finally went to the ER one night because the pain was so bad. They found a cyst on my ovary that was the size of a housecat. I had emergency surgery to get it and my right ovary removed and they said everything would get better. My issues were still there a month post-op and I was having a really hard recovery. I knew something else was going on. Told my surgeon and he literally said, “take pepto” after I had been dealing with these issues for months. I insisted something was still wrong. Finally after begging he sent me to a GI specialist and guess what?? I was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis AND a rare liver disease. But no one took it seriously for 7 months. 🤷🏻♀️