So, I wanted to share my story, even if it only helps one other person. I’ll give a short summary because it’s long but I’m providing as much detail as possible because what helped me through my anxiety was other people’s stories.

🌸(Summary) I had recurring cysts on the same ovary, the frequently bursting cysts created a build up of fluid on my abdomen which feels like sand paper against your organs. Doctors were super dismissive for 6+ months about my pain until they realized there was a presence of fluid.🌸

Last June (2019) I began feeling pain on my ovary and I decided it was ovulation pain. It continued for a week and then stopped. Then, after a few days it started again. It wasn’t a constant pain, it would just like pinch every now and then. I had my annual exam coming up in August and planned to ask my GYN about it. The pain had gotten progressively worse up until then.

When I got to her office I told her my right ovary has been hurting for a couple of months now. She literally shrugged her shoulders and said, “yeah you’re 24, you probably have a cyst.” and that was it.

I tried not to worry about it, but the pain kept getting worse. I finally scheduled an appointment with a different OB/GYN in hopes that she wouldn’t be so dismissive and actually look into why I was feeling pain.

Same thing once again. She was just like “hmm yeah at your age cysts are common.” Fast forward to January, my ovary is STILL hurting every day. I made another appointment with her and broke down in her office and begged her to please run a test to make sure there was nothing terribly wrong. She did a pelvic exam and said she couldn’t feel any thing so she scheduled me an ultrasound.

The night before my ultrasound was horrible. There was light blood in my urine, and my whole side was burning and aching all the way up to my kidney. I was sure that something was horribly wrong. If I hadn’t been in pain for 6 months I would have thought it was just kidney stones.

I ended up going in as an emergency, to find that I had free fluid in my abdomen. My doctor told me that the fluid was from cysts rupturing and my body not being able to absorb the fluid fast enough. She said, “free fluid feels like sand paper against your organs, I bet you’ve been in a lot of pain!” Yes lady, no shit.

Free fluid is able to move around. The reason it hurt all the way up to my kidney that night was because I was laying down and it worked it’s way up my side. Eventually your body will absorb it, and you can help it along by staying hydrating and exercising to increase blood flow. In severe cases, you may need to have it drawn out.

My dad died from cancer so any pain in my body automatically makes me think I have cancer. So there went 6+ months of my life of me convinced that I have ovarian cancer and no one is listening to me or taking me seriously because I’m statistically unlikely to have it.

I was told that to control my cysts I would need to go on birth control.

My advice to anyone who has made it this far in my rant:

1) trust your body

2) demand that your doctor actually listens to you and takes action

3) don’t be like me and let this go on for over half a year before being brave enough to do something about it