“If somebody doesn't help me, I'm going to die," she recalls wailing, watching doctors and nurses pass her by.…

“If somebody doesn't help me, I'm going to die," she recalls wailing, watching doctors and nurses pass her by. "Somebody said to me, 'I don't know what you expect me to do,'" she said. "'You're a healthy 21-year-old young female.'" This is exactly what happened to me at 24… 🧵

This happens far too often. Some of the most dangerous words in medicine are: “You test results are normal” “You’re young and healthy” “What do you want me to do?” I heard these words over and over while dealing with a severe internal bleed after a hysterectomy /2

I had been sent home after the surgery despite not feeling “right”. I remember pleading with them to keep me longer and then telling me “you’re young and healthy you will be fine”. A few days later it was obvious I wasn’t “fine” /3

My pain and swelling were worsening, I was so exhausted I couldn’t even answer the phone to update friends and family. I couldn’t eat and was barely drinking. So I went to the ER and was dismissed in exactly the same manner as the girl above. /4

In fact - they didn’t even run labs on that first visit. They did temperature, blood pressure and pulse. That was it. Their explanation? "you just had major surgery you cant expect to feel good." /5

First - the hysterectomy was my 7th abdominal surgery. I knew the drill. They were correct - you can’t expect to feel “good.” But you should be feeling “better”. Each day your symptoms should improve. Pain and swelling go down, appetite returns and energy levels go up /6

I was NOT improving. In fact the normal post operative pain I was used to had become something much nastier. A “sickness” in my belly that burned and gnawed and made me genuinely think I was dying. So I went back to the ER. Same thing. “You’re fine stop bothering us.” /7

Each time I would go home dejected and exhausted - unsure WHY they didn’t believe me. I had never needed the ER after prior surgeries. I knew my body and I KNEW something was wrong. But I couldn’t convince anyone else. /8

They told me I should make more of an effort to walk - so I was trying to walk around my apartment building - collapsing in hallways and blacking out from the pain. My then boyfriend took me back a third time - and that time we were dismissed without even seeing a doc /9

Finally on 4th visit - 2 weeks after my initial surgery - we got someone to take us seriously. Not because it was right thing to do - but because my boyfriend wailed instead of me. I had been saying I was going to die for days - but just like the girl above - I was ignored /10

My boyfriend - a relatively big guy with a booming voice - was harder to ignore. He got loud and yelled that he was not taking me home to die and that they would have to physically remove us. It got the attention of a doctor - who ordered a scan to shut us up /11

The scan found internal bleeding which had gone unchecked for so long it was now a cantaloupe sized infected abscess.l I had to be medi-evacuated to a larger hospital for emergency surgery - where they gave me 50/50 odds of survival & asked “why didn’t you come in sooner?” /12

It infuriates me that this article says doctors don’t acknowledge the gender gap. There’s literally an Ontario hospital studying the gender gap and proving it to be a very real thing. Women - especially young women and women who are alone - are frequently dismissed /13

This is a serious problem that has cost (and will continue to cost) lives. We can’t fix it if we won’t even acknowledge it. Delayed care is traumatic for the patient. Not being believed by people you’re trusting with your literal life? It hurts. /14

Not to mention the odds of surviving a surgery once you’ve had an organ rupture, developed an infection or lost a large amount of blood are not great. Early intervention is key. I’m grateful to have survived - and happy more women are telling their stories /15

We must do better to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. My recovery ended up including a month in the hospital, two hospital acquired infections & multiple blood transfusions. All could have been avoided had they believed me /16

Have an advocate with you at all times if you can - and if you’re being ignored try and go to another hospital. Never forget YOU are the expert in your body and deserve to be treated as such. Doctors - listen to and believe your patients /end

For more on my post operative complication, gaslighting and neglect as well as HOW my advocate stepped up and saved my life - the full story is 👇🏼 disabledginger.com/p/my-most-dang…

This is yet another example of why many disabled & chronically ill patients say they won’t go to ER unless literally dying. The sad reality is even when we are LITERALLY dying - we often find ourselves psychologized, disbelieved, harmed and neglected : disabledginger.com/p/i-wont-go-to…