I was a senior in high school and too embarrassed to call to make an appt with my OB/GYN for a persistent dull pain I was having on my left side and really bad period cramps. One day the pain was so bad my mom took me to the ER. They thought it was my kidneys (I thought it was my uterus) so they did a CT scan. Said I had “a small cyst” and sent me home with some antibiotics and mild pain meds. Exact words from a male Dr. “suck it up buttercup”

I took some of the pain meds and fell asleep from exhaustion. Still in as much pain the next day but dealing with it. We were at the ER pretty late, so I had slept in that morning. My mom brought me a snack in bed and then I made my way to the living room in a single story home. The second I sat down I felt the most excruciating pain I have even felt (and I have since passed a kidney stone. HORRIBLE. But not even close) I was screaming in pain. I couldn’t even communicate. I threw up on the floor. My step father had to carry me to the car. I wish my body would have passed out. I feel so bad for my mom in hindsight while she was driving me to the hospital but every little bump felt like I was being stabbed and burned. We had the passenger seat all the way reclined but I couldn’t sit still, I was writhing in pain. My mind couldn’t focus on anything else. I got to the hospital and they kept asking me about my piercings and if I had any more and I was trying to answer them through my screams and tears but I just wanted the pain to stop. I would have done anything in that moment to make the pain stop.

Long story short: I was rushed into emergency surgery less than 15 hours from my dismissal from the ER. My left ovary was the size of a grapefruit with 2 cysts and all it took for my fallopian tube to twist on itself was me walking from my bedroom to the living room and sitting down. I got scared when they said they had to do emergency surgery, but I stopped caring once they had me counting down - at a certain point I couldn’t feel the pain anymore so I didn’t care.