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PLEASE READ!!! It's by no accident that I'd found this website! I've been wondering for many years if there was at least "one" other person that could relate to what I've been through? After reading each of your comments, it brought tears to my eyes, simply because this does affect more young girls and women than the general public is aware of! We entrust our health history, our inner most thoughts and feelings, our lives, and most importantly, our bodies to doctors, nureses, surgeons, etc... From state to state, there are an abundance of healthcare laws that protect the medical profession, but what law protects us, the patient?
I've been agonizing over what has happened to me for years!! I've pleaded, begged, and cried out for someone just to "hear me and help me." I'd become very frustrated, angry, hurt, disappointed, and discouraged! In fact, I'd given up at one point. However, what I've been through, at such a young age, just as each of you have, should not be allowed to continue to happen to others!! "We parish for the lack of knowledge," so I feel as though it's my purpose to educate, inform, shed light, & bring awareness to each and every young girl or woman under the sound of my voice that will listen and stand together with me for this cause.
My primary care physician prescribed an oral form of contraception, at the age of 15 or 16, for menorrhagia (abnormally heavy bleeding at menstruation). My cramps were horrible as well!! Prior to starting on "the pill," my Dr failed to mention to my mom or me that prolonged use could potentially cause liver tumors? And if this is a known side effect, even if it's rare, then why aren't prevenitive parameters or prevenitive interventions set in place, while being on the pill? For example, blood tests or liver function tests, abdominal ultrasound, CT, MRI? All of which are minimally invasive.
My signs and symptoms begin in 2001... Epigastric (mid abdomen) pain and right upper quadrant pain, as well as severe nausea!! I was told that it was indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, etc. I was prescribed Prilosec, Zofran, Phenergan, etc. I was taking this stuff but my symptoms were not improving! My primary care doctor even tested me, by fingerstick, for H. Pylori which is the bacteria that causes ulcers. Results were negative and that's where my care stopped, despite me still having the symptoms!!
From 2001 to 2013, I'd failed to be properly diagnosed. In November 2013, after presenting to the ER with epigastric pain and right upper quadrant pain, an abdominal CT scanned was finally performed. At that time, I was told that I had a lesion on my liver, "nothing serious," and that I needed to follow up with a liver specialist.
I went in to see the specialist and was informed that the lesion was 10.5cm in size and in order to better determine the type of lesion, I needed to have a liver MRI. After the MRI, it was determined that I had a "very large" liver adenoma and due to its size, a liver resection would be the only option. The liver specialist also informed me that due to its size, there was a high probability of the tumor rupturing internally, which would cause my death, and that due to its size, there was a probability that I could develop cancer. Before I'd even told him that I'd been on oral contraception, the liver specialist stated to me that "these tumors are the direct result of prolonged use of oral contraception." I WAS OUT DONE!!!
Later that year, I underwent a liver resection of my right lobe related to a "very large" liver adenoma. Because of its size (15cm×11.3cm×7cm), the liver specialist couldn't remove just the tumor but had to take my liver too. Also, the tumor displaced my gallbladder, from the right side to the left side, according to my medical records. My gallbladder was severely enlarged, damaged, and inflammed, so it had to be removed too. I was unaware of that prior to signing the consent for surgery. I also had a bile leak.
I was discharged home, after a 3-day hospitalization, with a JP drain, biliary drain, and a surgical incision from hell (staples, stitches, and sutures)!! My life as I once knew it had been raped, robbed, and compromised... TURNED UP SIDE DOWN AND INSIDE OUT!!
Today, at age 33, I live with the physical scars, the physical pain, discomfort, and numbness of my right lower abdomen, the mental and emotional trauma, hundreds of thousands of medical bills, postcholecystectomy syndrome (presence of abdominal symptoms after surgical removal of the gallbladder), etc.
Had something been done for me, for you, for us, the outcome would have been different!!! That's a well documented FACT!! An intervention as simple as stopping the medication could have and should have been put in place!!!
Thank you for sharing your stories and allowing me to share mine! I will check the site frequently to see if there's any comments, questions, or concerns.

February 19, 2020 - 2:26pm

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