A Utah woman’s discomfort and bloated stomach led doctors to suspect she was pregnant, but they soon discovered a much more dangerous problem that could have put her life in jeopardy.
Kenya Smith, a mother of three from Utah, was experiencing discomfort and had difficulty going to the bathroom. Her stomach had started growing larger, and she was unable to sleep on her stomach. Her situation had reached a point where it seemed like she was pregnant, but when she visited the doctor, they discovered that it was something much more dangerous.
Doctors were baffled by her condition as her stomach had ballooned in size. Kenya underwent several tests before the doctors realized that she was not carrying a baby but was actually suffering from an ovarian cyst. The cyst was a fluid-filled sac that was attached to her right ovary and was not going anywhere soon.
Kenya Smith booked her own ultrasound and CT scan to get to the bottom of the problem. Months later, she underwent surgery that eventually saved her life. The surgery drained away fluid from the cyst, and the surgeon removed ten liters of fluid from the ovarian cyst, which would have crushed her lungs if left untreated.
Reflecting on the experience, Kenya said, “It was life-saving surgery. If it wasn’t treated, it would have kept on growing and crushed my lungs, so I would have suffocated from the inside out.”
It was a worrying time for Kenya, who had given birth to her youngest baby in March, and her stomach never went down after the birth. This was suspicious as she had always bounced back after her pregnancies. When she stopped breastfeeding, her belly started to grow, which was very worrying.
“The main symptoms that made me go to the doctor were having a hard time going to the bathroom, I like to sleep on my stomach sometimes, and I couldn’t lay on my stomach. Every time I’d eat, I’d have discomfort where I’d feel really full,” said Kenya.
She added, “I had no idea what the symptoms were. I was wondering what was going on because I’d never had anything like this before. I thought maybe it was a gastro problem, my abs didn’t come back together after having a baby, or maybe I’d developed a food allergy. I went to five different specialists – an obstetrics doctor, pelvic floor specialist, an allergist, a naturalist, and a gastroenterologist before I finally scheduled my ultrasound and CT scan.”
Kenya’s persistence saved her life, and it was a lesson to all women that they should trust their instincts and continue seeking answers to their health issues. Kenya used social media to ask for help, and when she saw a girl whose stomach looked like hers, she realized that she didn’t have time to wait for all these doctors to figure it out. She needed an ultrasound as soon as possible.
The experience was an eye-opener for Kenya and her family, and they were grateful that she had undergone the life-saving surgery. She now advises women to listen to their bodies and trust their instincts when something feels off.
The journey wasn’t easy for Kenya, and it took months of visits to specialists before she finally discovered what was wrong. But in the end, she persevered, and it paid off.
Source: AWM