ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
Subscribe
  1. Home
  2. Real Life

Horror illness: Doctor’s said it was all in my head

'They all thought it was a fantasy' - by Kathryn Lewsey
  • 01 Jun 2018

Suffering intense pain, Olivia demanded answers.

Here, Olivia Hyslop, 22, tells the story in her own words.

Scrolling through Instagram, I sighed as I saw photos of my mates having fun.

Yet another weekend stuck indoors, I thought to myself.

I’d been in so much agony that I could barely leave my bed and this was becoming a regular problem.

When I first got my period at 13, I started experiencing the most horrendous cramps in my tummy. As most girls get period pain, I assumed it was normal and that I just had a lower tolerance for pain than other people did. But when Mum saw how much I was suffering, she took me to the doctor. ‘You shouldn’t be feeling like this from a period,’ she insisted.

Dismissing our worries, the doctor said, ‘You’re a teenager, it’s probably just because your body is changing.’

But the pain just wouldn’t go away. Mum took me to countless doctors and hospitals for other opinions. They suggested constipation and would send me home with laxatives, but nothing fixed it.

Living with pain

It was hard to live a normal life with so much pain

Supplied

It started to affect school and my social life, too. I had to miss classes and my grades quickly started to fall. Whenever I did go to school, the other kids would ask why I was never there. If I said I was sick, they thought I was just making it up. ‘How can anyone be ill that much?’ they’d ask. Luckily, my best friend Jasmine would stick up for me. But they weren’t the only ones who thought it was all a fantasy.

Mum was determined to get a proper diagnosis. But despite multiple X-rays, they couldn’t detect a problem. My doctor suggested that it was all in my head. Gobsmacked, Mum cried, ‘How can you even say that? Look at the agony she’s in!’

Along with the pain, I was feeling really withdrawn from normal life. All I wanted was to be ordinary. But by the time I graduated in 2013, I had failed most of my subjects. I did manage to keep up a part-time waitressing job, when the cramps weren’t quite so bad.

olivia and mum

Mum and me - she was my rock

Supplied

In 2015, my doctor said all the symptoms suggested I had appendicitis, so I’d need surgery to remove my appendix. Coming around after the op, the surgeon revealed that it wasn’t appendicitis at all. ‘We found that you have endometriosis. It means you have abnormal tissue outside your uterine lining,’ he explained. ‘This is what’s been causing the pain.’ I felt relief – finally there was a true diagnosis.

They had taken photos of the endometriosis, but hadn’t removed it. Instead, they recommended strong pain relief to fix the problem. So I was put on a dosage of three-a-day of various painkillers, including tramadol and codeine. And for a while it was great. The pain subsided and I was able to get on with my life. But it wasn’t long until it was back and I found myself in agony once more.

Returning to my doctor, he simply told me to up my dosage. So I doubled the quantity, taking two of each pill rather than one. Once again, the aches came back and I found myself unable to do anything. This cycle continued and it reached a point where I was taking more than 24 pills a day. I felt like a zombie, unable to go to work or function properly. The painkillers just knocked me out and my whole body was constantly numb. Most of my time was spent sleeping.If I felt a twinge of pain, I’d find myself reaching for more medicine. It changed me physically, my face puffed up so much that I looked like I’d been stung by a bee.

IV pain relief

Me, after 13 hours in emergency on IV pain relief

Supplied

It was so upsetting to hear about my friends having fun when I couldn’t even leave the house. Ringing my mum at work, I’d sob down the phone to her, ‘Is my life always going to be this way?’

Every few weeks we would be back at the doctors pleading for a solution, but taking more pills was all I was offered. It was the most frustrating situation and I couldn’t see a way out.

Unwilling to accept the doctor’s solution, Mum took my illness into her own hands and got in touch with Endometriosis New Zealand for a second opinion. After hearing my story, they recommended a private gynaecologist in Christchurch. He was shocked to hear about the treatment I had been recommended. ‘You need an operation to laser it away,’ he said. I felt exhilarated, it was like someone finally knew how to treat this properly.

Four weeks later, I had the operation. This has to work! I hoped. When I woke up, although I was sore, my usual stomach pain had gone. They’d also found a tennis ball-sized cyst on my ovary which they removed.

cyst

The doctors found a tennis ball-sized cyst on my ovary

Supplied

I felt like a million bucks. Now I’m finally able to live a normal life and it’s the best feeling in the world. Studying to be a nurse, I’m also making up for lost time by hanging out with all my mates.

There is a 10 to 20 per cent chance that the endometriosis could come back, but I’m just focusing on enjoying life again. I never thought it would be possible.

Read more in this week's issue of that's life!

Kathryn Lewsey
Kathryn Lewsey
Kathryn is a Senior Features Writer for that's life! magazine. Her work has been published in The Sun, Daily Mail, Chat, Closer, Kidspot, Real People, Take a Break and MarieClaire.com.au

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Recommended to you

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins’ terrifying surgery ordeal

Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins’ terrifying surgery ordeal

Doctors got it wrong: how a second opinion saved my life

Doctors got it wrong: how a second opinion saved my life

Mum’s agony – doctors accused me of faking my boy’s deadly disease

Mum’s agony – doctors accused me of faking my boy’s deadly disease

Mum’s shock: I thought I was infertile then I had quintuplets

Mum’s shock: I thought I was infertile then I had quintuplets

{headline}

{headline}

Medical mistake: I was told to terminate my healthy baby

Medical mistake: I was told to terminate my healthy baby

My limbs wouldn’t stop growing

My limbs wouldn’t stop growing

Woman who thought she had a burst appendix gives birth to a healthy baby boy

Woman who thought she had a burst appendix gives birth to a healthy baby boy

{headline}

{headline}

Botox gave me a baby!

Botox gave me a baby!

TV presenter opens up about wife who died of cancer after misdiagnosis

TV presenter opens up about wife who died of cancer after misdiagnosis

Woman told she is 'too young' for cancer passes away

Woman told she is 'too young' for cancer passes away

Woman misdiagnosed with conjunctivitis finds out she has terminal brain tumour

Woman misdiagnosed with conjunctivitis finds out she has terminal brain tumour

I turn people into art!

I turn people into art!

Holly the heart hero

Holly the heart hero

30-year heartbreak  - who killed Kerry Turner?

30-year heartbreak - who killed Kerry Turner?

ThatsLife
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy
ThatsLife Magazine Subscribe
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Who
  • Girlfriend
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • New Idea food
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • 7plus
  • 7News
  • Sunrise
  • Starts at 60
  • The West Australian
  • Perth Now
  • 7mate
  • 7Sport
  • Hard to Find
© 2022 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts.If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to That's Life!