An Arbroath woman is warning others to listen to their bodies after a debilitating stomach infection saw her rushed to Ninewells twice in two days.
Vicky Chapman woke up feeling bloated and sore and at first assumed it was an endometriosis flare up.
She’s suffered with the condition for years and runs local support group Endometriosis UK Dundee to help other women.
But as time wore on and her instinct kicked in, she began to realise something else was wrong.
She explains her sore and swollen tummy didn’t feel the same as symptoms she’d experienced previously.
Severe shooting pains and sickness
After a day of pain, Vicky woke the next day with severe shooting pains and an extremely swollen stomach.
She called NHS24, who advised she should go to A&E.
“My stomach was so bloated it looked like I had a really big egg under my breast bone right the way down to my lower abdomen.
“I was in a lot of pain which felt different to normal. I started being sick over and over.”
Vicky was at A&E in Ninewells for more than five hours, before being admitted onto a ward and kept in overnight.
“They assessed me and told me I’d need a CT scan,” she continues.
“Later, a doctor came in and told me because I have endometriosis they felt an ultrasound would be sufficient.
“I told them this feels different to my endometriosis.”
‘Feeling dismissed’
Vicky stood her ground and was given a CT scan, but unfortunately it drew a blank.
“I was discharged. And it really struck me for the first time that I was experiencing what other women described as feeling completely dismissed.”
Vicky went home but by the next day she was feeling ill again.
‘Reluctant to do anything’
“I started being sick again, it was awful.
“When I woke up during the night, I started bringing up vomit that was dark brown/black colour.
“Although I was reluctant to do anything, my husband googled and saw if that happens you should phone 999, so that’s what we did.”
Back to Ninewells
Vicky was taken back into A&E again by paramedics.
“I was put on a drip because of how dehydrated I was. But this time was so different.
“The doctor came in and said for someone of my build my stomach shouldn’t be the shape it was.
“He also said he could see the amount of pain I was in and that I wasn’t going to be discharged. I cried with relief, it had been so hard.
“It meant so much that someone was listening and not just putting it down to my endometriosis.”
Stomach infection
Vicky was kept in hospital for a week and was given a range of tests.
She adds: “I was getting a fever at times and my bloods showed I was fighting a stomach infection, so they treated me with antibiotics through an IV.
“To know it was an infection and not related to my endometriosis was a relief in a way.
“I had been right, it was different.
“It was quite a scary time as I didn’t know what was going on but it’s really taught me to trust my instincts.
“You have to listen to your own body and not take no for an answer.”
- Do you have a health experience you’d like to share? Whether that’s advice, insight into the challenges of living with a long-term condition or an achievement you want to celebrate. Contact us at healthandwellbeing@thecourier.co.uk
