Many people go through tough times without anyone knowing. They carry their pain silently, without telling anyone about their struggles.
One person with such a story is 20-year-old Allison Fisher. But luckily, her pain was relieved, and she got what she calls a ‘second chance’ at life. Here’s what happened…
In 2020, Allison started feeling stomach pain. It was almost constant, and she also noticed irregularities in her menstrual cycle. She even had a period that lasted for an entire year!
The 20-year-old didn’t go to the doctor because she didn’t like how they always focused on her weight. She thought if she ignored her problems, they would go away. She was scared and the COVID-19 pandemic made her even more anxious about seeing a doctor.
She explained, “Growing up, no matter what I went to the doctor for – whether it was a cold or an ear infection – they always told me, ‘you need to lose weight.’ If nobody listens to me and they always say I need to lose weight, then why should I go? Why should I listen to my body?”
But things got worse for Fisher. She noticed a mass growing on her stomach. Her stomach became very hard and she couldn’t stand for more than 5 minutes. She couldn’t even drive a car because her stomach had grown so much that it was nearly impossible for her to fit behind the wheel. She couldn’t go anywhere or do anything because of her cyst.
“It was so hard, I couldn’t lay on it,” she said about her terrible experience.
Finally, the 20-year-old decided to see a doctor when the mass started making it hard for her to breathe around Christmas 2022. Another reason she went to the doctor was because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2021. This made her want to know more about her own health and get medical help as soon as possible.
Dr. Martin Martino, a gynecologic oncology surgeon at Ascension St. Vincent’s, gave her the news. She had a 104-pound ovarian cyst growing inside her, filled with about 46 liters of fluid. It needed to be removed with surgery.
Because of the complications caused by the cyst, pulmonary and cardiology specialists were also involved.
“We worked together to find a way to remove it,” Martino said. Physician assistant Nicole Antenucci stressed that the procedure, which used robotic technology, “truly took a team.”
“We all felt lucky to be part of it and help her,” Antenucci said.
The doctor remembered his first meeting with Fisher. “She was having trouble breathing when we met in the emergency room,” Martino said. “It was right before Christmas. I told her, ‘Let’s do this now.'”
“What was really interesting in Fisher’s case is that once we removed the cyst, we found the other ovary was twisted three times,” Martino told the media.
The medical team wanted to do as much as possible to help. “The twisted ovary was about 10 centimeters, but we were able to untwist it and save Fisher’s chance to have kids in the future,” the doctor added.
The 20-year-old had the surgery to remove the huge cyst. She said it felt like a “second chance” at life.
After her surgery, she said, “I can see my feet again, I haven’t been able to do that in years. I can stand a little bit longer. I feel so much lighter, I feel like a person.” She also said, “I can wear clothes, I can do things that normal people can do. Now, I am in the beginning stages of weight-loss surgery, and I am really excited for what life has in store for me.”
It’s scary to think about the weeks, months, and even years she had to deal with this problem alone. She was afraid to see a doctor because she thought they would blame her weight for her health issues. Many people feel this way and avoid going to the doctor because of it.
“There are other people out there who are in my shoes, other bigger people, who are just so scared to go to the doctor because of their weight,” Fisher said. “I just want them to know that they shouldn’t be scared.”
Now that she has a new chance at life, she wants to do all the things she couldn’t do because of the cyst. Two things she looks forward to are driving and cooking meals.
Ovarian cysts are common in women. The Mayo Clinic estimates that “many women have ovarian cysts at some time,” and most “present little or no discomfort and are harmless.”
Having good health is a blessing. This young woman waited a long time to get help because she was scared, but now she’s using her story to inspire others who are bigger and afraid to see doctors to overcome their fear and seek help.
