A woman has claimed doctors ignored her symptoms for years and she is now trapped inside the “body of a pensioner” with constant pain thanks to “grapefruit-sized” cysts on her ovaries.
Farren Bay, 33, from California, U.S., suffers from a devastating disorder that causes her chronic, never-ending pain throughout her entire body, and could make her infertile in the future.
After years of suffering – and being rushed to hospital with “grapefruit-sized cysts” – she was diagnosed with endometriosis in July 2015 and has been left with debilitating symptoms ever since.
Endometriosis is a long-term condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
The condition primarily affects the pelvis, however, in Farren’s extreme cause, it has spread to four organs in her body.
At first, the pain was so intense that she claims she was forced out of her job – which saw her bills mount up, leaving her unable to pay for food and rent.
“My body feels like it’s trapped inside an elderly woman,” Farren, a hospital monitor technician, told NeedToKnow.online.
“The pain put me out of job as a hospital technician in December 2020 for over a year. I couldn’t pay my rent, afford my car, daily necessitates, or even food – not to mention the cost of surgeries and medications that kept piling up in debt.
“I suffer from pain pretty much every day.
“At the age of 33, my body can’t do the things I want it to – it’s disheartening.
“It also affects my relationships with people in my life, because it’s hard to socialise. Sometimes I suffer constant nausea and am so fatigued I barely want to go out.
“ I suffer from constant nausea and fatigue as well as physical pain – pelvic, hips, knees.”
In March 2022, Farren was able to return to work but only part-time and without government funding. She was forced to rely on a small amount of financial support from her parents.
Before her diagnosis, she was baffled by the mystery illness and thought it was simply a result of painful periods.
She said: “I remember feeling my insides feeling like they were being ripped apart in my early and teen years, even as an adult.”
She claims doctors dismissed her symptoms for years and instead diagnosed her with a UTI and constipation.
But she knew in her gut that there was something much more sinister at play.
She said: “One day, I felt intense pain and ended up calling my dad because I didn’t feel well.
“When he found me, I was collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.
“The paramedics came and I was rushed to the hospital to find out that I had two cysts the size of grapefruits on my right ovary.
“They admitted me to observe me and I was told, by my gynaecologist at the time, that if I didn’t feel better by morning that surgery would be the best option.
“She removed the cysts and during my follow-up appointment I found out I was diagnosed with endometriosis.”
After getting the life-changing diagnosis, the then-26-year-old received a treatment drug Lupron, a drug given to men for prostate cancer as well as a form of sterilization for some men in different countries, that forced her body into menopause.
She added: “I had laparoscopic surgery to get my diagnosis for endometriosis.
“Afterwards I was put on medication and had a terrible experience, the side effects were horrendous such as insomnia, hot flashes, mood swings, bone pain, and memory loss.
“The drugs put you into a medically-induced menopause – it was absolutely horrible.”
Now, the future is unclear for Farren.
She said: “I don’t know what my future looks like when it comes to my fertility. I am told I am able to conceive with one tube and ovary but endometriosis can grow there and block my tube.
“I was put on another medication later, but nothing worked, so I eventually stopped everything altogether.
“I felt alone, confused, angry, upset, I really wanted to speak up but I felt ashamed of my diagnosis.”
Farren has chosen to open up about her illness to raise awareness of endometriosis and help others on social media and share her experience with others.
She explained: “The disease can be lonely – people will make you feel ashamed or ‘crazy’ for having the feelings that you do when dealing with it.
“Endometriosis is a whole-body disease. You’re in pain and your feelings are valid.
“I hope that sharing my story will help many other people either get diagnosed or feel less alone because this disease is very isolating.”
