I was in the hospital for almost 4 days recently.

I had a hysterectomy about 4 years ago. When they did that surgery, they decided to leave in my right ovary because of my young age.

The reason I had the surgery to begin with is because I had endometriosis (where a specialized type of tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus becomes implanted on the outside of your uterus, such as fallopian tubes, ovaries, liver, and can even make organs "stick" together with this spidery-web type tissue, with symptoms of pelvic pain), adenomyosis (a benign disease of the uterus where tissues normally limited to the innermost uterine layer are found in the middle layer of the uterus, with symptoms of heavy bleeding and pelvic pain), as well as endocervical polyps (polyps/growths on the inside of my cervix that have a possibility of being cancerous, in my case benign), plus a family history of cervical and ovarian cancer.

I had to live with pain for several years before they finally thought it was bad enough to get my hysterectomy, again, because of my "young age". In my opinion, age really has nothing to do with it... if you are experiencing the pain and have the problems, that's just the way it is, no matter how old you are. Obviously, the conditions I have had are not picky about age, therefore neither should doctors be when it comes to my health. They should have taken my right ovary along with everything else. Here is why:

My right ovary was left in, so that I could still produce my own hormones and not have to go into hormone replacement therapy. While it's a noble idea, and maybe they did have my interest in mind, they are still doctors... and as doctors they should know that as long as my body is producing it's own hormones, endometriosis can grow back whether I have a uterus or not. Yep, my endometriosis is growing back. Plus, I have 2 cysts on my ovary. One of them is about 1-inch in diameter, which is fairly large for an ovarian cyst, and the other is about 1/2-inch in diameter. The endometriosis is also causing my ovary to become adhesed or "stuck" to the inside of my abdominal wall.

I first fully noticed my pain on Sunday evening/Monday morning. I tried to work through it, sleep through.. I just couldn't ignore it. The pain just kept getting worse and worse. So, I went to the ER at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I had a CT scan done, which showed the above results. My internal medicine doctor was fabulous. He helped by getting me started on pain medicine, told me that he would like to see my ovary taken out, was very respectful and caring about the whole thing; however, he also warned me that because I have no health insurance and the fact that I came into the ER, I would be seeing the OB/GYN on-call, and some of them were not as "receptive" of people who are indigent like me. In other words, some doctors don't like taking care of people who have no money or insurance. I was admitted into the hospital service a few hours after arrival and placed on the Specialty Care Unit/Critical Care Unit in a local hospital.

I found out very quickly that my internal medicine doctor, hereafter referred to as Dr. G, was very correct. I saw the GYN doctor ONE time, and that was the day was admitted. When he came in to take my family history, do an exam, ask about my pain, he acted as though he did not care why I was there, treated me like a child and made me feel very unimportant. He rolled his eyes when I explained why I'd had my hysterectomy, as if my problems, pains and concerns were not valid. I even tried to make small talk with him and told him he looked tired; he replied snottily "yeah, I've been delivering babies all day and I have a mom in labor downstairs right now" in such a way as to pretty much tell me "duh, and you have me up here for something stupid." Seriously, that is exactly how he made me feel. He would shrug and sigh and make faces, and would just cut me off or nod his head rapidly when I'd try to talk to him or explain things about my pain. He simply told me at the end of his exam that he would get an ultrasound done of my ovary and we would go from there. The ultrasound was done, there were 2 cysts that showed up. But........

.....the GYN never comes back again to talk to me once my ultrasound is done the next day. The NEXT day, (third day), which would be today Dr. G comes in and tells me that the GYN is not coming to see me again because he says there is nothing he can do for me. ????? I got really upset, was crying, was in pain at that time because my meds were wearing off from their last dose, and was frustrated. Dr. G said he wished there was something he could do, because it would be his choice to get that ovary out of there, so I didn't have to worry about these issues anymore.. but it wasn't his call. Then he explained to me, and reminded me, that this on-call GYN was one of those doctors that just finds it easier to pawn me off to someone else by sending me home on pain meds, simply because I do not have money or insurance. Is this fair? Why is it that when we fall through the cracks of the system we seem too far to even reach down and retrieve? Shouldn't I get the same amount of healthcare available to everyone else? Especially when my life is at stake.

I've been referred to a clinic that specializes in "people like me", in other words a sliding scale clinic that will be overcrowded and difficult to get an appointment any sooner than 3 weeks away. But Dr. G told me that they may be able to help me by at least giving me a reasonably priced followup visit, plus possibly even find me a surgeon that will agree to help me fix this health concern; if I don't have the surgery, I face many more concerns than I have now.

I now sit at home.. I'm exhausted, my throat and mouth are dry from being on IV only for 3 days, and in pain.. and I have no option other than to wait and take my pain pills, and try to go on with life as if it is normal.. when I don't feel normal at all.

Why, in this day and age, is it so difficult to obtain the health care that we need, even when they are not supposed to deny it to you? Why are health benefits so hard to obtain unless you are a full-time employee with someone? (I'm an independent contractor, therefore, "self-employed" even those I work for a company!) Why does personal health insurance have to be so cotton-pickin expensive? I don't understand any of this.