A young woman who fought for ten years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis says she was denied life-changing surgery at the last second - even though she was prepped for the operation and had been waiting for hours.
Fine Arts student Yasmeen Thantry was diagnosed with endometriosis in late 2021 after suffering from heavy, painful periods throughout her teens and early 20s. Finally, her life-changing surgery was scheduled for August 30, 2022, but at the last minute, she was informed it wasn't going ahead.
Shocked Yasmeen later learnt from her doctor that they had decided she needed to lose weight to have the surgery - despite never mentioning it before.
Describing the incident, Yasmeen told the Mirror: "I'm there gown on, bum out, ready to go down and a doctor comes to me and she says 'Sorry, we've run out of time.'
"Which is obviously horrific because it's taken me so long to get here." When this happened, the 26-year-old says the doctor said it was "just one of those things."
At the time - Yasmeen says doctors told her that her operation had been cancelled due to earlier operations that day taking longer than expected.
So she was shocked when doctors refused to operate - unless she lost weight.
"I saw [the doctor] at pre-op rounds and everything and it was all very chill - no issues were brought up," she added, before he cited her weight.
Doctors told her that she was at an elevated risk if they proceeded - a common complaint in the medical community. But some studies now suggest that for some operations, overweight people recover the same or even better than those of a lower weight.
Aghast at the treatment, Yasmeen fought back - but failed to convince doctors to change their mind.
At the time, she was working with a personal trainer and eating balanced meals - but part of her weight gain had been caused by the contraceptive pill, which doctors had advised her to go on to manage her excruciating periods.
She adds: "I was there...arse out, ready to be cut open. Nothing has changed between yesterday and today when they were happy to perform surgery on me so it felt like they were using it as an excuse."
Her consultant asked Yasmeen to wait six months in a bid to lose more weight - forcing the university student to seek private help instead.
Unprepared to wait any longer after 13 years of constant pain and upward struggles, she had one more consultation with the doctor to "humour him".
She added: "I have a whole life that I've put on hold because of an illness.
"I think before I entered the room, they had decided that they were going to convince me to delay my surgery."
With the backing of her private consultant, she eventually secured the surgery and was operated on in September 2022.
Previously she was encouraged to try the coil which doctor told her would treat her symptoms.
But she ended up in extreme pain - and felt like she lost 'bodily autonomy’ due to the misinformation she’d received.
She said: "They push it like 'get the coil that's your first line of treatment you have to do that. If you don't do that then we're not going to [or] we can't take it any further.
"That's what you have to try first', so obviously I did that."
"I wasn't offered any additional sort of pain relief or something to help with the pain or the sensation.
"I screamed so loudly, I have never felt pain like that in my life. I vomited on the nurse afterwards."
The situation also took a toll on Yasmeen mentally, as she said she felt 'violated' by it, adding: "I've been pressured into that situation with misinformation.
"When I think about it now I felt like I lost a lot of bodily autonomy in that moment. I felt horrific.".
During this time the doctors continued to raise her weight, despite the 26-year-old assuring them she was trying to lose weight.
"Every appointment is, 'can we talk about your weight?' 'Have you tried losing weight?' 'You need to lose weight' or 'your pain was worse because of your weight'," added Yasmeen.
"They're so ready to weaponize that weight - your weight - against you.
"How can you expect someone to lose a significant amount of weight when they're in chronic pain, right? I was in pain every day."
Laparoscopic surgeries have varying success rates so while this is an effective treatment, there is no cure for endometriosis. According to charity group Endometriosis UK, 1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth live with the illness and average diagnosis time is eight years.
Yasmeen says there needs to be more education on endometriosis at school - as she was left to doubting how serious her pain was as other women and medical professionals made her doubt herself
"[I'd hear] 'You just don't want to go to school', 'A period is an easy excuse to not want to go to school', 'Everyone has a period - so what makes you feel special?' she recalled.
But from 11-years-old, the uni student was caught in a cycle of missing school due to her intense period pains then feeling anxious about returning for fear of teachers telling her off for skipping without a "valid reason".
A new study by period and wellness brand Ohne found that 97 percent of women were not taught about gynaecological conditions like endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome.
On top of this 80pc of those who currently or have previously menstruated, are living with unresolved symptoms related to their periods or menstrual cycles.
Mirroring Yasmeen's story, almost half of women aged 16 to 34 have put off getting help for period or menstrual symptoms, due to medical professionals offering medication rather than getting to the root of the cause. Many in the study cited GPs not understanding female health problems as a reason for not getting help.
Yasmeen said: "As exhausting as it is, advocate for yourself and have someone with you who can advocate for you. You can't fight these systems on your own."
She recommends people research their symptoms sensibly and go to the doctors with evidence, she added: "These doctors see so many people [who] get referred all the time for a million different things.
"You have to make sure you've got your own back because no one else is gonna, which is sad, but it's the reality."
