My Experiences with Women's Healthcare - by Joselina Islas

Women’s health care is considered a joke to a lot of women because of the way their complaints and symptoms are ignored. Most women have had a bad experience first hand or know someone who has. Women’s complaints are often taken very lightly when it comes to health care. If we state we are in pain and are not screaming and crying we are not believed; however, if we are screaming and crying we are being dramatic. I personally have spent 18 hours in the ER only to find out I actually had an ectopic pregnancy and my fallopian tube had ruptured.

That day another hospital had been shut down and there was an overload of people in the ER. People were being brought in on gurneys from ambulances and were left in the hallways. I had been waiting for hours in the back area trying to sit on a chair, but I could not sit directly on my rear because of the intense pain and pressure. I wasn’t talking much because I was using all my energy to handle the pain.

I noticed that other people in beds and in gurneys seemed to be somewhat comfortable and some even laughing. No one seemed to be in excruciating pain like I was. I saw that someone had asked for a bed and they were given one. I finally gathered enough strength to get up and ask a nurse for a bed. I was hunched over and my face was clammy. I was denied a bed so I asked for a pillow. The nurse looked at me like I was a junky. I don’t remember who or when, but sometime after this I ended up getting a wheelchair. I was in incredible pain for hours and hours. I was 20 years-old and was just following ER protocol; patiently waiting my turn.

I kept feeling an urge to use the restroom. I tried to wheel myself to the restroom. The bathroom was of course occupied. There was a trash can outside the bathroom and I asked someone to hand it to me. I threw up. A nurse saw me and quickly got me a gurney and some morphine. She instantly saw that I needed help immediately. She yelled at some people to get me what I needed, and it wasn’t long before I was actually seen.

They had me take a urine test, which was very difficult for me. I could hardly walk and I kept feeling this pressure like I needed to use the restroom, but I couldn’t. They took my blood pressure and it was very low and they seemed highly concerned. I finally heard someone say from another room, “She’s pregnant!!!” At this point I was thinking I was really pregnant like it was a viable pregnancy. They took me to get a sonogram. I saw the “baby.” It looked like a starfish. Its limbs were spread out and there were no hands or feet. They quickly turned the screen. I was young and I was still thinking this was a viable pregnancy. No one had told me anything. I was just going off of what I overheard and accidentally saw. Well, the doctor came back and finally told me what happened. I had to sign paperwork right away to get emergency surgery.

I was told if I waited any longer to come to the hospital I would have died. That “pressure” I kept feeling, like I needed to pee, was actually me bleeding internally. I had about a baseball’s size of blood inside my body from the rupture.

If they would have taken me seriously to begin with I could have been treated sooner. Maybe if they would have given a urine test sooner…

About a year later I was pregnant again. I started bleeding at 12 weeks. I went to the hospital. They did a doppler to hear the heartbeat. There was no heartbeat. The doctor said, “Well, there is no heartbeat so you know what that means. ” I did not know what that meant. I was given paperwork that said “miscarriage” on it. I was not given a sonogram or anything. I was told it would pass on its own. It did not pass on its own. A couple of weeks later I started having cramps (now I know it was more like contractions). I was bleeding very heavily and ended up taking an ambulance because of how heavy the bleeding was. I needed to get a D&C because my body was not passing the fetus or embryo (I still don’t know how far along I was before it stopped growing). For those of you who do not know what a D&C is, it is very invasive. They literally go inside of you and suck the fetus out. Medication is a much better option as it lets your body naturally release the fetus, but it was never given to me as an option.

I feel like the first doctor could have actually treated me. He could have ordered an ultrasound to see how far along the fetus was and to see how long it had been since it stopped growing. He could have treated me for a missed-miscarriage instead of sending me on my way. And definitely better bedside manners.

Fast forward to a little over a decade later. I was pregnant again, about six weeks. I started bleeding and went to the hospital. There was no heartbeat and it measured at 5 weeks. It was another possible missed-miscarriage, but they could not be certain so I would have to follow-up with a sonogram a week later. I went and paid $150 out-of-pocket for the follow-up sonogram. Still measuring 5 weeks and no heartbeat. So I can get treated for missed-miscarriage now right? Nope! I had to follow-up again another week. I did this for 4 weeks and it was the same each time. No growth. No heartbeat. $150 each time. I was a struggling single mother at that time and the costs were killing me. I had been cramping on and off the entire month while starting a new job. I just wanted to get on with my life. I wanted to feel normal again. I finally was able to get treatment for the missed-miscarriage, which was what people call “the abortion pill” . I was happy I was finally going to get treatment. I planned it so I can get the medication on my day off because I knew it was going to be very painful and a long process to pass the unviable embryo. I went to the pharmacy and I was embarrassed because the pharmacist denied my prescription because of his beliefs. I tried to explain my situation while other customers were waiting behind me, but they would not give me my prescription. It was embarrassing and I was in tears. I waited a whole month to finally get treatment and this man would not give me the medication I needed. I ended up going to another pharmacy and finally was given my medication. Everyone was so scared to treat me because they didn’t want to be part of an “abortion.”

These are just a couple of my experiences with women’s healthcare. There are so many more stories out there. We are not taken seriously when it comes to our complaints and we are not given appropriate treatment because of it.