Diblums

I was going to ask how medical staff came to a diagnosis and actually took you seriously. It's so common for medical professionals to dismiss or minimize women's concerns. So I'm so glad you were able to get the care you needed! I say this as my doctors are only now acknowledging that I've had the right idea about what's been going on with me for the past five years.

All people have likely faced a struggle to be taken seriously by medical professionals. But my comment was specifically that as a young woman, OP is lucky to have been taken seriously before the cancer killed her. Of all people who have suffered as a result of medical dismissal, a significant majority of these are women.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00100.x/asset/j.1553-2712.2008.00100.x.pdf;jsessionid=94EC5AEE51F73922D62B098B12CD2E63.f04t01?v=1&t=ixpr5zg6&s=ec3212f28876343b7f9e00578ccf21c0c112cda5

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00289259?wt_mc=Affiliate.CommissionJunction.3.EPR1089.DeepLink&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=3_nsn6445_deeplink&utm_content=deeplink

It sounds like things could have gone way worse, so I'm very glad they were able to remove the cancer in time. Even if you still had to say "I told you so."

My statement did not exclude all but women. Many people have their concerns dismissed. Many people who have their concerns dismissed are women.

Agreed, I hate that so many people are forced to fight for a proper diagnosis, and have to make a case like a lawyer in court. And the number of times doctors have tried to blame my menstrual cycle for serious and unrelated concerns (such as increased intracranial pressure) is simply infuriating. Also women have twice the pain receptors that men do: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16217487/