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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/Defiant_Song_2766 on 2023-10-03 07:54:05.

Tw: Vomiting, hospitals, sexism.

Will women ever be taken seriously? I’m fuming. We had to go 3 days on a row.

My stepdaughter is 16, last week she had a really bad stomach ache, spent most afternoon in bed, i had to pick her up early from school the next day since she is in pain and threw up a few times. Okay, no problem. She spends the day super sick.

Friday afternoon, we end up going to urgent care. She is in a lot of pain, can’t sit straight, my husband is out of town so it’s just us two and i’m worried. They take a lot of time to see her and when they do you know what they tell us? It’s menstrual pain apparently.

They did not check on her or anything and the doctor who saw us was annoyed that i was replying for her but my stepdaughter was in so much pain she had a hard time talking and we are both not from here, so we are still learning English and she is nervous. Period pains make no sense at this time of the month but i ask if we should see a gynecologist or something. No. Do they need to do any test? No. They just told us it would pass and she should take some pain killers. Okay.

Saturday morning she is still in lots of pain, had no sleep at all, has a bit of a fever. We go again, wait for a long time again as it’s deemed as “not serious enough” Then they see her, they mispronounce her name which in the big scheme is not a big deal but i’m mad at everything right now. They do check on her a bit more than the last time, tell us is a stomach flu. She is young, it doesn’t hurt in any particular place, isn’t bloated or anything so even thought it’s been days and she is doubling over in pain (and we can pay) they don’t do much and send us home again. A stomach flu doesn’t feel quite right but they won’t do any test.

Saturday night/sunday morning she is screaming in pain, she is crying a lot and her heart is beating real fast. My husband isn’t picking up the phone. I’m terrified. Thank God i exercise and she is not heavy at all. We go to the ER, wait again for hours, which okay i guess is what happens in a ER but is also obvious that something is very wrong. They finally see her once more. A female doctor finally. She is super gentle with both of us. An emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. The diagnosis did not even take long. Apparently appendicitis “is often missed in female patients”.

My stepdaughter is better than she was but still is not great. She is terrified of hospitals and has to stay for days. I’m exhausted and i’m mad. So, so mad. I still have to wait for my husband to come from his work trip and it annoys me so much that he isn’t there. I’m just really upset at everything and everyone. It honestly could and should have been solved before it got this bad.