Endometriosis is one of the most painful experiences anyone could possibly imagine. And for some, like General Hospital's Kate Mansi, it can be life-threatening.
The star opened up about her experience with endometriosis in an interview with People. For Mansi, the "typical" endometriosis signs didn't show up for her. She didn't excessively cramp or bleed, and her periods were normal. But, one day in 2015, she experienced hell.
Heavy bleeding, nausea, pain - and worst of all, a distended stomach. And doctors "just kept dismissing it", even when she was calling and visiting her doctor several times a day for four days.
Even through all the suffering, she'd still try and work. By the end of the week, she said her stomach was so distended she "couldn't even zip up [her] pants". She even compared the pain to going through childbirth, citing "extreme contractions".
After finally deciding to go to the emergency room, she met her parents. Luckily, the soap opera star's stepfather is an OB-GYN, and was able to help perform scans on her. They revealed a shocking 4 inch mass in her abdomen. While other doctors wanted to call an oncologist, her stepdad wanted an immediate surgery. And he scrubbed in himself to perform it.
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The Soap Opera Star's Surgery Revealed Something Even Worse
And, it turned out that the soap opera star had more than just a mass in her abdomen. The surgery revealed that an ovarian cyst had burst right on top of a blood vessel. This lead to extensive leaking when it popped - as much as a liter and a half of blood had coagulated right there in her abdomen. And she was working through the pain for a week!
As well as revealing the cyst, the surgery also showed heaps of endometriotic tissue. She recounted the moment she found out about her condition. "When I came out of surgery, I had lost so much blood that I needed blood transfusions. And my stepdad told me, 'You have endometriosis'... And that was the first time I had ever even heard that word."
Thanks to the work of her stepdad, she's now able to manage her flareups with her knowledge of her condition. We hope that it never gets that bad again!
