A woman says her life-threatening endometriosis went ignored by doctors, who chalked up her symptoms to weight gain

Sarah McInnes, 38, said her abdomen grew larger than when she was nine-months pregnant with twins due to an endometrial cyst that went untreated.

• Sarah McInnes had a 28-pound cyst removed, along with her uterus and part of her stomach.
• She saw her doctor about weight gain and painful periods several times before another physician spoke up.
• She was diagnosed with a severe case of endometriosis, a disorder that caused womb-like tissue to grow outside her uterus.

From the age of 16, Sarah McInnes struggled with period cramps that, looking back, she said rivaled labor pains, The Sun reported.

The Scottish mom, now 38, said the pain was the worst she'd ever felt, even after giving birth to three kids. She said her cramps were so severe that she would vomit and pass out from the pain, causing her to miss school as a teen and eventually quit her job in her 30s.

When McInnes told doctors about her symptoms, she said they dismissed her pain as typical "women's troubles" that she would have to endure, and that she was brushed off even as she developed an odd rash and a swollen belly that made her appear pregnant, The Sun reported.

After "at least a couple of hundred visits" to her general practitioner and a risky four-and-a-half hour surgery, McInnes said she was finally diagnosed with endometriosis, a disorder where womb-like tissue grows outside the uterus.

"The doctor told me that in the 25 years he's been doing that specific operation for endometriosis, he's never seen it that bad," McInnes said, The Sun reported. 

Doctors dismissed her sudden weight gain

According to The Sun, McInnes said she gained weight out of nowhere starting in January 2022, going up two dress sizes despite eating the same or less than usual, and that doctors encouraged her to cut calories.

"It was driving me mad," McInnes said, according to the outlet. "I wasn't eating very much and I'd been on so many diets trying to lose the extra weight, but it never shifted."

Doctors looked at McInnes like she was "just getting fat," and eventually, she said, she started to believe them.

But one physician suggested that there might be an underlying cause for McInnes' weight gain. At that point, the mom said she was bigger than she was at nine-months pregnant with twin boys.

A pelvic scan revealed a 28-pound cyst that was crushing the organs in her abdomen, The Sun reported. When surgeons opened her up to remove the cyst, they diagnosed McInnes with endometriosis.

Approximately 17-44% of people with endometriosis develop cysts on their ovaries, called endometriomas or "chocolate cysts" due to their brownish contents. These cysts essentially begin as sacs of menstrual blood, but if they grow larger than 4 centimeters in diameter, they have an increased chance of becominig cancerous, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Giant ovarian cysts (defined as exceeding 10 cm diameter) are extremely rare, but a handful of cases have been recorded in medical literature, including one cyst that weighed approximately 23 pounds.

Symptoms of endometriosis

Painful periods, severe cramping, and pain during sexual intercourse are some of the most common symptoms of endometriosis, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other symptoms include:

• Heavy menstrual bleeding
• Excessive bleeding in between periods
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Painful ovulation
• Infertility in some cases
• Painful urination and bowel movements

If left untreated, endometriosis can cause painful scar tissue to build up in the pelvis and nearby organs, like the fallopian tubes, ovaries, and bowels.

Doctors had to remove McInnes' uterus and part of her stomach due to endometrial-like growths, but she still has some tissue buildup on her bowels that makes going to the bathroom a painful ordeal, The Sun reported.

"I was hoping once this was all over it would be done and dusted, but my pain level has only just gone down to about a five or six and I still struggle every day," she said.