Pregnant Mom, 37, Was Told By Doctors Her Stomach Pain Was ‘Anxiety:’ When She Had C-Section, She Learned It Was Cancer

Her pain persisted, so Lois visited her doctor again but was again told it could either be irritable bowel syndrome or hypochondria (abnormal anxiety about one's health) anything but cancer.

But it turned out that Lois wasn't a hypochondriac; she knew something was wrong with her body, and doctors finally discovered what was going on when she delivered her son, Ray, via C-section last year: she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

While it's unclear what type of cancer Lois was diagnosed with, it should be noted that cancer was found in her ovaries, the lining of her abdomen, as well as her lymph nodes.

"My abdomen was so diseased, tumors everywhere," Lois told BBC News. "They said that it was like a bag of sand that had been opened and it (had) gone everywhere."

Lois, who's a mother to three children, said she doesn't know what else she could've done. She advocated for herself, but doctors didn't listen. Now, she's worried about getting too attached to her newborn son, as her life could come to an abrupt end soon.

"I don't know what else I could have done. It was like nobody wanted to listen," she said. "I said to them, 'I feel like I'm going to die.'"

"I wanted to be taken seriously," Lois added. "There was something seriously wrong, I felt."

Her purpose now (it's always been, really) is her children, and being there for them during the time she has left.

"My kids are my purpose," she said. "I want to concentrate on making memories. If love could save me, I would never die."

The Importance of Advocating for Yourself

As previously stated, Lois went to the doctors a few times because she knew something was wrong with her body.

It’s important to stand up for yourself, like Lois did, if you feel that you're being dismissed or mistreated by a doctor. Getting a second opinion is crucial if something doesn't feel right. While Lois did all of these things, she was still dismissed. Her cancer was ultimately caught, but it was too far advanced.

Here at SurvivorNet, we say that no one knows your body better than you, so if you feel like something is wrong, keep pushing.

Be Pushy, Be Your Own Advocate… Don't Settle

Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet that sometimes, patients need to be pushy.

"From a doctor's perspective, every problem should have a diagnosis, a treatment, a plan for follow-up, and a plan for what happens next if the treatment doesn't work," Dr. Murrell said.

And as a patient, "if you don't feel like each of these four things has been accomplished, just ask! Even if it requires multiple visits or seeing additional providers for a second opinion, always be your own advocate."

Lois is telling her story to educate doctors on the ramifications of dismissing patients who are pushy when it comes to their health.

“If there is just one medic who reads this and thinks, ‘We need to do better,’ that’s all I want,” she said.

“I would not want anybody to go through what I’m going through.”

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