Women's health is a matter that has traditionally been overlooked and under prioritised in healthcare - something that Jessica Rickets, from Barry, knows better than most. She has been waiting for a hysterectomy since 2019. However, even reaching the point of discovering a hysterectomy was needed took over 10 years for Jessica, who is now 35, as she battled with GPs and consultants about her health.
Jessica first began suffering with her health over 10 years ago, when she experienced serious pain in her lower body. In what turned out to be a large fibroid, a noncancerous tumour, growing inside her uterus, it took Jessica years to have this properly diagnosed. She said: “I’d been suffering for a couple of years before I got past the GP to get referred for a scan, I had a number of visits to the GP, back and forth.”
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After undergoing an intensive operation, which removed the thyroid and left her with no pain, Jessica thought her life was back on track. She said: “For about nine months I felt like I had my life back, everything felt really normal."
However, this did not last and after nine months Jessica was experiencing severe pain again, as she explained: "As with many gynae patients you have an operation, your symptoms reduce for a short period of time and then they come back.”
Jessica's organs had all become stuck together, her womb to her bowel, her bowel to her stomach wall, and she had to have another operation. She was also told she would not be able to have a child naturally. She said: “It was at that time I was told you can’t conceive a child naturally, IVF would be only a 20% chance and obviously that was very difficult, I was only about 28 at the time.”
Despite this, and a difficult pregnancy and C-section where the surgeon recommended she had no more children, Jessica gave birth to baby girl Wynter Isabelle, who is now six, and said she is "very, very lucky". Jessica has also named her bridal shop in Barry after her daughter.
But Jessica's health problems continued after the birth of Wynter Isabelle as she suffered a nine-month-long period and was still evaded a proper diagnosis by doctors. Instead she was given hormonal treatment which massively affects her mental health. She said: “It is always hormonal treatment they give you to try and suppress the symptoms but it has never worked for me…it really affects my moods so I suffer then with my mental health while I’m on all these medication trials and that in itself is very stressful.”
After going through more surgeries and treatments Jessica was told by one consultant that she did have endometriosis and by another that she didn't, leaving her totally unsure. Jessica said: “I’ve been asking for the past 10 years do I have endometriosis, because my mother had it, my nan had it. I have all of the symptoms of it.” She added: “I’ve always been left in the dark…this is what a lot of women face, the average diagnosis of endometriosis is 10 years and that is exactly what has happened to me.”
Put simply, endometriosis is a condition where cells similar to the ones in the lining of the womb are found elsewhere in the body. Each month these cells react in the same way to those in the womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding. Unlike the cells in the womb that leave the body as a period, however, this blood has no way to escape - causing chronic and sometimes debilitating pain, as well as affecting fertility and other parts of the body such as the bowel or bladder.
For years Jessica suffered from debilitating pain and was told it was "just scar tissue" while another consultant said it was endometriosis. She said: “They kept telling me, this is what you are going to have to put up with, it’s just scar tissue.”
In June 2020 Jessica went to A&E as the pain was so bad: “It got to a point in June 2020 where I couldn’t take the pain anymore it became so debilitating, I couldn't drive properly.” During this time in the hospital, they removed five masses from her abdominal wall and after being examined in the lab all five pieces were endometriosis.
But still Jessica was not formally diagnosed as she was told it was not endometriosis but instead placed endometriosis. Left frustrated and angry at the lack of clear answers, she said: “I often feel like they try to manipulate things and assume that because you are not medically trained you won’t understand. It is medical gaslighting.”
Continuing to suffer in great pain, Jessica did not go to hospital or seek help during 2021. She said: “For the whole of 2021 I just suffered in silence, I knew that there was a long wait because of the pandemic…all by myself, I didn’t go into hospital even though the pain was really bad, I kept quiet.”
As Jessica's intense pain continued to get worse she has been admitted in and out of hospital, only being treated for the pain and not for what is causing it. She said: “They dose you up for a few days and they send you home. Nothing actually gets done. You are taking up so much time of theirs and the hospital bed.”
Finally, after seeing the consultant who believed it was endometriosis from the start, Jessica was formally diagnosed with the condition. Talking about her journey to this point, she said: “There is always a delay in everything…it is just a constant battle, you battle to get past the GP initially, then you battle with the surgeons about whether or not you have what you think you have.”
According to Endometriosis UK, on average it takes eight years from the onset of symptoms to get a diagnosis for the condition. While its cause is unknown and there is no definite cure, one in 10 women in the UK suffer from endometriosis.
Jessica also spoke about how her pain affects all parts of her everyday life. She said: “It is frustrating and it is upsetting, I’m a mum and I own a business as well. I’m lucky in some respects that I am self-employed because I am ill a lot of the time. I’ve got to try and work around the times when my pain is going to be at its worst.”
“Mentally it is really difficult, it is draining. I get really severe fatigue, I’m really low on iron, you can wake up one day and just have no energy whatsoever and I’ve got a six-year-old daughter who wants to go running in the park.
“It affects every aspect, what you wear, where you go, it affects everything. It’s become part of me, everyone I know knows that I suffer, my friends, my family, I am not shy about saying it.”
Currently Jessica still has no confirmed date for her hysterectomy surgery, as she still waits to be treated. She believes women's health is at the "bottom of the pile" and more focus and medical training is needed in the area.
Earlier this week, a plan to reduce the record-breaking backlog of planned NHS care was published by the Welsh Government. As part of the strategy, a series of targets have been set out for health boards to achieve, including a pledge to eliminate one-year waits for treatment in most specialties by spring 2025.
It also focuses heavily on providing care closer to people's homes and offering more consultations virtually wherever possible. Health Minister Eluned Morgan said 'Super Saturdays' would be introduced to boost productivity over weekends, adding that incentives would be offered to NHS staff to encourage them to work longer hours. To get more news like this straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters here.
