A woman struggled with various symptoms, including back pain and painful periods, for seven years before learning she had a huge ovarian cyst.
Paisley Dylan, 30 started to get symptoms in her 20s and it got the point she could not even tie her own shoe laces, reports Wales Online.
She visited two separate GPs about concerns she had about her bloated stomach, but on both occasions she was told she should lose weight. Eventually she just stopped going outside, as she couldn't face people's stares or people even asking if she was pregnant.
She lost three stone in weight in an effort to shrink her stomach, but it made no difference, and one woman asked her if she was expecting triplets.
However, over the course of seven years since she started to feel out of sorts, an ovarian cyst had been growing inside of her.
The cyst was made up of 42 litres of fluid - a total of around six and a half stone in weight - before it was removed.
Paisley said: "I have always had problems with my period, whenever I would go to the GP for that I was always told to lose weight, that will help. When my stomach started getting bigger, I blamed it on that."
She added: "I didn't leave the house. Every time I left the house people were looking at me. People would ask if I was pregnant. I could not tie my own shoe laces.
"People would come up to me and say 'When are you due?', it's embarrassing when you have to say I am not. One woman approached me and asked if I was having triplets. It is embarrassing for me, it's embarrassing for them, it is all around an awkward situation."
Paisley was living in England when she first visited a GP about the issues.
She described her stomach as feeling solid but was told it was just fat and that she should lose weight.
"During the first lockdown, I went to stay with my parents in Anglesey. I lost around three stone, and my stomach was not changing. I went to see the GP to see if it was just weight or something more sinister.
"They made me lie down on my back and they pressed on my stomach and they said it was just weight, and that it would take a while to come off my stomach."
In February 2021, Paisley was diagnosed as having diastasis recti - when your abdominal muscles separate, which usually happens during pregnancy.
It usually causes a visible bulge just above or below the belly button and she tried to exercise and lose weight following this, but soon it wasn't that.
She sought out help from a lifestyle coach and that helped her get more active for a spell.
In January 2022, she completed 15,000 steps a day every day, but nothing helped.
"My parents were worried and fortunately we were in a position to go private for a scan. When I first walked into the clinic the doctor said straight away 'That is not just weight'.
"My stomach was so big it would not go in the machine properly. The scan showed two cysts, one bigger one and a smaller one. But they said the scan was compromised so they couldn't see the accurate size."
FInally after, a scan in October 2022, Paisley was diagnosed.
She underwent an operation to drain the cysts in April at Ysbyty Gwynedd.
"It was a relief and not. It was a relief that it was not just weight and it could be fixed then I was worried why it got so big. They said they were going to do the operation through key hole, and told me it would only take two to three hours, but it took seven.
Now that the cyst has been drained, Paisley says she can't get over how different she feels.
She said: "There was not many symptoms because it came on so slowly, I didn't notice it. But now, I am not in pain all the time. I did have symptoms, I just didn't know. I was saying to my family, I can't believe that everyone finds life this easy. After the operation I was still coming around and I remember my parents being there and I looked around, I was like I can see my feet, it is just crazy the difference.
"I don't feel like everyone is staring at me. It is much better than I thought it would be."
Since the operation she has dropped five dress sizes, and binned her size 28/30, and recently purchased a pair of jeans in a size 20, the first pair she has owned for years.
Paisley is now sharing her journey through an Instagram page, @if_you_incyst.
She said: "There's going to be people with the same issue and they are going to the GP to be told the same thing. A lot of people won't be able to afford to go private. I'm sharing my story to get people to realise that you have to push if you feel like something is not right. I didn't push, but they knew what they were talking about."
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