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Woman suffers intense period pain for 17 years before discovering cyst

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A woman discovered that the intense pain she had been suffering during her period was caused by a dermoid cyst.

Calle Hack, who grew up in Lafayette and is Purdue graduate, said it took six different doctors to diagnose her.

Hack, now living in Chicago, detailed her struggle in an online post for Good Housekeeping.

“Turns out I was growing a monster inside me,” Hack said.

Hack said the pain first became unbearable when she was 15, suffering from hot flashes, blurred vision, dry heaving and vomiting bile.

She visited five different doctors over the course of 17 years without finding a cause.

Her sixth doctor, Dr. Megan Sheldon, D.O., found the cause after an ultrasound.

Sheldon discovered a large dermoid cyst on Hack’s right ovary.

“This is a full-size Florida orange, and it’s best to get it out as soon as possible,” Sheldon told Hack.

In the four months since having the cyst removed, Hack said she has been feeling fine.

“I think it’s so important for women to find doctors that will listen to them and believe them,” Hack writes. “The medical community needs to shift its perspective when it comes to women and women’s health. And we need to be clear, consistent, and strong when advocating for ourselves.”