#nhsuk

A quote from this article:

“Prostates get so much attention and men with prostatitis quickly get given six weeks of antibiotics even if infection is suspected and not yet proven.

“Even when men have a UTI the guidelines advise seven days of antibiotics, as opposed to the three days given to women. I think the degree of dismissal of women is appalling. And it doesn’t just happen in UTI, it happens in other areas of medicine as well.”

~ Dr Catriona Anderson - Focus Medical (specialist UTI clinic), Stoke, UK

Due to my chest size and position, it's been made clear that I will have to have double incision - knew that from the start, but it feels very real when someone's measuring your chest to confirm it 😅 also been told that I will have one long scar across my chest as opposed to two seperate ones so that will be interesting!

My parents seemed quite happy for me as well, and even said they would take a few days off work to help me recover and make sure I get to the surgery and home safe.

I’m sorry sir but respectfully I couldn’t care less what you’ve studied, how many times have you been pregnant? Because I’ve been pregnant five times (sadly not always resulting in a baby) and let me tell you, every symptom I have described is also something I experience when I’m on my period, coming up to it, just after it, have had a lot going on physically or emotionally, feeling generally sick and the list goes on… those things are symptoms of being female and having hormonal changes constantly, not just pregnancy. So when I said I didn’t feel pregnant, I didn’t because in my experience of actually being pregnant - experience he does not have - all of those symptoms are normally accompanied by an extra feeling of just knowing something is there.

I am not suggesting that his knowledge isn’t valid, or that I don’t respect his expertise as a doctor. However, I am saying that I am absolutely disgusted that a doctor would speak to anyone like that, that a doctor would laugh at a patient and that a doctor would choose not to listen to a patient about their own body and symptoms. Unfortunately this is something that’s happened to me many times and I know has happened to most of my female friends.

There is less known about women’s health than men’s health, it receives less funding and research grants than men’s health and women are statistically less likely to be listened to regarding pain or other symptoms and less likely to receive a diagnosis for an illness.