INSIDERINSIDER
back pain
A woman clutches her lower back in Stuttgart, Germany on December 1, 2016.Lino Mirgeler/Picture Alliance/Getty Images
  • For nearly a year, the pain of Heidi Richard was dismissed as anxiety and mono.

  • She was told she had advanced cancer after requesting a Scan.

  • Medical gaslighting is when clinicians dismiss symptoms and deny tests.

A 47-year-old elementary school teacher in Massachusetts is a lifelong runner. She knew something was wrong when she began to experience stomach pains, vomiting, and night sweats.

She was told her symptoms were stress or anxiety. She wrote for Today.com that she was given an antacid.

She lost 30 pounds because of her illness and she was unable to eat. Doctors thought it was mono, despite testing negative for the infection. She was told to keep taking the antacid.

She developed back pain and neck swelling as her symptoms intensified. When doctors tried to give her a relaxer for a pulled muscle, she demanded an x-ray.

She was diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which had spread to her abdomen, spleen, bone marrow, sternum, lungs, groin, and neck.

Doctors kept saying that it was anxiety or that you couldn't handle the stress of your job. She wrote that it was not a big problem.

Richards received a stem cell transplant and continues to receive immunotherapy once every three weeks. She will run the Boston marathon on April 18. She wants people to listen to their bodies.

She wrote that if something is wrong, don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion or a test.

Other women have been coming forward with stories of "medical gaslighting"

Medical gaslighting is when medical professionals dismiss a person's symptoms, deny tests or treatments, and misdiagnosing them. Women are more vulnerable than men.

Since medical literature focuses on symptoms in white men, students and doctors don't know how to spot other patients with similar symptoms.

The New York Times reported that women wait longer for cancer and heart-disease diagnoses than men. One study found that younger women were more likely to get a mental-health diagnosis if their symptoms pointed to heart disease.

The victim of medical gaslighting is a woman. She said she sought a doctor's appointment after a persistent cough but was denied because it was just a cough.

After five months and seven doctor's appointments with no answers, she insisted on a chest X-ray. She had a mass in her chest that turned out to be Hodgkin's lymphoma, a rare cancer that required her to undergo intensive chemotherapy.

She said that if she had not pushed for the chest X-ray, she may still not have a diagnosis.

The original article can be found on Insider.

  • She thought he was treating her unfairly.

  • Her ex called her crazy.

  • He has been dubbed the "godfather of cryptocurrencies" because of his huge gains on IOTA, Cardano, and others. His newest prediction is here.

  • The pet owner tried to kill the pup.

  • Roxanne Ramsey is demystifying and destigmatizing vaginosis.

  • The drummer and his bride got married at a Las Vegas chapel just hours after theGrammys.

  • Few know that Amazon has millions of Prime subscribers.

  • A Russian-born Wisconsin mother accused of killing her 8-year-old son told investigators she was trying to prevent him from being abused due to her homeland's war.

  • Are you an angel?

  • There is a fox problem on Capitol Hill. Ami Bera was walking to the Capitol for votes on Monday. Bera said he felt a lunge at him from behind as he walked near the Senate office buildings.

  • Ad12Up
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    A man builds a trap to catch a thief.

  • My wife and I make $250,000 a year, which will increase to $500,000 in the next few years.

  • A proposal that would ban most abortions at any point in a pregnant woman's life is one of the most popular anti-abortion bills in the state.

  • The MarketWatch News staff is not involved in creating this content because we think readers will find them useful. Our recommendations are not related to any compensation that we may receive.

  • You can battle your way through a visually-stunning mythicalRPG realm with hundreds ofchampions from 14factions.

  • We were told that if we used an offer on a new home with a contingency regarding the sale of our current home, it would be rejected.

  • Jan Cilliers told E! He was surprised by the death of his wife, and shared how he remembers her beautiful soul.

  • Craig Melvin split his time between MSNBC's daily news coverage and NBC's Today show. Craig said that he was leaving MSNBC to focus on NBC projects.

  • AdSmartAsset
    • Why this Ad?
    • Go ad-free*

    A high-interest account allows you to earn compound interest, while still having full access to your money. These are the top picks.

  • The actor was described as "losing it" by an Insider during the production of "The Flash" last year.

  • India, Turkey, and other neutral countries are being pushed to condemn Russia.

  • Gen. Mark Milley told lawmakers that sending US troops into Ukraine would have led to armed conflict with Russia.

  • You can find and compare your legal options online.

  • They made their marriage official. The first photos from their Vegas ceremony can be found here.

  • Last month, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds surrounded herself with members of the conservative parents-rights group Moms for Liberty when she signed a bill that banned trans students from playing sports. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis invited a member of the group to stand alongside him as he signed a bill that allows parents more say in public school teaching materials. Moms for Liberty formed over a year ago with a few parents upset over their school districts.

  • Russian president Putin has tried to keep his personal life out of the public eye.