Why is it so hard to access womans health.

[Pcosfighter67]

So to cut a long story short, I've been having possible symptoms of ovarian cancer
So I went to the gp and explained my concerns and one of the things he said is "it won't be at your age (29) if you were 40/50 having these symptoms then I would be more concerned"
When are doctors going to realise that cancer doesn't discriminate ? Why is womens health so overlooked so often.
To be fair to him after he looked through my notes he toke it very seriously and asked me to ring gynae while he arranged a CA125 test.
I rung gynae and they had a very strong sense of urgency and I have an urgent hysteroscopy next Thursday.
It was just the comment that struck me, this is why so many young women don't get diagnosed until very late on when it's often too late.

No cancer doesn’t discriminate

but it definitely does relate to certain risk factors and age is most definitely one of them

and to be clear
he immediately referred you and arranged for tests?

Hope everything is OK and no cancer does not discriminate, I know someone that had breast cancer at 28. Glad you got referred.
May I ask what your symptoms are?

yes if you could share OP - one way you could help

Yes after looking through my past and realising I'm high risk he was on ot straight away but i was making the point of at first I was dismissed completely due to my age which shouldn't be happening. If I'm having the same symptoms as someone in their 40s why are mine less serious.
My symptoms currently started with back pain 8 weeks ago with no obvious cause seen ohysio etc, bloating, spotting between periods and then had a strange 2 week period that ebbed and flowed and was just strange and finally heartburn which I wasn't aware was a symptom at all.

But your GP arranged a blood test and referred you to gynae. Maybe saying ovarian ca is rare was to reassure you ?

Agree with @Gaz98 . I would be saying it's highly unlikely to be ovarian cancer to try and reassure you but would still refer and do bloods to exclude that very rare case. I'm not dismissing the person if I'm still referring, I'm just pointing out the odds.

Did you get to the bottom of this OP?

I was dismissed by three doctors over the course of 18 months as I felt like I had a cyst on my ovary as the pain was so acute and localised in that area and awful bloating.
I was told to eat more fibre and drink more water as likely constipated.
I ended up In A&E and had to have fallopian tube and ovary and 10cm cyst removed
Do not be dismissed by a doctor like I was especially if cancer is likely
Good luck to you and I hope you get it sorted out soon

After having a biopsy it's been revealed that I have endometrial hyperplasia and have to commence medication and have biopsies every 6 months to see if the medication is working or if its progressing into something more.

your opening title and the contents of your post don't make sense? your Dr read your notes and referred you? how is that women not being able to access womens health?

i think i might be missing the point? so if it can be explained that would be lovely, but by the sounds of it, you were referred and now having treatment??

maybe theres a drip feed? maybe the OP had to go backwards and forwards to the GP several times and had to beg and plead for a referral?

i personally had an issue recently, i called my GP and had an appointment that day! blood tests and referrals done on the spot, 2 weeks later a hyerserocopy, and 4 weeks later surgery to remove the lump found with a 6 week wait for the all clear?

i cannot fault the GP or consultants and at every stage they made it very clear to me what they were looking for (cervical cancer) with no beating about the bush with if's and maybe's. very honest and transparent, thankfully benign

With some things age is one of the criteria for referral according to NICE, or whether that referral should be routine or urgent.

I have to say I went to the gp for gynae issues that gp took v seriously and I saw gynae the next day and was scanned etc.

So it hasn’t been my experience however I did delay going to see the GP as I thought I would be dismissed - not the case at all.

Can I just ask why a hysteroscopy and not an ultrasound? I just thought hydteroscopy looked at the womb and not the ovaries. Glad you're ok.

Did you have an ultrasound first ? How was the CA125 result ? Interested as I have had lots of gynae issues myself.

Glad it was benign. My issue was similar although they suspected ovarian and / or uterine cancer, thankfully also benign but I appreciated the straightforward attitude of my consultant. My GP was more vague however I know he didn’t want to worry me before I saw the gynaecologist.

I was grateful to all my doctors and the majority were male, which made no difference to me but I do see on here sometimes advice to request a female gynae - it depends on the person as to how you’ll be treated, not their sex.