MISSING THE MARK

Woman Says Doctors Removed 2 Organs Before Solving Her Mystery Pain

The woman says it took over 15 years to get the diagnosis that changed her life.

A woman says she had two organs unnecessarily removed during a 15-year battle to discover the true cause of her debilitating pain.

Amber Williams, 35, from Mitcham, London, told Southwest News Service that she spent years being told her agonizing periods were “normal” before finally being diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis in July.

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By then, Williams had undergone surgeries to remove both her appendix and gallbladder—neither of which, she claims, turned out to be the source of her pain.

“I left without an organ and still without an answer as to why I was in so much pain,” Williams said of her appendectomy.

Williams said her symptoms began when she was 11 and became so severe by 14 that she regularly missed school.

Doctors prescribed the contraceptive pill, which Williams remained on for around four years. She said it offered little relief and caused side effects including weight gain and severe mood changes.

At 21, Williams went to the emergency room with such severe pain that doctors suspected appendicitis. She underwent an appendectomy in 2012, only to be told afterward that there had been nothing wrong with her appendix.

Williams estimates she visited the emergency room 12 times over the following years and underwent numerous tests, only to repeatedly be given painkillers and sent home.

She alleges one medical professional even told her, “If you were really in that much pain, you wouldn’t have that much make-up on.”

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In 2016, doctors diagnosed Williams with gallstones and pancreatitis, leading to another operation to remove her gallbladder.

Williams said she was again told after surgery that there had been nothing significantly wrong with the organ.

Meanwhile, her symptoms grew increasingly severe. She said she suffered heavy bleeding that could fill a sanitary pad every hour, vomited from the pain, and sometimes collapsed.

Williams said after experiencing a traumatic miscarriage, she began to realize how aggressively she needed to advocate for herself.

“When I was having my miscarriage, that’s when I realized even if you’re screaming and writhing in pain no one listens,” she said. “You have to scream from the rooftops.”

Around 2017, Williams began researching her symptoms and encountered information about endometriosis through online support groups.

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Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus and can cause severe pelvic pain, particularly during menstruation.

Williams said she completed an online 60-second symptom checker from Endometriosis UK and brought it to her general practitioner, but the possibility was dismissed.

Her pain eventually spread beyond her periods, and she said some clinicians suggested her symptoms could be related to her mental health, eventually prescribing Williams antidepressants.

In 2025, Williams and her husband visited a fertility clinic after struggling to conceive for four years. She again raised the possibility of endometriosis and was referred for further evaluation.

A laparoscopy in July finally provided an answer.

Doctors discovered extensive endometriosis and adenomyosis, with Williams’ ovaries fused to her pelvic wall, she said.

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Adenomyosis occurs when tissue similar to the uterine lining grows into the uterus’ muscular wall and can cause heavy periods, severe cramping, and pelvic pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“When I woke up from surgery, the surgeon looked at me and said, ‘You’re not crazy,’” Williams recalled. “I just burst into tears.”

Williams now describes the first three days of every period as “10 out of 10 pain” and worries the years without treatment may have hurt her chances of becoming a mother.

Despite feeling validated by the diagnosis, Williams said she remains angry over how long it took.

“It’s ruined my life. I’ve lost years,” she said. “I don’t know what my life might have looked like if I’d been listened to earlier.”

Her message to other women is simple: Keep pushing.

“Don’t let them gaslight you,” Williams said. “If you know your own body, you know when something’s wrong with you.”

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Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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