I want to raise awareness. It could help someone or save a life

I want to raise awareness. It could help someone or save a life

12 August 2015

A COMBER mum who says she nearly died after an ovarian cyst ruptured wants to warn other women of a condition that “slowly poisoned” her.

Rebekah Magee (27) had complained for years about stomach pains but was “too shy” to insist something was seriously wrong when doctors thought there was little to worry about.

It was when a friend found her unconscious at her home however, that she was rushed to hospital. It was discovered that a massive dermoid cyst had been leaking on her right ovary and she needed immediate surgery. 

Rebekah, mum to four-year-old Michael, was told she could die if she did not have the watermelon sized cyst removed and in the end she had to lose one of her ovaries. Ruptured ovarian cysts are not usually dangerous but there were complications.

It was an experience she found traumatic and, along with the knowledge that having any more children will be difficult, left her depressed.

In just under a year, however, she has turned her life around, developing an interest in body building and fitness to boost her confidence. She says she wants to show others there is light at the end of the tunnel and above all encourage people to insist on medical help when they know something is wrong.

“I want to raise awareness and maybe if someone else hears this they will go and get checked and you never know, it could help someone else or even save a life,” said Rebekah.

“I just do not want anyone else to have to go through what I did.”

Rebekah had experienced problems from the age of 18 but her health took a turn for the worse last year.

“I have always had wee pains with cramps and things but whenever I went to the doctor I was told it was normal ovulation stuff and it was part of being a woman,” said Rebekah.

“I was naive and thought if that’s what the doctor said that’s OK.

“I had my wee boy and I was still getting pains and I went back to the doctor and was told it was normal after having a child.

“It all started to get worse when I noticed a difference in my skin colour. It was a yellow, grey tinge and my hair started falling out and my eyeballs started going grey and bloodshot.

“Then in early June the pain became excruciating and I started being sick and passing out. My dad took me to the hospital, A&E at the Ulster, and they took blood and urine samples. They said there’s nothing wrong. I was told it was a burst cyst on my ovary and I would be fine, they gave me painkillers and I was sent home.

“I went home but it just got worse and worse to the point I could not walk. A few days later a friend called up and he found me lying on the sofa and he thought I was dead because my whole skin complexion was grey.

“He carried me to the car and took me to hospital. I passed out and vomited and was sent to the gynaecology ward for a two hour examination.

“I was screaming the place down and what they found was this massive dermoid cyst on my right ovary. The reason I was so unwell was the cyst was starting to leak and it was about to explode.

“I was told if it was to explode it would have killed me.

“It went from bad to worse, they said the ovary had to go. I was fighting with them to save it because I want more children but they said the ovary was completely dead and it had to go.

“I had surgery to remove the ovary and the pain was awful, childbirth was a walk in the park compared to that.”

Life did not return to normal easily for Rebekah who was left traumatised by the ordeal.

“Everything was going wrong and I was just not fun to be around, I could not get my head around what happened,” she said.

“I had been going on for years about this and I was told there was nothing wrong but then I was told there was a chance I could die, leaving my wee man without me.

“It was hard to get my head around and it was bringing me down so much. On New Year’s Eve I was with my sister who made me dinner as I did not want to go out. I was asking her why this had to happen to me and she turned and said, ‘Rebekah you are lucky to be alive and you can let this make you or break you’.

“I went to bed but I thought about it and she was right, I am lucky to be alive and I might not be able to have more children but my wee man is the apple of my eye.

“I thought I need to do something. I always liked training and thought I would do something to raise awareness and show you can turn your life around after something like this.”

Bodybuilding has given Rebekah a new lease of life and she competed in the Northern Ireland Fitness Model Association bodybuilding competition at the Devenish Hotel in June and was placed third in the body art category for her recently acquired tattoos.

“I now train three times a week, lifting 10 to 12 kilograms,” she explained. “I had always wanted a sleeve [of tattoos] and after the whole operation I just decided to get it done.”

Looking back at life as it was, Rebekah said she can hardly believed she carried on trying to manage her condition.

“Whenever I used to work in Halifax I would sit there and be in such pain,” she said. “I was sitting in the chair thinking I was just going to pass out from the pain in my side. That was not normal.

“I couldn’t take the really strong codeine because it is addictive. I do not know how I did it because it was really bad. I was told it was all part of being a woman.”

Rebekah said she did not see any point in making a formal complaint about her treatment over the years and said after she was properly diagnosed the care she received was good.

“It is me against the NHS and the NHS wins every time,” she said. “I am not bitter, I feel more disappointed. 

“I am quite shy. If someone says something to me I tend to take their word for it. I now know people need to push for things.”

Stressing the benefits of exercise to her mental health, Rebekah said she would encourage everyone to give it a go.

“There was a lot of mental upset inside as there was on the outside with the scar I was left with,” she added. “I now focus on my health big time.”