Rhian Butlin recently opened up about undergoing an unnecessary hysterectomy after doctors told her she had ovarian cancer. The 32-year-old was rushed to the doctor in September 2024 after she experienced “excruciating” abdominal pain. She underwent a scan, and doctors told her she had cancer, as per Butlin’s statement to the Daily Mail.
However, only two months later, the Brit was again taken to the hospital because of the pain. This time, her stomach was swollen, and she looked “nine months pregnant.” A second scan revealed that Butlin had a 25cm tumor on one of her ovaries, which needed to be surgically removed. She underwent a full hysterectomy in December. A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the uterus or womb. The 32-year-old also had her appendix and the lining of her bowel removed after they showed signs of swelling.
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Her recovery was difficult. The mother of two suffered from a buildup of fluid as well as sepsis. She was put in a medically induced coma at one point.
“We were told our little sister possibly wouldn’t make it through the night,” her older sister, Lindsey Rice, said in a GoFundMe post.
“Our world fell apart. Thankfully, Rhian pulled through… she was sent home to recover,” she added.
The GoFundMe asked for £3,500 (over $4,600) initially. It, however, reached its goal by Tuesday.
Butlin’s life changed quickly after a second biopsy, which showed that she had endometriosis, which can mimic cancer on scans.
“She didn’t have cancer after all… it must be endometriosis… which commonly gives readings similar to cancer. Can you believe how happy we all were? We cried… jumped for joy… the nightmare was over… until 24hrs later,” her sister wrote in the post.
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However, that was not the end.
Speaking about the doctors apologizing, Rice told the Daily Mail: “They said, ‘We are so sorry, we have gone through your notes, and you did actually have cancer. But it was in your appendix, and it is one of the rarest forms of cancer.'”
The doctors further informed Rhian Butlin that the disease had spread to her pelvis and lymph nodes and was stage 4 – “incurable.”
Butlin told the Daily Mail, “I’m just emotionally drained. I’m constantly scared, and some nights, I barely sleep. It’s just been a very scary journey, to be honest. Obviously, I’ve had a full hysterectomy when I did not need to.”
“I’ve had my ovaries removed when I did not have ovarian cancer, and I’ve had the lining of my bowel removed when I did not have bowel cancer,” she continued. “Then, they did remove my appendix in December, but it wasn’t until months later that they found cancer there.”
She is now taking intensive chemotherapy. “It’s not been the best experience,” she told the outlet. “If they figured it out earlier on, then we would not be in the position we are in now. It feels like we have been massively let down.”
