Taking care of our health doesn’t just mean paying a visit to a physician’s office. There are times when patients don’t feel heard or seen in a doctor’s office. At that point, the patient has to do their own homework. Knowing how to identify and treat a diagnosis sometimes involves a bit of advocacy.
For Clinical Research Coordinator, Kelly Walker, going to the doctor for help in fighting her endometriosis wasn’t enough. She lived with the disease all her life but no physician could help her. Walker had been dismissed and discriminated against. Unfortunately, the Black community faces one too many instances like Walker’s in the healthcare world. We are often stereotyped as being void of pain or drug-seeking and even ignored.
Walker experienced all of those things in the doctor’s office. Though, the hardship only strengthened her willpower and pushed her to speak out. Now Kelly Walker has become an advocate for endometriosis and cautions others to follow these simple rules, “Ask Questions and Fight For Your Health.”
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She Spent Years Living In Pain
Kelly Walker may have been a bright and young woman, with a medical background. However, nothing prepared her for her endometriosis diagnosis. Walker had been living with the reproductive disease since she was 10 years old. Back in March 2021, she told The Black Wall Street Times that her menstrual cycle had become a “constant source of pain and fear.”
At first, she assumed all women endured the same painful process. It was just a part of womanhood. To ease her so-called “cramps,” Walker would take over-the-counter medications like Midol and birth control pills.
However, at 20, the Clinical Research Coordinator could no longer hide her pain after enduring a painful and huge blood clot. Four months later, she started spotting and remained in constant, agonizing pain. It became clear to Walker that she wasn’t just having the normal, everyday menstrual cycle. This had become a medical emergency.
Soon after, Walker made an appointment to have an ultrasound done. Her gynecologist informed her that she would need Exploratory Surgery. The doctor assured Walker that everything would be fine and the surgery would only last 30 minutes. However, Walker’s surgery wasn’t going to happen as quickly as she would’ve liked. Instead, it was scheduled a few months out.
By that point, Walker’s pain only worsened over time. The surgery ended up not being a success. An hour and a half later, she woke up with a swollen pelvis. Her lower body felt as though it had been lit on “fire.”
Making matters worse, her diagnosis now moved on to stage 2 endometriosis. Without any real treatment plan or