I can't even describe how infuriating it is to walk into a doctor's office and be ignored.

It seems like if they can't find anything blatantly wrong with you, the only plausible explanation is that your "hormones are not in sync."

The stories I hear of women getting misdiagnosed by doctors is rising exponentially every year. Whether it's lack of time or experience, something needs to be done.

Our lives are in jeopardy, and we're putting it in the hands of so-called medical professionals who give out diagnoses like they're spewing facts.

I understand that the human body is quite intricate, but spending more time to help patients and easing their comfort isn't too much to ask for - it's their job.

I'm sure Louise Gleadell would have wished she had pushed her doctors to examine her further, before it was too late...

A Fatal Misdiagnosis

Louise had just given birth to her third child, and as excited as she was, she was in agonizing pain.

"It was probably when my little boy was about six months old that I started thinking something's not right here," she told The Sun in early 2017. "I had a strange dizziness that was there all the time and I started to get this ache in my pelvic area. It was becoming more persistent and gradually getting more painful."

She told her doctors about her symptoms on multiple occasions, but they never took her complaints seriously...

"The doctors kept saying to me, 'Oh it's because you're breastfeeding. Baby is waking up in the night, you're not getting as much sleep.' Eventually they did blood tests and when I rang up to ask if they'd had the results they said it was all fine. They just said my calcium was a bit low."

But as the symptoms continued to worsen, Louise's doctor was dumbfounded and simply dismissed her completely.

"He said, 'Oh well I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of what's causing it.' He did say to me that maybe if I stopped thinking about the dizziness I'd stop feeling so dizzy," she added. "He's also looked at my cervix several times and told me that looked normal when there was a great big tumor on it."

A Futile Battle

By the time the mom of three was diagnosed with cervical cancer, it was too late. The cancer had spread, and she was incurable.

"The first thing on my mind was my boys, my poor boys."

Looking back, Louise realized she failed to notice the symptoms of cervical cancer. If she had, she may have been able to push doctors to examine her further.

That being said, that's not her job! Her doctors knew her symptoms, and it was on them to notice that she was experiencing terrible aches in her pelvic region. Also, they should have taken note that her water broke only 36 weeks into her pregnancy.

Cervical cancer has a wide range of symptoms, but pelvic pain and watery or bloody discharge are one of the main indicators of the disease.

Louise did her best to buy more time with her kids, but after two difficult years, she eventually succumbed to her illness.

Louise's heartbreaking story isn't the only one reminding us to trust our instincts. Doctors chalked up one woman's brain tumor symptoms to being menopause...

For two years, Karen Yardley complained to doctors of insomnia, fatigue, migraines, and mood swings. Every doctor gave her the same answer: menopause.

It got so bad that she was prescribed antidepressants to cope with her "menopausal symptoms."

"I was coming up to 50 and just took doctors at their word when they said I was going through the menopause," she recalled, according to the Daily Mirror. "But my symptoms got worse and worse. It felt like no one was listening to me - I felt unheard and lonely."

Karen had a sense that what she was suffering from was much more worrisome than menopause. She felt so desperate to get to the bottom of it that she had to beg doctors to examine her further.

"I'm begging you," she told her doctor, while on her hands and knees. "You have to do something. I think I'm dying."

Finally, she was referred to a neurologist who scanned her brain, discovering a golf ball-sized brain tumor by her right optic nerve.

"I was relieved it wasn't cancerous, but devastated late diagnosis and surgery had caused so much damage," Karen said. "Doctors said my tumor may have been growing for years."

Karen is raising awareness about brain tumor symptoms and to encourage women to trust their gut.

"We've got to shout "“ we've got to be taken seriously. Now I wish I'd said; 'I'm not a hypochondriac, I'm not a moaner and these symptoms are not being caused by the menopause.' Early diagnosis is crucial to save lives and reduce disabilities."

Share Louise's and Karen's story so their voices can be heard!

[Source: Cafemom/Daily Mirror]