Doctors failed to spot my hidden condition for so long I was left permanently disabled

When Daneka Etchells was 12, her period arrived - and she immediately knew something wasn't right.

Unlike many of her friends, hers were extremely heavy and she experienced excruciating pain.

When she visited the doctor, she was prescribed the pill, but even that didn't make a difference.

After multiple further GP trips with no real solution, Etchells' condition got so bad that she was left with a permanent physical disability.

She told the BBC Access All podcast that what she'd experienced over the last 17 years was "medical gaslighting".

The term refers to a medical professional dismissing or invalidating health worries which can cause patients to doubt their pain and concerns.

What Etchells was experiencing was endometriosis - a painful condition which affects one in 10 women - but by the time doctors found it, it had developed so much that she says it left her with permanent nerve damage.

"It grew so vast and so wide and for so long, on nerves and ligaments that are attached to my legs," she says.

Unable to wait any longer for treatment on the NHS, she saved, borrowed and raised money on GoFundMe for private treatment, even negotiating with the surgeon's secretary for the best deal.

Etchells underwent excision surgery, a procedure to remove the lesions caused by endometriosis, which she says made her feel "lighter".

But she says having been dismissed by doctors for so long has left her with lasting damage and a permanent mobility issue.

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Source: BBC News, 18 July 2026