Woman Goes Viral After Doctors Misdiagnose Her Appendicitis

An Ohio woman has exploded on TikTok after telling her story about two different doctors mistaking her appendicitis for an ovarian cyst.

42-year-old Amanda Buschelman claims after visiting her family doctor complaining about pain in her right side and being told she probably had appendicitis and should go to the emergency room, she was misdiagnosed after two separate ER visits. Two ER doctors told her she didn't have appendicitis, that instead she had an ovarian cyst. Meanwhile, untreated appendicitis can cause a person's appendix to burst, resulting in possible death.

Instead of being treated for appendicitis, Buschelman was prescribed an antibiotic for diverticulitis, an inflamed bulge in her digestive tract. She then visited her gynecologist and was convinced to have the surgery to remove the cyst. Once surgeons opened her up to remove the growth, they quickly learned that she had appendicitis all along.

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Buschelman took her story to TikTok and Instagram to discuss the misdiagnosis that had happened to her and could have cost her her life, she found that over 14,000 people were commenting on her video, many of whom were sharing similar hospital stories from around the country. Currently, Buschelman's social media posts have more than 4 million views and counting.

"What it boils down to for me is if this would've happened 20 years ago or even 10 years ago, I can't say that I wouldn't have just said, 'Nobody's listening. I guess I'm just going to die.' ... Because I would've believed with my whole soul that a doctor is out to help me," she said in one of her videos.

Buschelman continues to post on social media about her experience with the hashtag #OvaryGate and hopes that her story will serve as awareness for other women who deal with similar life threatening medical experiences.