Chante Burkett is a blogger who has undergone an experience that highlights medical racism in a harrowing way. A 13-lb. growth in her abdomen was misdiagnosed as weight gain. It turned out to be a tumor.
In December, the 33-year-old blogger started to notice that her abdomen had become “semi-hard,” Health Magazine reported. Burkett was also experiencing pelvic pain, not an uncommon symptom of reproductive cysts or tumors.
Over the following six months, Burkett saw her doctor three times. Each time, she was dismissed. Her physician did not even run tests to try to get an accurate diagnosis.
“I complained to my primary care provider about the pain I was having, and they blamed my weight,” she said.
The first time, they told her that it was likely weight gain. Subsequently, the physician told her that she was merely bloated or “gassy” and may have wanted to try some medication to solve the problem. Burkett was turned away.
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Burkett persisted. She was working out and losing weight, but the tumor kept growing. On her third visit to her doctor, they finally admitted that they did not know what was wrong with her.
She went to an urgent care facility that ran a CT scan, and that’s where they found the tumor.
The experience was already emotional for Burkett because of her physical pain.
After her gynecologist explained that the mass was likely a tumor, the emotional weight became worse because Burkett had lost her own mother cancer.
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest reproductive cancer in women. Yet, Black women are more likely to be misdiagnosed and, therefore, more likely to die from these types of tumors. Medical racism, which has doctors believing such fallacies as higher pain tolerance, is one of the reasons for the disparity. Further, stereotypes of how Black women carry weight may have played a part in the initial “weight gain” diagnosis.
Burkett luckily received surgery. Unfortunately, along with a 13-lb tumor, she lost one of the fallopian tubes and ovaries. The tumor was tested, and it was a mucinous cystadenoma, a non-cancerous growth.
“Right now, I feel OK,” she said. Within a week of her surgery, she was up and walking.
Burkett wants other women to take note of the importance of self-advocacy. Had she just trusted her doctor’s first opinion, the tumor would have been missed until much more serious consequences would have occurred. Being misdiagnosed is not uncommon, especially among Black women.
It is always important to remember that you are free to leave any doctor that doesn’t take your healthcare seriously.
