My name is Rain, I’m a 31-year-old African-American woman, and after almost 15 years of pain, unanswered questions, and being ignored by doctors — I finally have an answer: I have two massive uterine fibroids.

One fibroid is inside my uterus, measuring 9.9 cm. The other sits on top of my uterus, measuring nearly 11 cm. My body is literally treating them like growing fetuses, draining my energy and nutrients to “support” them.

These fibroids are so large they’re crushing my colon from both the top and bottom. They’ve changed my body shape, caused unexplained weight gain, and left me in daily discomfort. For years, I thought I just needed to work out more, fast more, or eat less — but no amount of dieting or exercise could change what was happening inside me.

I first felt something like a small moving “ball” in my stomach when I was a teenager. I told countless doctors over the years, but they brushed it off. It wasn’t until two years ago — after a year and a half of battling my insurance just to get an MRI — that I finally got a proper diagnosis. Even then, the radiology center delayed me further because of an unrelated penicillin allergy.

I have received no help with the fibroids, no medication, no anything other than if I want to know information about it then I should Google it. Which was said to me by my OBGYN while rummaging through my belongings from my phone and personally putting it in herself right after she came back in to tell me what I have.

Now I need surgery to remove the fibroids. Normally, fibroid surgery costs between $10,000-$30,000 with/without insurance. Try guessing my cost? Around $28,000 even after insurance. That’s not including aftercare, which will be at least $3,000 per visit for a minimum of six visits that won't be covered by insurance at all.

I’ve lived with this for 15 years. I’ve fought to be heard. And now, I’m fighting for the chance to get my life and my health back. Every day is a constant struggle whether or not these fibroids will rupture because my life will have a slim chance. No matter how much I'm going through, physically and emotionally, every day I can't show it since it might affect my job that I absolutely need.

Any donation, no matter the size, will bring me closer to relief, recovery, and finally living without these fibroids controlling my body.

Thank you for reading my story and for helping me through this fight.