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

Daneka Etchells' life was irrevocably altered by a medical system that failed to recognize her debilitating pain for 17 years. Beginning at age 12, her periods were excruciatingly heavy and painful, prompting multiple doctor visits. Despite her persistent complaints, she was prescribed the pill, which offered no relief, and her symptoms were largely dismissed.

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What she'd experienced over the last 17 years was 'medical gaslighting'.

This prolonged period of being unheard and invalidated, which Etchells describes as "medical gaslighting," allowed a condition called endometriosis to spread unchecked. Endometriosis, a painful disorder affecting one in 10 women, involves tissue similar to the lining of the uterus growing outside the uterus. By the time it was diagnosed, the condition had caused extensive damage, including permanent nerve damage affecting her legs.

"It grew so vast and so wide and for so long, on nerves and ligaments that are attached to my legs," Etchells stated. Although the endometriosis was surgically removed, the lasting impact is a permanent physical disability. The average diagnostic delay for endometriosis is nine years; for Etchells, it was 17.

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

Her personal struggle resonates with her current role in a disabled-led stage adaptation of 'The Secret Garden.' In this production, the character Colin, who was medically gaslit in the original story, finds his voice and is finally heard. Etchells' own breakthrough came after seeing a female general practitioner who finally initiated appropriate treatment and referred her to a gynecologist.

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I was using my walking stick pretty much all the time at that point and I could barely get up the stairs.

Even career highs, like performing at Shakespeare's Globe, became impossible due to her condition. Etchells recounted using a walking stick constantly and struggling with basic mobility, fatigue, and severe bladder and bowel problems. Unable to wait for NHS treatment, she pursued expensive private care, undergoing excision surgery that provided some relief. However, the damage was already done, leaving her with a permanent disability.

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I felt so under the weather, so fatigued and in so much pain.