A yoga teacher from Carlisle who had agonising abdominal pain was shocked to discover that her organs were fusing together.
Rebecca Bruce-Radcliffe, best known by her professional name Nartani Rose, tried for years to find out why she had a worsening ache in her pelvis which she said caused "unbearable pain" before doctors realised her bowel and one of her ovaries had fused to her pelvic wall.
The 28-year old had an operation to separate her organs last month, but said she felt worse immediately afterwards.
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"The first two days after the operation were the most unbearable suffering of my life," she said. "I was in so much pain that I was screaming agony if I moved my leg a centimetre."
Though Nartani has still not fully recovered, she is relieved to find out the reason behind her suffering.
Having always been fit and healthy, Nartani became a yoga teacher in 2016, but just after she started, she began experiencing agonising pelvic pain and inflammation.
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Nartani saw many specialists, including gynaecologists and gastroenterologists, but was sure it wasn't digestive or menstrual cramps.
"My belly was inflamed and swollen - it looked like I was pregnant," she explained.
"No doctor could diagnose me and I just kept hearing, 'Well we couldn't find anything'."
Although the pain gradually got worse, Nartani was able to manage it, but was signed off work in June. In September, Nartani had an operation to remove pre-cancerous cells on her cervix, which she hoped would stop her pain, but doctors told her this wasn't the cause of her mysterious pain.
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A few weeks after her op, however, Nartani's condition dramatically worsened.
"Out of the blue one evening at home, I suddenly started experiencing very heavy bleeding," Nartani said.
"It was so heavy to the point where I was having to wear an adult nappy and it was leaking through - even on the night it started.
"I was in so much pain - it was like labour and I was screaming out in agony."
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She was rushed into hospital and given a colposcopy - a procedure where a microscope with a light is used to look at the cervix.
"I was passing blood clots that were so big they were the size of an egg," she said. "I couldn't stand up or walk - I was in a wheelchair. I couldn't even put one foot on the ground because the pain would bring me down to the floor."
A few days later her cervix was cauterised to stop the bleeding and she was given high doses of painkilling drugs "pretty much around the clock", she explained.
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But, after being discharged, before she left the hospital, Nartani collapsed in a toilet.
"Suddenly it all started again," she said. "The severe pain and heavy bleeding."
She returned home, on strict bedrest, to wait for a laparoscopy - a type of keyhole surgery to examine the organs inside the abdomen - in a bid to discover what was causing her pelvic agony.
After six weeks of staying in bed, Nartani was able to have the procedure, alongside having her pre-cancerous cells - which had spread - removed too.
But when she came round from the anaesthetic, Nartani was in "unbearable pain".
She said: "They had to IV me with fentanyl which is an extremely strong painkiller and can only be administered by anaesthetists.
"I was so scared, confused and fearful. It was horrible and I was also bleeding."
"The first two days were the most unbearable suffering time of my life," she added. "My body was in so much shock I couldn't even have a wee.
"I couldn't actually move - the nurses had to wheel a commode next to the bed and I was struggling to even get onto that.
The laparoscopy revealed that Nartani's left ovary had completely fused to her bowel, with both organs in turn having fused to her pelvic wall, and this had caused all her pain. However, the surgeon told her that the organs had been separated in the operation, in a process known as adhesiolysis.
"I just thought 'oh my God, it wasn't in my head'."
"The surgeon said the inflammation, which I'd had on and off since 2016, had caused the fusion. The chronic inflammation had pushed the organs together.
"He said the fusion can be caused by the pressure of the organs being squeezed so closely together."
Although the cause of the mysterious inflammation was unknown, Nartani is still in pain but hopes her organs will not fuse together again.
"It's still a big question as to why I am still in pain and I honestly think there is still something going on," she explains. "But mentally it gives me peace of mind knowing that medically something has been done."
Nartani hopes to return to her yoga and dance career if she can recover physically, but still maintains a positive outlook despite what she has gone through.
"Now it's up to me to be positive and just push my own recovery and move forwards with my life," she added.
If you're looking to support Rebecca Bruce-Radcliffe, you can donate to her GoFundMe page here.
Topics: Life, health news, Real Life, Health