Docs dismissed my bloating as 'women's problems' - until they had to cut out 70% of my stomach
A woman claims doctors told her bloating was simply 'women's problems' - only to discover she had a rare cancer causing her to gain weight.
Bella Bayliss went to A&E at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in January 2019 feeling unwell due to stomach bloating and pain, breathlessness and tingling in her hands and legs.
Doctors reportedly sent Bella home and blamed her symptoms on 'women's problems', but the 25-year-old said she had a suspicion it was something more serious.
The transport assistant administrator had been feeling bloated and gaining weight, despite being unable to eat a lot, even struggling to manage any of her Christmas dinner the previous month.
When Bella returned to hospital in November 2019 with the same symptoms, she was given an endoscopy that revealed a 6cm tumour in her stomach.
Tests revealed she had Gastro-Intestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST), a rare form of cancer caused by a sarcoma developing in the digestive system.
She underwent surgery in February 2020 to remove the cancer and 70% of her stomach. More than five years later, in October 2025, Bella was devastated to learn the cancer had returned and she needed further surgery.
Bella, from Gloucester, Gloucestershire, said: "I went to hospital because I was extremely anaemic, they sent me home and blamed it on women's problems. I knew it wasn't that. I used to work at a supermarket and I was waking up quite early in the morning and I blamed it on that.
"I was getting really breathless doing normal activities, I was really pale, I had constant stomach pains. I had lost my appetite completely, my legs were going numb, [I had] tingly hands, tingly legs. I went home and a few months later I went back because I was anaemic again and I had an endoscopy and that's when they found the tumour in my stomach.
"I had an operation to remove the stomach tumour and 70% of my stomach as well. If they hadn't left me for so long I wouldn't have to have that much of my stomach removed because the tumour got bigger within that time. I've been fine for five years and my most recent scan showed two small liver tumours I've got so I'm waiting for an operation to have these removed as well.
"I wasn't eating a lot at all and we were really confused about why I was putting on weight. Whenever I would eat, I would just have a constant feeling of fullness. I was bloated. It was going on for two to three years but it got a lot worse towards the end.
"If I went out for a meal with my friends they would go for a starter and a main meal and dessert, I would have a bit of the starter. On Christmas Day 2018 I didn't even eat my Christmas dinner."
A routine scan in September 2025 revealed two tumours on her liver, which meant her cancer had returned.
Bella said: "I had a scan at the end of September thinking 'it's just another scan'. They said they found two shadows on my liver and I just instantly knew it was that. I had a phone call not long after saying it was my cancer and it had come back. At first I was shocked because after five years you think it's a part of your life you can put behind you.
"I was very shocked, me and my mum and dad were devastated. This time it felt different, I think you worry when it comes back. I know what to expect, I'm extremely overwhelmed and tired."
Bella said the operation left her struggling to eat dairy and large amounts of food, while the scar on the stomach has impacted her confidence. She said there is currently no medication to treat her cancer and that the only solution is surgery.
Bella said: "No one in my local hospital had ever heard of it before, they don't know how to treat it. It's a very complex type of cancer, what I have is so rare it doesn't react to standard chemotherapy so my tumour got sent off for testing and it got back with 85% cancer. They are currently trying to find medication that works, the only way to cure my cancer is surgery.
"After five years you tend to think it won't come back but mine has. I can't eat a lot any more, I just try to have small meals throughout the day. I get scared to have food with my friends or have a drink sometimes. I have a massive scar from my surgery, it's had an impact on my confidence. I would try and hide it for a while and now it's something I'm actually very proud of."
A Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: "We are very sorry to hear that Miss Bayliss's cancer has returned, and we understand how distressing this must be for her and her family. We are also sorry about the experience she had with her care in 2019 and 2020.
"Isabella's condition is rare and diagnosis requires a high degree of clinical suspicion. We are sorry that it was not detected when she was first seen and have used her experience to reinforce the importance of appropriate investigation in similar situations."
GASTROINTESTINAL STROMAL TUMOUR (INFO FROM CANCER RESEARCH UK)
A GIST is a rare type of sarcoma found in the wall of the digestive system. It is most often found in the stomach, but it can also grow in other parts. A soft tissue sarcoma is a type of cancer.