Woman Who Underwent Unnecessary Hysterectomy Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer

Baila Eve ZismanApril 17, 2025, 11:56 pmNews >

Details of Rhian Butlin‘s harrowing hysterectomy experience, which ended up being an unnecessary surgery, have been revealed.

In September 2024, Butlin sought out a doctor when she started to experience “excruciating” abdominal pain. Her first scan came back clear and her pain was attributed to polycystic ovary syndrome.

Yet just two months later, Butlin was taken to the hospital as the abdominal pain persisted. Her stomach had also started to swell, to such an extent that Butlin claimed she looked as though she were nine months pregnant. Following her hospitalization, Butlin underwent another scan, which this time revealed a 25-centimeter tumor on one of her ovaries that would require surgical removal.

In December 2024, Butlin underwent a full hysterectomy, as well as having her appendix and the lining of her bowel removed as a precaution for more swelling. Butlin had biopsies done on all three organs during the procedure.

Butlin shared that her recovery from surgery was a long and arduous process as she experienced sepsis and a build-up of fluid, which at one point resulted in her being put in a medically induced coma.

Surprisingly, when Butlin’s biopsy results were returned, there was no cancer found in any of the body parts removed. Doctors estimated that she must have had endometriosis, which can sometimes mimic cancer syndrome.

In a GoFundMe post for Butlin, her older sister Lindsey Rice, wrote, “We were told our little sister possibly wouldn’t make it through the night…our world fell apart…thankfully Rhian pulled through…She didn’t have cancer after all…Can you believe how happy we all were? We cried and jumped for joy. The nightmare was over.”

However, the family’s joy was short-lived, as Butlin’s physical pain soon resurfaced, and she returned to the doctor.

Rice told The Daily Mail, “They said, ‘We are so sorry, we have gone through your notes and you did actually have cancer. But it was in your appendix, and it is one of the rarest forms of cancer.’”

Despite Butlin’s appendix having been removed in surgery, doctors reported that the disease had already spread to her pelvis and lymph nodes, reaching stage 4 and officially “incurable.”

Butlin told The Daily Mail, “I’m just emotionally drained. I’m constantly scared, and some nights I barely sleep…It’s just been a very scary journey, if I’m honest. Obviously, I’ve had a full hysterectomy when I did not need to…I’ve had my ovaries removed when I did not have ovarian cancer, and I’ve had the lining of my bowel removed when I did not have bowel cancer…Then they did remove my appendix in December, but it wasn’t until months later that they found cancer there.”

A single mom of three, Butlin has started her first three-month course of intensive chemotherapy as of April 8. Rice expressed their disappointment in the doctors, “If they figured it out earlier on, then we would not be in the position we are in now. It feels like we have been massively let down.”

Rice is asking for donations to “create a little pot” for the family to use to make some last memories together.