Twisted: Ovarian Torsion Survival Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe ovarian torsion, when an ovary twists on the tissue that holds it and its blood supply is squeezed shut. Writers were doubled over at Army basic training, during a Friday dinner rush, in a Singapore hotel room, on a farm ninety minutes from the nearest surgeon, the day after an egg collection, and at eleven and thirty weeks pregnant. They include a sixteen-year-old midfielder, a retired librarian of fifty-eight, a police officer who parked across two spaces, a trans man on testosterone asked again and again if he was pregnant, a Deaf woman who needed a British Sign Language interpreter, and parents writing about a newborn, a nine-year-old and a thirteen-year-old. Places run from Columbus to Nairobi and Kingston to Oslo. Many were first told it was a stomach bug, a kidney stone, anxiety, a burst cyst or a caesarean scar. Writers describe waiting because of rent and no insurance, eleven hours on a public hospital bench, money demanded before a child was seen, ovaries untwisted and kept, a twisted tube alone, and an ovary removed thirty years ago, when that was more usual. Outcomes vary: some kept both ovaries, some lost one and still went on to have children, and two writers had it happen twice.

Who it's for

For anyone who has just come through torsion surgery, been told they have a cyst to watch, or is a parent, partner or friend wanting to recognise sudden one-sided pain sooner.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 237 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.