A WOMAN has revealed how she suffered toxic shock syndrome and almost died after accidentally leaving a tampon in for a month.
Jessica Bailey, 35, who lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her husband and three children, said she had no idea that the sanitary product was still inside her until doctors retrieved it from her.
She shared her story on TikTok, where the video has since garnered over 300,000 views with many left baffled as to how the tampon had gone unnoticed for so long.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital, Jessica explained that the incident had happened in her twenties when she was working as an exotic dancer.
She explains: “What strippers do when they are on their period and have to go to work is cut the string off the tampon so it isn’t visible.
“On top of that I am a recovering alcoholic, so at the time I was drinking a lot at work.
“So the following morning when I couldn’t feel it in there I assumed I had taken it out, replaced it and I went about my life as usual without realising there was a second tampon in there.”
Weeks went by and both Jessica and her boyfriend at the time remained completely oblivious to the tampon.
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What is toxic shock syndrome?
TSS is caused by either staphylococcus or streptococcus bacteria.
These bacteria normally live harmlessly on the skin, nose or mouth, but if they get deeper into the body they can release toxins that damage tissue and stop organs working.
The following can increase your risk of developing TSS:
- using tampons – particularly if you leave them in for longer than recommended or you use "super-absorbent" tampons
- using female barrier contraceptives
- a break in your skin, such as a cut or burn
- childbirth
- using nasal packing to treat a bleed
- having a staphylococcal infection or streptococcal infection, such as impetigo or cellulitis
“I was having regular sex with my partner during the time when the tampon was stuck and there was no issue there,” she says.
“I never noticed a bad smell when it was stuck in there, he certainly didn’t notice.”
Jessica, who has been clean for five and a half years, says she didn’t realise anything was wrong until she began to feel nauseous.
“A couple of weeks went by and I started to get sick but I just thought I was hungover all of the time,” she explains.
“But I just kept getting worse until it got to the point where I was dizzy and throwing up.
“Then my boyfriend at the time took me to the Emergency Room, and that’s when the gynaecologist found the tampon way up there.
“When I told doctors that I thought it had been in there a month they looked so shocked I was really embarrassed but I was also too sick to even focus on feeling stupid.”
Jessica had contracted toxic shock syndrome, which causes a bacteria to enter your bloodstream despite and says she remembers very little of her time in hospital.
I was really embarrassed but I was also too sick to even focus on feeling stupid
“It’s such a blurry memory for me but they put me on IV antibiotics and told me that I could have died,” she recalls.
“The first 24 hours on the antibiotics seemed like it took forever but this was also because I had to be sober while it was there. By the third day I started feeling better.”
Jessica says that looking back, the experience was harrowing but she hasn’t been put off using tampons.
“I still use them, I haven’t been put off,” she says.
“But I never went to work on my period again because I never wanted to make that mistake again.”
Meanwhile, read Aimee's miraculous story after she was nearly killed by a tampon and even saw dead relatives as she lay in intensive care.
Also, a teenager almost died after suffering from toxic shock syndrome and she talks about her symptoms here.
Plus, model Lauren Wasser suffered TSS in 2012 – she bravely told of her battle with the illness.
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