Woman waited four months for doctor to review her CT scan — he blamed her hormones before even opening it

Doctors order a CT scan for one reason: to understand what's happening inside a patient's body. A woman named Rachel (@rockymountainrach) waited four months to see her ENT doctor after he ordered her a CT scan. However, five seconds into the appointment, the male doctor already had a diagnosis ready without even checking her scan results. He blamed her "hormonal imbalance" for something that was not even related to it. When Rachel pushed for answers by asking more about her condition, he ultimately realized his folly. The video shared on January 30, 2024, has received over 1 million views on TikTok.

'Oh, hormonal imbalance'

Rachel was convinced that modern medicine was misogynistic after her appointment with an ENT physician. She waited four months to see him after he ordered her to get a CT scan. When she came in, he asked her what was wrong, and she patiently explained her symptoms. The doctor then asked if she had used nasal sprays, and when she said she had, he recommended a steroid nasal spray. The doctor didn't reveal the actual cause. So when Rachel asked, what was his immediate answer? "Oh, hormonal imbalance." Now, Rachel had more questions than ever. "What hormones? How does that work? How does that affect my nose?" But the doctor just gave her an extremely curt reply.

Rachel wasn't having it

Rachel asked him the most important question, "What did my CT scan say?" She was baffled when he said he hadn't even looked at it. He didn't even check what was actually wrong with her before he suggested the steroid nose spray. After a quick look at the scan, he casually said that she had a "mucosal thickening." Rachel pointed out that the report said she had something else too: "sinuses by her carotid artery." He replied, "Oh yeah, it looks like you have a birth defect... It could be cardiometabolic rhinitis." Annoyed by the doctor, Rachel gave him a piece of her mind. She said, "Just because I'm a woman, I walked in here, and you said, 'hormone imbalance,' and then you don't even give me a diet or exercise — nothing to fix my hormones. You don't even tell me which hormones are imbalanced. You don't have my blood test. You don't have anything."

A diagnosis delayed

Unfortunately, most doctors don't take female patients seriously during medical checkups. A 2026 Gallup survey found that 34% of women have experienced a healthcare professional dismissing or minimizing their symptoms. The survey also found that 53% of women received their diagnosis in less than three months, while 13% had to wait between three and six months. Unbelievably, 8% of women had to wait five or more years to receive their diagnosis. Rachel waited four months for the doctor to check her CT scan. Finally, when the moment came, he did not even look at the test he ordered, but assumed it was a hormonal issue.

Meanwhile, women in the comment section had similar, and in some cases, crazier, stories to share. For example, @alleycat1983 wrote, "Oh my 'UTI' was actually cancer, when I told him something was wrong." Similarly, @.d.mac shared, "I went for pain in upper abdomen, was told I should ride a bike because 'that’s good exercise for the chubby girls.' It was gallstones."

You can follow Rachel (@rockymountainrach) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

More on Scoop Upworthy

Doctors called her 'unbearable' acid reflux a normal part of pregnancy. Two weeks after giving birth, she found out it wasn’t

Male doctor dismissed woman's account of what a female doctor found in her ear. 5 minutes later, he admitted his camera found the exact same thing

Doctor told a woman in labor to 'compose herself' as she cried beside her late husband's urn. One contraction later, she sat up and fired back