A woman who nearly died after forgetting to remove her tampon wants her terrifying experience to serve as a warning to others.
Kelsey Foster, 29, has been using tampons since she first started her period and was unaware of the potentially deadly dangers associated with using them.
Although the beauty influencer had heard of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), she didn’t care much for the little printed warnings that come with women’s sanitary products.
One day, the woman from Newcastle went to the bathroom and felt something ‘pop’ out of her.
She initially thought it was a blood clot, which she is sensitive to, “but it was an old tampon,” she said. news.com.au.
Kelsey Foster (pictured), who nearly died of toxic shock syndrome after forgetting to remove a tampon, wants her terrifying experience to be a warning to others
Ms Foster, 29, had used tampons since she first started her period and was unaware of the potentially deadly dangers of using them
“I’m not sure how long it had been in me, but it must have been at least six weeks ago, because that’s when my last period was,” she said.
Ms. Forster says there needs to be a lot more awareness about TSS.
“It’s a fatal condition and your body can shut down in 24 to 48 hours. It’s not a joke,” she said.
“Toxic shock is real, deadly and much more common than we think.”
Ms. Foster suffers from several medical conditions, including gallbladder and liver problems and endometriosis, where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
She had recently been in and out of the hospital with her other ailments and initially thought the severe cramping she was experiencing was due to it – not realizing it was TSS.
The stress and lack of sleep caused by her other medical issues caused her to forget about the tampon, she thinks.
The businesswoman kept the tampon to show to her doctors, which allowed them to run tests and confirm that she was suffering from TSS.
The doctors told her she was lucky she didn’t die of the condition, she said.
She’s thankful she found the tampon or she might not have been there to tell the story.
Her advice to other women who use tampons is to learn about TSS and keep track of when they inserted the tampons. This could save their lives.
Ms Foster also had a very dangerous medical episode late last year when she was hospitalized in Bali with a leg injury that left her in a wheelchair.
She was enjoying the trip of a lifetime when she tore a ligament in her ankle after slipping on a tile in the infamous Legion Street shopping district.
Doctors told Ms. Foster (pictured) that she was lucky she didn’t die of Toxic Shock Syndrome
Ms Foster (pictured) also had a very dangerous medical episode late last year when she was admitted to Bali with a leg injury
Ms Forster (pictured) said there needs to be a lot more awareness about the dangers of TSS
The stress and lack of sleep caused by her other medical issues caused Ms Foster (pictured) to forget the tampon, she thinks
Shortly after the accident, she got a huge tattoo on her leg that got infected from her ankle injury.
Fortunately, Mrs. Foster had taken out travel insurance at the last minute before her trip.
“I got an emergency flight home in Business Class back to Australia. The tickets alone cost me over $4,000 + over $1,000 in meds and scans in Indonesia,” she said at the time.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Foster for further comment.