By Britni de la Cretaz for Ravishly.com
I once forgot about a tampon for nine days.
Yes, really. There was a tampon inside my vagina for nine whole days and I had no idea.
I know you’re probably wondering how that happened, so I’m going to tell you. (You’re welcome.)
The first sign something was wrong was the weirdly watery discharge. I’d never had vaginal discharge that looked like that before, and considering I’d just finished my period, the large-ish amount was confusing to me. But everything else felt fine. So I put a pantyliner on and went about my life, thinking it would stop soon.
But it did not. Brownish liquid kept trickling — sometimes gushing — out of my vagina.
The next indication that there might be a problem was the smell: It was rancid and kept getting worse. It took me a while to figure out where the smell was coming from.
Watch: What really happens when a tampon gets ‘lost’. (Post continues after video.)
I thought it was my underwear, so I put on a new pair. I thought I needed a shower, so I took one. I tried a bath. Nothing seemed to be helping.
I wasn’t completely sure that it was coming from my vagina, so I didn’t immediately head to the doctor. Instead, I soldiered on. Physically, nothing hurt. Everything felt normal.
Then, after having sex with my boyfriend, I asked him about the smell, only to find out that my biggest fear had come true — he admitted that yeah, my vagina smelled pretty bad. And that, yeah, it didn’t usually smell like that. That was when, on a hunch, I asked if he would dive in and check it out for me.
This experience taught me that it can and does happen. It happened to me, someone who is in touch with and educated about her body.
Looking back on it now, he was not a very body positive person. I’m shocked that he was not only willing to put his hand up there and see what was going on, but that he handled it in a sensitive manner and never made me feel bad about it. If he did anything right in our relationship, it was this. (Post continues after gallery.)
Women live-tweet their periods.
I lay back on the bed and spread my legs while my saintly boyfriend ventured into the putrid cavern. He put two fingers inside me, reached up towards my cervix and said, “Um, there’s something in here.” I started to freak out. What do you mean there’s something in there?
After some tugging and “come hither” motions with his fingers, he produced a soaked, wretched, soggy, squished tampon. It had been jammed all the way against my cervix, balled-up — likely from the force of his penis during sex.
The smell immediately engulfed the entire room: I’ve never been more humiliated in my life. I began sobbing. I was mortified and confused. How could I have forgotten a tampon up there?
I was incredibly lucky that I didn’t have any symptoms of toxic shock syndrome (TSS), which can happen when a tampon is left in too long.
Before this happened to me, I was very judgey when I heard stories about women getting TSS or somehow losing tampons or condoms inside themselves.
Image: iStock.
I couldn't believe it was possible that this could happen to someone, and I thought it was disgusting that anyone could have such poor hygiene that they wouldn't know they had something stuck in their vagina.
This experience taught me that it can and does happen. It happened to me, someone who is in touch with and educated about her body. It happened to me, and I had no idea.
I now have compassion and empathy for people who find themselves in similar situations; I am also grateful that my outcome was not as bad or scary as it could have been.
I never thought I'd be able to say that I lost a tampon in my vagina for nine days, and yet, here I am. It was gross, sure — but I refuse to be ashamed or embarrassed about it. I did, however, switch to the DivaCup.
Have you ever forgotten about or lost a tampon?
This story by Britni de la Cretaz originally appeared on Ravishly, a feminist news+culture website.
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Top Comments
Just got back from the doctor, i'm so glad this has happened to other women! THE SMELL, it was mortifying. I started getting weird watery discharge the day after my period had ended, I just had an IUD put in two months ago, so I figured it was related to that. I read an IUD could cause some weird discharge, especially in the first few months. Fast forward 5 or 6 days later, I'm having sex with my boyfriend and we had to stop because of THE SMELL. I immediately called my doctor, but had to wait a few days for an appointment.
I was super embarrassed going in there thinking that I had some real atomic BV, and worried that it was a complication from my IUD. Never in my 29 years have I experienced anything like this, so of course it was the new device in my uterus... but NOPE! My GYN spotted the problem immediately and extracted it, to my horror. THE SMELL, it was putrid and filled the entire room. She said this happens all the time, but I had a hard time believing her.
My guess was it was in there for about 10 days. I remember the morning it must have happened, I woke up, changed my tampon, and then 10 minutes later thought "I could've sworn I put a tampon in, but I can't feel it." ... no string and I couldn't feel it with my finger, so I put another one in and went about my day... definitely how it got lodged up there.
I must have a "roomy" vagina... because I even rooted around in there the day after my period was over to do an IUD string check and didn't feel the tampon at all... so it happens ladies!
This has just happened to me. It started at the end of my last period 4 WEEKS ago. I had a smelly brown discharge which i thought was just old blood so i thought nothing of it. 1 week later the smells still there and i started with a severe kidney infection which lasted a week and made me very ill. finished my antibiotics but that smell was still present and still didnt feel 100%. Back to the docs i went, to be told the infection may just be taking longer to clear. I went back to work still not right but then i was dripping water which had a very bad smell so back to the doctors today for the doctor (thankfully a woman) to have a good look up there and finds a tampon, which she couldnt reach lodged in there. forceps were needed it was that far up and how embarrassing. i still have a slight kidney infection which is obviously due to bacteria spreading to my kidneys. I have no recollection of leaving a tampon inside me so yes it does happen and made me very poorly in the process