(NEW YORK) — Kayley Reese first noticed what seemed like a growing bump in her stomach over a year ago.

“The reason I really noticed it was because I own a clothing store and am in all the photos and it got to a point where I could see it in every single photo,” Reese, of Richmond, Virginia, told Good Morning America. “It looked like I was pregnant.”

Reese, 23, said she did not notice any other physical symptoms, so she did not do anything about it.

“On social media I would see some things like it’s your uterus protruding or everyone has it, it’s a protective layer,” she said. “So I kind of made it normal in my head.”

It was not until June when Reese flew home to Orlando, Florida, that she began to feel symptoms and sought treatment.

“I was nauseous and dizzy and my appetite wasn’t normal and I had shortness of breath, painful urination, all that,” said Reese. “My mom asked to feel the spot that I was complaining about and said, ‘That is not normal.'”

Reese went to a local emergency department, where she underwent testing that found a large cyst near her left ovary.

“The [doctors] weren’t sure how long it had been there but they said the symptoms I was having were from that,” she said. “At 23, I had no idea this could ever happen to me.”

Reese underwent a two-hour surgery to remove the cyst, which she said was eight inches in length, seven pounds in weight and was filled with two liters of fluid.

The cyst was diagnosed as a paratubal, or paraovarian cyst, a type of cyst that forms near an ovary or fallopian tube but does not adhere to an internal organ, like an ovary.

“It was the best possible case scenario because they were able to save both my ovaries,” she said. “When I went into surgery they said they were likely going to have to take out an ovary and my fallopian tube.”

While she was recovering, Reese said she saw a video on TikTok that prompted her to share her own story publicly.

“I saw someone else’s TikTok about having something similar and all the comments on her video were like, ‘That’s normal. Everyone has it,'” said Reese. “I thought this was exactly why I didn’t think much of my own [stomach bump].”

Reese posted a now-viral video sharing her own story, explaining, “I feel like if I had seen my own TikTok, I would have gone to the doctor a lot earlier.”

She said she was overwhelmed by the response, both from women thanking her for the information and women who also had paratubal cysts.

“When it started to get picked up I was very nervous because I’m like I’m not a doctor, but I saw that it brought awareness to a lot of women,” said Reese. “I got messages from women who had the same situation and they said was the first time they heard anyone even talk about it, so it was super emotional.”

The type of paratubal cyst Reese had differs from the more well-known ovarian cyst because a paratubal cyst does not attach to the ovary or fallopian tube.

While most paratubal cysts do not cause symptoms, some develop and become extremely large before causing symptoms including abdominal pain, frequent urination and feelings of fullness in the abdomen.

Problematic cysts can be removed through surgery.

Women with frequent or painful cysts, including paratubal cysts or ovarian cysts, may be advised by their doctor to take over-the-counter pain medication or hormonal birth control, according to the U.S. Office on Women’s Health.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association have joined up with over 50 other health care organizations to call for mandatory vaccinations in their industry, citing rising COVID cases and their trust in the vaccine.

“Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” the organizations wrote in a joint statement on Monday morning.

Between them, these health care organizations represent millions of physicians, nurses and other health care workers across the country, including pediatricians, oncologists and pharmacists.

And they don’t think the health care industry should be the only one to require vaccines. They also called on other industries to follow suit.

“As the health care community leads the way in requiring vaccines for our employees, we hope all other employers across the country will follow our lead and implement effective policies to encourage vaccination,” the joint statement said. “The health and safety of U.S. workers, families, communities, and the nation depends on it.”

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, just 58% of nursing home staff are vaccinated. According to one estimate in late May, 1 in 4 health care workers were unvaccinated in the U.S. In some places, like Florida, the rates were as low as 40%.

Nationwide, the U.S. is struggling to increase its vaccination rates past 50% of the total population, including children, and missed President Joe Biden’s goal to get 70% of adults vaccinated with one shot by July Fourth. As of Monday, about three weeks later, still just 69% of adults had met that goal, while 60% of adults were fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The influential statement has the potential to move the needle on an issue that, so far, has held up in court and proven to be effective at increasing vaccinations, at least in the health care field. Over the winter, Houston Methodist became the first hospital to require vaccines for its staff, and many hospital systems around the country have followed suit. In Houston, the hospital was sued, but won a lawsuit over the requirement and saw the vast majority of its 26,000-person staff get vaccinated, while around 150 quit or were fired for not adhering to the policy.

That decision spurred a recent statement from another massive health care organization, the American Hospital Association, to call for mandatory vaccinations in hospitals and paved the way for even more to get on board as they did on Monday.

“I think it’s incredible to see these organizations come together and make the bold statement to mandate vaccinations, which we know are safe and effective,” said Dr. Jay Bhatt, the former chief medical officer for the AHA and an ABC News contributor.

“We know, as Americans, it’s hard for folks to agree on a lot of things. So if we’re seeing big organizations agree on vaccinations, we should be paying attention to it,” Bhatt said.

In defending their reasons, the groups that came out in support of vaccine mandates on Monday said it was necessary for caregivers to protect patients who might be immunocompromised or not yet eligible for a vaccine, and for their own health.

The organizations emphasized their confidence in the vaccines, which are safe and effective, and hinted at the fact that the vaccines would be fully approved by the FDA soon, which will also bring more employer mandates. Currently, the vaccine is authorized under an Emergency Use Authorization, which is a temporary approval.

“As we move towards full FDA approval of the currently available vaccines, all health care workers should get vaccinated for their own health, and to protect their colleagues, families, residents of long-term care facilities and patients. This is especially necessary to protect those who are vulnerable, including unvaccinated children and the immunocompromised,” the joint statement said. “Indeed, this is why many health care and long-term care organizations already require vaccinations for influenza, hepatitis B, and pertussis.”

Also on Monday, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced that it would mandate the vaccine for its doctors and nurses. The decision came after four unvaccinated employees of the department died in recent weeks. The mandate will go into place in two months.

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough said the mandate is “the best way to keep veterans safe, especially as the Delta variant spreads across the country.”

While there is a risk of pushback that could lead to people leaving their jobs, particularly in parts of the country where there is more refusal to get the vaccine, the rising levels of the delta variant, which currently makes up 83% of all cases in the U.S., could also hit hospital workforces hard, particularly for doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic.

“Either way, there’s a risk of them not being in the workforce. And I would say the cost of getting COVID is great enough that it warrants vaccination,” said Bhatt.

But for those who can’t be vaccinated because of medical reasons, which the groups estimated to be “a small minority of all workers,” they should be evaluated individually.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — As pressure grows for the Food and Drug Administration to give full approval for the vaccine, a move that could drive up vaccinations by allowing vaccine mandates in places such as the military and schools, the agency told ABC News on Monday that reviewing the vaccines is among its “highest priorities.”

“The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval,” FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said in a statement.

But critics maintain that full approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, beyond the temporary approval that they currently have, needs to happen quicker. The argument is that the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, and full FDA approval could increase Americans’ confidence in the vaccines at a time when the country is teetering dangerously at just 50% full vaccination while up against the fast-spreading delta variant.

“I think a lot of us are baffled why the FDA is taking so long,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday.

The FDA will surely approve of the vaccines, Jha said, but needed to “move a bit faster now.”

So what do we know about the timeline?

Full approval of a vaccine under priority review, as both Pfizer and Moderna are, usually takes six months. The FDA has said it intends to complete it much quicker than that, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, recently said he expected full approval for Pfizer in a month or so, by August, and Moderna to follow thereafter.

Pfizer submitted for full approval on May 7, almost three months ago, and Moderna on June 1, almost two months ago. So, the decision should not be too far off.

And what does FDA say about the criticism that it’s moving too slowly?

Asked by ABC News on Monday if the review is moving slower than anticipated, the FDA stood by the process.

FDA spokesperson Alison Hunt said that reviewing the vaccines is “among the highest priorities of the agency, and the agency intends to complete the review far in advance of the PDUFA Goal Date.” The goal date is January 2022, though that’s a regulatory deadline and not when it’s expected.

“The FDA recognizes that vaccines are key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval,” Hunt said.

The FDA also emphasized that the current authorization — an Emergency Use Authorization — was conducted thoroughly, signaling that it stands on solid ground and should be fully approved.

“Although an authorization is not an FDA approval, the FDA conducted a thorough scientific evaluation of each of the authorized vaccines and can assure the public and medical community that the vaccines meet FDA’s rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality,” Hunt said.

Some have also argued that the FDA has to take its time so that any vaccine mandates that follow the full approval go as smoothly as possible. Any cracks in the approval process or accusations of rushing, could lead to even more pushback. That’s already played out over the last few months, as hesitant Americans have refused to take the vaccine because they fear it was given emergency authorization too hastily.

That was White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s defense on Monday.

“The FDA is the gold standard in our view, and they move at the speed of science,” Psaki said to ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, who asked why the FDA hadn’t yet given full approval of the vaccines.

“It wouldn’t be responsible to expedite that process at a faster speed than the science and data allows.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.