Doctors have a difficult job. When a patient comes to them with a problem, there is a massive range of possibilities as to what their issue could be. On top of that, though we know much more than we did say, 100 years ago, in the grand scheme of things we know very little about the human body. This can make narrowing down the correct diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan very difficult. Unfortunately, misdiagnosing someone can sometimes be a grave error. This is what happened to this woman and her friend. One of their problems ended up being treatable, but the other a fatal cancer.
When A Misdiagnosis Has Tragic Results
Sophia Harris and her friend Tori, despite being young, twenty-something-year-old women, were both suffering from similar health symptoms. Bloating, pain, excessive cramping, problems eating, and irregular periods. While Sophia had yet to go see a doctor, Tori had already been to a few. The first doctor told her it was IBS, the second intestinal fissures, or kidney stones. Neither of them did any actual scans or tests. If they had, they likely would have seen the tumors growing on her ovaries. (1)
It wasn’t until she collapsed on the bathroom floor one night that finally, a doctor took the time to do full tests and exams. By that point, her ovarian cancer was already at stage IIIC. Her year and a half battle with cancer consisted of chemotherapy and radiation. Unfortunately, it ended with her dying tragically young at just 27 years old.
Misdiagnosis With A Different Result
Meanwhile, Sophia decided that she, too, needed to visit the doctor to figure out what was going on inside her body. The nurse practitioner there told her that she had internal cystitis, aka bladder disease. She needed bladder infusions and to change her diet. The nurse told her it was a life-long disease that currently had no cure.
Sophia changed her diet to cut out all the things that could make the condition worse, including citrus, tomatoes, and coffee. She also began bladder infusions, which were incredibly painful. The pair of friends were in pain and weak from their various treatments. They joked around that they felt like old ladies.
Sophia’s pain wasn’t getting any better. Doctors told her she was depressed and needed counseling. They said that she had IBS and needed to change even more about her diet. She kept seeing different doctors until she found one who truly wanted to get to the bottom of her problem. She had exploratory surgery, using which her doctor finally diagnosed her with what was really the issue: Endometriosis.
While Sophia had finally found an answer that with the proper procedures, medications, and therapies, she could move forward with her new, pain-free life, Tori would not. Tori passed away in June of 2017. If during the months of time she spent going from one doctor to the next hadn’t happened, perhaps she would have stood a better chance.
Related: My life was upended for 35 years by a cancer diagnosis. A doctor just told me I was misdiagnosed.
How Common Is Misdiagnosis?
Misdiagnosis is when a doctor or medical provider tells you that you have a condition or illness that is incorrect. In some cases, it can mean them telling you there is nothing wrong when there is. This lack of diagnosis can lead to incorrect treatment or no treatment at all. This could be being told you have the flu when it’s actually Lyme disease, or a benign tumor that is actually malignant. (2)
Misdiagnosis can be completely non-problematic. Sometimes the diagnosis will be missed, but the issue will run its course and the patient will be fine. Other times, however, a misdiagnosis can be life-altering or even fatal. Unfortunately for women, they often get misdiagnosed more than men. Often stomach problems will be misdiagnosed for a variety of things when the real issues are endometriosis or ovarian cancer.
Experts have set the rate of misdiagnosis at approximately 5%. Though this seems low, think about it: This means that chances are, one in your last 20 visits to your healthcare provider ended in a misdiagnosis.
Why Does Misdiagnosis Happen?
This is a complex answer. First of all, as already mentioned, our bodies are extremely complex and there is a massive list of possible problems that all have the same symptoms. This is the first challenge that doctors face when presented with a patient. Then there are the systemic issues embedded in health care systems around the world, human error, technology changes, and traditional but flawed procedures.
Founded in 2011, the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) is working very hard to change the statistics surrounding misdiagnosis. They petitioned the National Academy of Medicine to oversee a review of diagnostic error. From there, they created a report of the goals for the medical community and necessary improvements for diagnosis. (3) These include:
- Fostering teamwork in the diagnostic process between patients, families, and providers.
- Improving medical education when it comes to making diagnoses.
- Making sure health information technology is applied effectively.
- Ensuring that physicians and medical providers identify and learn from diagnostic errors.
- Creating a medical culture that fosters improvements in how doctors make diagnoses.
- Establishing a reporting and liability system.
- Offering funding for research in the diagnostic process.
Patients Can Also Help
While yes, it is important for the medical community to continue to work towards improving diagnostic measures, patients, too, can help themselves. If you continue to experience symptoms even though you are being treated for a problem, talk to your doctor. Ask for a second opinion. You can also do your own research and then ask to be referred to someone who has more expertise in that field. For example, a woman experiencing stomach problems and irregular periods can ask to be referred to a gynecologist.
Even if all you have is a hunch that maybe your diagnosis (or lack thereof) may be incorrect, you owe it to yourself to keep digging. Be your own advocate and stand up for what you need and want. If you feel as though your doctor is brushing you off, go to another one. After all, it’s your life. You want to be sure that you aren’t leaving questions left unanswered.
Keep Reading: Many people laughed when he said he had a treatment for cancer. No one said a word when he won the Nobel Prize for it…
Sources
- “Doctors Misdiagnosed Both My Friend And Me. I Lived. She Didn’t..” Huffpost. Sophia Harris. November 23, 2021.
- “How Common Is Misdiagnosis or Missed Diagnosis?.” Very Well Health. Trisha Torrey. April 6, 2020.
- “Why Getting Medically Misdiagnosed Is More Common Than You May Think.” Healthline. Brian Mastroianni. February 22, 2020