Caveat emptor applies to healthcare as well…
This was one of those news stories that leaves me shaking my head:
A woman from Victoria, Texas, underwent several rounds of chemotherapy, only to find out that she never had cancer to begin with, reports CBS’s Houston affiliate, KHOU.
Herlinda Garcia, 54, was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal breast cancer after she had a benign tumor removed from her left breast. Through the next seven months and eight rounds of chemotherapy, she felt her body and mind deteriorating.
“Everything was swollen,” Garcia told KHOU. “I lost my eyebrows, my eyelashes. It’s really hard. I can’t explain how I felt. It’s like I was in a dream.”
Certain that her life was coming to an end, the part-time civil process worker gave away most of her belongings and wrote a bucket list.
"I just wanted to give up on everything," Garcia said.
But when she decided to seek help for her growing anxiety at Citizens Medical Center, a series of scans revealed a new reality: Garcia never had cancer.
At MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, a second opinion confirmed what doctors at Citizens Medical Center had discovered.
“I was happy, but at the same time, I had anger,” Garcia said. “The damage had been done.”
For her pain and suffering, a Victoria County jury awarded Garcia $367,000. Garcia said she hopes her experience will lead others to always seek a second opinion.
“I know I’m never going to feel the same because of what I went through,” she said. “It changed my life.”
The first step for anyone who gets a serious diagnosis of any type is – GET A SECOND OPINION. Why this woman jumped into aggressive treatment known for debilitating side effects just amazes me. Any time I see a pathology or lab report that suggests a serious problem, my first reaction is to have the results verified (by another pathologist in the case of a biopsy). Physicians who don’t do this are negligent in my opinion, and patients who don’t ask for (insist on) re-validation are just plain stupid.
Mistakes happen everywhere, and the primary safety mechanism in healthcare should be the patient. To be so disengaged from your own care is a recipe for disaster.
Does drinking alcohol serve as preventative chemo therapy?
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random: Why? She probably heard “stage 4” and was desperate, more concerned with hitting the battleground running than paying for another test. Still beyond screwed up, though…
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wow!! a couple of pretty big and serious mistakes. we have to be responsible for our own care when it gets that serious. take care,
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wow!! a couple of pretty big and serious mistakes. we have to be responsible for our own care when it gets that serious. take care,
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Couldn’t agree more, as a patient you have to take some responsibility for your own health.
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Lord, that does sound pretty scary. That’s an appalling case of malpractice. Me, I tend to ask plenty of questions when I see my various doctors.
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Yes. I believe in seeking a second opinion.
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Yeah, you have to take responsibility for your own health care. I had to be quite aggressive with mine, to make sure I got the care that I needed. I didn’t hesitate to ask questions, that’s for sure.
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There’s a diarist on here who went for her annual pap smear & the doctors office called her & scared her half out of her mind by telling her that they found advanced cancer cells & she needed to come back in for a biopsy (I think they call it a punch procedure?) When they got the results back the doctors office had her come into the office for the results & everything was clear. They explained that her pap smear probably got mixed up with someone else’s because of the difference in the pap smear & the biopsy. Here’s the part that I don’t care for, it has been over a year & they still have her coming into the office every 3 months for a pap smear. On top of that when she’s there the doctor rubs her leg. Now I know that you’re not a GYN but I’m pretty sure that you’ll agree with me that rubbing her leg while she’s sitting there in a paper gown is inappropriate.
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That’s a pittance for having your physical body changed forever. I would also go after the Physician…some Dr. of Radiology needs to go back to Medical School as does the Pathologist!
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