Living: the ultimate team sport

Terminal Misdiagnosis

Posted on July 29, 2024 Updated on August 3, 2024

SPOILER ALERT: I AM HEALTHY. 

I recently had a doctor appointment with a naturopathic physician; a doctor not associated with my primary care clinic at which I have been a patient for decades. I wanted a different take on an ongoing condition that wasn’t resolving, primarily to discern if vitamin supplementation might be a worthwhile treatment. I had Covid in February of this year and have experienced ongoing exhaustion and energy depletion ever since that time.

After my first visit to see this doctor – who holds the professional status of 1st Year Resident at her clinic – the doctor ordered a complete blood count (CBC) to get a sense of my general health. My previous CBC was in May of this year and the one prior to that occurred in May of last year. I reviewed the results of the labs in the clinic’s patient portal – the labs were normal – and I met with the doctor for a follow up visit a few days later. When I arrived for my visit, she handed me a printed copy of the results, showing a comparison between the current labs and the two previous CBC blood draws from my primary care record, which were all normal.

She concluded that my white blood count (WBC) was concerning, given the fact that the WBC was a couple points higher the past three blood draws. Keep in mind, all three WBC results were well within the safe/normal range that is determined by professional laboratories worldwide. None of the results breached the high-end of the normal range. She then looked at me with a very sad face and said,

“I suspect you have leukemia.”

In my state of shock and despair, I managed to point out that her conclusion was suspect because the numbers were in the normal range. She offered, “Do you want me to talk to your primary care provider (PCP) about my findings?” I told her I did and she said she would do so in the next couple days. I argued, “No, you need to talk to my PCP as soon as possible. What am I supposed to do with your diagnostic statement in the meantime? Carry on as if someone didn’t just tell me I might have a terminal illness?” She faxed her findings to my PCP later that same day.

I left that clinic to drive home to tell my husband the news. How do I do that when my own body and mind are in total shock? But I did. I sat down with my husband, who, like myself, saw no truth in her diagnosis given the lab results, but who was as devastated as me with the prospective diagnosis. After that conversation, I logged into my primary care patient portal to message my long-standing doctor – who has seen me through many health matters over the years – to summarize that day’s devastating appointment.

She called me right away exclaiming that my labs were normal, not leukemia, and that no further testing needed to be done. She was shocked that a doctor would make such an erroneous conclusion without any evidence to support such a conclusion. My PCP suggested that perhaps this 1st Year Resident didn’t consult with the supervising doctor in her clinic because an experienced doctor would not come to that same conclusion.

I am recovering from the emotional impact of this episode and I am also very aware that many people receive devastating accurate cancer diagnoses all the time. I have dear family members and friends who received such news that changed their lives forever and from which some did not recover. What I experienced should never have happened, but I rejoice that this inexperienced medical person’s diagnosis was wrong. Fact gathering is an important step toward responsible doctoring and knowing how to relate to patients about possible serious conditions is a must. I do not have leukemia – not even close! Obviously, I will not be returning to the clinic.

The end of July I had a virtual meeting with the Owner/CEO because the Medical Director doesn’t handle such matters, which I find concerning. Said Owner and I disagreed on several points but he agreed that the way in which the Resident communicated with me could be improved and they will use it as a teaching moment going forward.

I too am moving forward…away from this clinic.