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Woman Suffering Back Pains Diagnosed With Depression, Second Opinion Indicates Stage 4 Cancer

Discussion in 'Oncology' started by Hadeel Abdelkariem, Mar 19, 2019.

  1. Hadeel Abdelkariem

    Hadeel Abdelkariem Golden Member

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    A woman suffering from chronic back pain was misdiagnosed with depression. Three rheumatologists allegedly ignored her symptoms and concluded that she had a mental disease. However, her pain persisted and she was diagnosed later on with stage 4 cancer.

    Tori Geib complained to three rheumatologists about her back pains. She was told that her condition was potentially caused by fibromyalgia and she was prescribed to take antidepressants. The three doctors claimed that she was suffering from depression, Geib revealed via Health.com.

    A month after she was diagnosed with depression, she was admitted to urgent care. When she found a lump on her side, only then did the doctors realize that she was suffering from a more severe medical condition. She then underwent a mammogram and biopsy. After which she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

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    She then reviewed her medical records from the three rheumatologists and discovered that they indicated “suspicious lesions” in her spine. However, none of the previous doctors followed up on the symptoms which led to the misdiagnosis of pain due to depression.

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    She also stated that due to the misdiagnosis, her cancer spread to the spine, damaged one of her vertebrae and reduced its size by 70 percent. She was then admitted for vertebroplasty to remedy the effects before a breast cancer treatment was initiated. She noted that had her cancer been detected earlier, her vertebral condition could have been addressed properly and the damage to her body could have been minimized. She also stated that her cancer could have been addressed sooner and this could have prevented her from reaching stage 4 cancer.

    Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer generally reduces a patient’s life expectancy to only 18 to 36 months. Almost a quarter of those diagnosed with the disease live up to five years after their diagnosis. In Geib’s case, her cancer was categorized as estrogen-receptor positive, so she was recommended to undergo hormonal therapy. The process slowed the tumor growth, but she was also administered with medication-induced menopause for her to become suited for chemotherapy treatments.

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