Venting Why some brutal diseases only show themselves through minor symptoms?

[Cryptonite]

The God screwed something up, if they allow these kind of things to happen. Big time.

When I was a child, I had a rather minor back pain at two occasions during my childhood. I went to a different doctor each time and they both said it was nothing and I'm basically making things up.

In reality, it was a severe spinal disease, Scheuermann's disease, that caused severe and progressive chronic pain and completely ruined my life. Had it been diagnosed at the time of these two appointments, it could have been cured (almost completely).

Some other people have minor aches here and there and they don't put much attention to it. When they finally decide to go to a doctor, after two years, they learn that they have a cancer and just two months to live.

This stuff makes me so inexplicably angry.

 

[FuneralCry]

It really is such an unfair life and it's understandable as to why you would be angry. No one should have to endure so much suffering and it's terrifying how our bodies are capable of torturing us so much.

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

I hear you, it's a huge problem with diagnostics nowadays. To save money and time, most doctors do the bare minimum and are trained to default to the most common/simplest explanation for a patient's symptoms.

The idiom "When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras." is often repeated in medical training, to steer doctors away from looking for rare or complex explanations and etiologies.

Surprisingly, this laziness extends to even simple procedures like ordering a blood test. For years, I have suffered with pain and fatigue and as a teenager was drugged up on antidepressants cocktail after cocktail. Not once was a blood test ordered to investigate this, nope, doctors were convinced after an unnecessary 10 second "physical exam" and questionnaire that I was mentally ill instead.

Turns out that I had severe vitamin deficiencies. Even after correcting them, I never felt any better and ended up developing permanent chronic fatigue which has ruined my life. My pain has been brushed off too, despite it persisting for years and my back pain getting worse and worse.

I have had to pay for a self referred MRI scan to try and find out what is causing my back to hurt so much, because doctors refused to do anything and said I just need to go to physiotherapy, without knowing what the issue is. I am worried that I have some sort of degenerative spinal disease by this point, but I won't find out for several weeks.

It really burns me up to hear that you've suffered the same treatment. Is anything helping your Scheuermann's disease at all? Not a cure by any means, but at least some proper pain management works wonders when your back is in tatters.

 

[outrider567]

The God screwed something up, if they allow these kind of things to happen. Big time.

When I was a child, I had a rather minor back pain at two occasions during my childhood. I went to a different doctor each time and they both said it was nothing and I'm basically making things up.

In reality, it was a severe spinal disease, Scheuermann's disease, that caused severe and progressive chronic pain and completely ruined my life. Had it been diagnosed at the time of these two appointments, it could have been cured (almost completely).

Some other people have minor aches here and there and they don't put much attention to it. When they finally decide to go to a doctor, after two years, they learn that they have a cancer and just two months to live.

This stuff makes me so inexplicably angry.

Yep, my brother, a 50 year smoker, felt perfectly fine--Then suddenly multi-colored urine--Doctor: 1 year left-----If you know anybody that smokes and they're past 55, they need to get chest xrays twice a year---My brother hadn't got one since 2009

 

[Cryptonite]

Yep, my brother, a 50 year smoker, felt perfectly fine--Then suddenly multi-colored urine--Doctor: 1 year left

I don't know, should I cry or laugh, or both, this is ridiculous

 

[outrider567]

I don't know, should I cry or laugh, or both, this is ridiculous

Urine colors showed organ damage, cancer had spread but he still had no pain or discomfort anywhere

 

[Cryptonite]

I hear you, it's a huge problem with diagnostics nowadays. To save money and time, most doctors do the bare minimum and are trained to default to the most common/simplest explanation for a patient's symptoms.

The idiom "When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras." is often repeated in medical training, to steer doctors away from looking for rare or complex explanations and etiologies.

Surprisingly, this laziness extends to even simple procedures like ordering a blood test. For years, I have suffered with pain and fatigue and as a teenager was drugged up on antidepressants cocktail after cocktail. Not once was a blood test ordered to investigate this, nope, doctors were convinced after an unnecessary 10 second "physical exam" and questionnaire that I was mentally ill instead.

Turns out that I had severe vitamin deficiencies. Even after correcting them, I never felt any better and ended up developing permanent chronic fatigue which has ruined my life. My pain has been brushed off too, despite it persisting for years and my back pain getting worse and worse.

I have had to pay for a self referred MRI scan to try and find out what is causing my back to hurt so much, because doctors refused to do anything and said I just need to go to physiotherapy, without knowing what the issue is. I am worried that I have some sort of degenerative spinal disease by this point, but I won't find out for several weeks.

It really burns me up to hear that you've suffered the same treatment. Is anything helping your Scheuermann's disease at all? Not a cure by any means, but at least some proper pain management works wonders when your back is in tatters.

I have no clue what you are talking about. Simplest explanation? Laziness? Reluctance to order tests?

In my case, one of the doctors sent me to MRI immediately. Immediately, after I have called him like three or four times, at one occasion late in the evening, with tears in my yes. Plus sent four e-mails begging him.

So yeah, I really have no clue.

Urine colors showed organ damage, cancer had spread but he still had no pain or discomfort anywhere

There is something seriously wrong. The world is so unfair.

 

[Rational man]

The human body is fragile. Anyone can acquire many different fatal illnesses and as we age, the body decomposes. Drs practice medicine but they can make big blunders. I think algorithms and lack o resources adds to the needless deaths of many people.

 

[Hope:-)]

Your anger is completely understandable and valid. I'm so sorry this has happened to you xx

 

[outrider567]

The God screwed something up, if they allow these kind of things to happen. Big time.

When I was a child, I had a rather minor back pain at two occasions during my childhood. I went to a different doctor each time and they both said it was nothing and I'm basically making things up.

In reality, it was a severe spinal disease, Scheuermann's disease, that caused severe and progressive chronic pain and completely ruined my life. Had it been diagnosed at the time of these two appointments, it could have been cured (almost completely).

Some other people have minor aches here and there and they don't put much attention to it. When they finally decide to go to a doctor, after two years, they learn that they have a cancer and just two months to live.

This stuff makes me so inexplicably angry.

Yes--A famous example is Rock Hudson(smoker)but in this case his heart--He admitted that he had had chest pains or 'discomfort' for two long years(age 54 to56)--Finally, when he had trouble breathing, he called 911: Quintiple or Quadruple bypass the next day