Tag Archives: misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosed Miscarriages

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Occasionally, women who are diagnosed with a miscarriage after an episode of cramping and bleeding go on to have a healthy pregnancy. It’s called misdiagnosed miscarriage, and it happens more than you might think. What is worse is that many women are pressured to end their “doomed” pregnancy medically via D&C or other means. Miscarriages can be misdiagnosed when the estimated date of conception is off. When the ultrasound is done, the doctor may expect to see an embryo of a certain size, but if the dates are off, the baby may not be visible yet. This may lead the … Continue reading →

So Why All the Mystery?

I hope you’re not too fed up with hearing about my uterus. It’s a pretty big deal for me, and a pretty major surgery on the horizon… so I’ve got a lot of processing to do. One lingering question isn’t so much about the health issue itself but about the mystery surrounding it. Why was my regular doctor not willing or able to make a definitive diagnosis when another doctor — faced with the same exact report from the ultrasound — did? I’ve come up with a few possibilities. For one thing, maybe the level of expertise is part of … Continue reading →

The Dangers of Self-Medication

“He who self-medicates has a fool for a doctor.” Have you heard that one? There’s a real danger with home and over-the-counter remedies — do you know what they are? You may have misdiagnosed the problem. That may mean that you’re taking medication you don’t need… and the problem is still raging. You may have correctly diagnosed the problem but are taking the wrong things. Again, this is a situation where the problem might be getting worse instead of better. You may have correctly diagnosed the problem but over-the-counter remedies aren’t strong enough. At best, the problem may be holding … Continue reading →

Two Months of Hell

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Obviously my stress levels were through the roof at this point. We waited and waited for new photographs of our daughter’s biological sister, hoping they would shed light on the prognosis of damage from prenatal alcohol exposure. My reading about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder stressed that children with this disorder needed highly structured lives and predictable routines. I had to admit that we are just not that kind of family. We do a lot of really interesting things together, but organization and routine are not our strong points, to put it mildly. Still, I had been … Continue reading →

Preventing Misdiagnosis

A misdiagnosis can be a serious problem — experts say that out of four people who are misdiagnosed, one will die because of it. You can help your doctor make the right diagnosis and administer the best treatment. Doctors generally consider three things when making a diagnosis: medical history, symptoms, and physical exam. Taking an active part in your health-care decisions can protect you from a misdiagnosis. Keep a diary of your symptoms. Whether you’ve been feeling bad for a few days or a few years, note the problems that occur most frequently. Track the level of pain or discomfort … Continue reading →