Breast cancer misdiagnosed as a skin rash? While it might seem unlikely, it happened to a woman recently, and now she is working to raise awareness to help prevent others from suffering the same fate.
Two years ago, the woman, whose story was featured in a KARE-TV report, noticed a slight discoloration that looked similar to a sunburn on the side of one of her breasts. She had it examined by her primary care physician who had her undergo a mammogram. The results of the mammogram came back without showing any lumps or tumors and her blood work was also normal. Therefore, she was told that she was fine and that the skin rash was probably the result of her bra being too small.
However, after buying new bras and using an antibiotic prescribed by another doctor, the skin rash did not go away. Then one night the woman Googled her symptoms and the term Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) came up. She went back to the doctor and had a biopsy, which confirmed what the mammogram she had 11 months prior could not, she had IBC. Her IBC was stage four. IBC, especially if it is caught too late as this woman’s was, is fatal. The woman’s doctors gave her three to five years to live about a year and a half ago. She is putting her story out there to warn other women to always push for further testing if they are concerned a breast cancer diagnosis is inaccurate. It could mean the difference between life and death.
Breast Cancer Misdiagnosis Can Devastate Victims and Their Entire Families
In the following video, Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney Nancy Winkler talks about a case she handled involving a delayed cancer diagnosis and the toll the cancer misdiagnosis took on the victim and her young son.
