Doctor misdiagnoses mum's cancer by telling her to 'lose weight'

A new mum claims she was told the “lose weight” from her pregnancy to remedy symptoms that ended up being a result of bone marrow cancer.

Los Angeles-based comedian, writer and co-founder of a feminist comedy theatre, Jen Curran, took to Twitter on Monday to share her “crazy story”.

She explained that she had high protein in her urine during her pregnancy, which was diagnosed by a obstetrician-gynecologist as preeclampsia.

But as the levels of protein continued to increase after the birth of her healthy daughter in February, the ob-gyn recommended that Curran see a kidney doctor.

“I didn’t ask for a recommendation,” she admitted in her tweets.

“Since I had a new baby to lug with me, I assumed it would be easiest to go to a doctor covered by my insurance, near my house. Whoops.”

The convenient choice ended up being a doctor who looked at her lab results and concluded that they weren’t of concern.

When Curran pushed for an explanation of why her protein levels were the only indication that her body might not have recovered from birth just yet, when it had in all other ways, the doctor suggested that she “try to lose some weight”.

The 38-year-old said she wasn’t content with the doctor’s suggestion, in part because she had researched “how toxic diet and weight-loss culture can be.”

“I knew in my gut something else was wrong,” she wrote.

“Finally I decided to get a second opinion.” Curran asked her ob-gyn for a recommendation for a kidney specialist this time around, before visiting a second doctor who ran some tests and concluded, ‘This is not good. And there’s nothing diet or exercise can do to touch it’.”

From there, the new mum went on to do a kidney biopsy and after the findings from the test’s detailed results, Curran was ultimately referred to a haematologist-oncologist for a bone marrow biopsy.

Curran explained that the diagnosis of multiple myeloma — cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell, which crowds out healthy blood cells — was “shocking” and “gut-wrenching”, especially with five-month-old daughter and husband at home.

But because Curran followed her intuition to get a second opinion from another doctor, she’ll be weeks into chemo to treat the cancer before she would have even been back for a follow-up with the first doctor.

Now, as a result of her own experience, Curran is reminding others to “advocate for yourself” when a doctor’s advice doesn’t feel right.

Curran told Yahoo that deciding to consult a second doctor was difficult.

However, she felt that she had to do it because her medical concerns weren’t resolved.

“You shouldn't feel defeated and guilty when you leave the doctor. You should feel empowered and have a plan,” she said.

“I couldn’t stop worrying and wondering about it. So I basically just trusted the feeling that I knew my body better than she did.”

Women’s health expert – and author of she-ology. The Definitive Guide to Women’s Intimate Health Period – Sherry A. Ross, MD, told Yahoo that this sort of advocating was especially important for women.

“In today's world, women have to be their best health advocate. If something doesn't feel right with your medical care you must get a second opinion,” she said.

“It could be a matter of life or death.”

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