I was working a summer job, part time at a bookstore, when I saw a little bit of rash on my hand. I didn't think very much about it at first -- I get these odd little rashes all the time. Mostly they come and go quickly and have to do with my allergies. The rash went away on my hands but came back on my calves and just wouldn't go away. So, insurance-less, I went to the doctor. He prescribed some lotion and I went on my merry way. The little bit of rash that had popped up on my fingertips disappeared quickly even though the doctor said that rash would take longer to heal. The rash on my legs didn't seem any better to me.

Another trip to the doctor was in order. This went on for a few months and he finally decided to biopsy the rash. It came back from the lab as non-specific eczema which is medical-speak for "yep, it's a rash!" and I was sent on to an allergist. The allergist sent me on to a dermatologist who told me to get a "stress-reliever" in my life and get rid of my cats. She practically growled when I pointed out that the cats are my stress-relief! (I have to add that she was the most rude doctor I have ever met in my life. She basically told me that I was making the whole thing up. There could be no other reason for the rash, according to her.)

Meanwhile, I was starting to feel kind of sick. I had little energy and was getting some low-grade fevers and swollen lymph nodes. I dutifully trundled off to the doctor and he gave me antibiotics. A month or so later I was back again. More antibiotics.

Three months later, I was back again. And again. And again. All of this with no health insurance. And if you think that antibiotics are cheap, ask the pharmacist next time you go in. Each trip to the doctor was costing me about $150 including the antibiotics.

I was working for minimal pay at the time. I did not make more than $20,000 until after I was hired in full-time in 2000. (This is typical for a university adjunct position, by the way. Universities use adjuncts as part-time employees to fill in gaps in departments. This is no fault of the university I was teaching for at the time -- it's a very common practice.) And without insurance, these trips to the doctor were really hurting me financially.

All in all, I went to that doctor for about two years with the same symptoms: rash, swollen lymph nodes and fevers. By 1999 those fevers were spiking at 104 degrees! All the doctor would do was to prescribe more antibiotics. He never ran a single test after the biopsy on the rash. He never even took a blood sample. The last time I went in to him, I complained of a hard, distended portion of my abdomen. He never looked at it nor felt it. The antibiotics he gave me that time gave me Thrush, a yeast infection in the mouth. It took two rounds of drugs to get rid of the Thrush and by that time, I had lost much of my appetite and was beginning to lose weight. This was something I was happy with at the time!

Frustrated with my doctor, I went to a clinic in November of 1999 when my fever again hit 104. By this time I was constantly taking Advil to alleviate the pain in my back and to keep my fever down. I had constant low-grade fevers. I would wake up in the night, presumably when my fever broke and just be drenched in sweat. Since I knew that my fever had just broken, yet again, I didn't think of the word nightsweats, a common cancer warning sign.

The doctor at the clinic took one look at me and insisted on drawing blood. My hemoglobin level was a 5.8. A 12 is considered the low end of normal for an adult female. Anything below an 8 is considered a somewhat severe case in need of an emergency transfusion. This doctor also told me later that I had the largest spleen he'd ever seen in his life (the man is in his 60s) and that he could see the outline of it through my shirt. With this information, I was sent back to my doctor the very next day.

My doctor was in a panic. It was now obvious that he had missed something important. I was sent to an oncologist the very next day -- the day before Thanksgiving, 1999.

Going to the oncologist and then the hospital>

 

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The information contained in this site is the author's own experience. You should not attempt to diagnose yourself for any disease, especially if you think you have a serious illness. Consult with your doctor!