Two people that I know were misdiagnosed. Their cancers metastasised. One of them is Howard Butler whose article “My Health Journey” appears under “My Health Journey” and is a must read. The other was given an all clear after a mammogram; a year later she was once again given the all clear even though she now had a lump under her armpit. She then went for a second opinion and was immediately diagnosed with cancer. Because of the misdiagnosis, her cancer metastised.
One always places trust in one’s health practitioner. And rightfully so. But do not have blind faith if your body and heart is telling you something different. Go for a second opinion. Don’t be shy; it is YOUR BODY and YOUR HEALTH that is at stake.
Howard is promoting his passion of EARLY DETECTION and is getting a lot of institutional support.
Remember that Cancer is one of the world’s biggest killers, second only to heart attacks. And incidences of cancer are on the increase; one in five men will get cancer of the prostate (I was one), one in eight women will get cancer of the breast.
And here’s the thing; breast and prostate cancer are the easiest cancers to deal with if detected early.
My physician, Larry Distiller added a PSA test to my annual blood tests when I turned forty. PSA stands for prostate specific antigen and tests for activity in the prostate. If Larry had not annually tested my prostate, I would maybe not be here but certainly my cancer would have metastasised and I would have had to have had chemotherapy etc. Remember cancer is the silent killer; I had no signs of cancer in my prostate – none whatsoever.
The efficacy of the PSA test has recently been questioned. Granted, it is not an accurate test. Granted, your PSA count could go up if there is an infection and the test would have to be repeated. But it saved me and others I know. The actor Ben Stiller recently said that if he had not had a PSA test he would not have known that he had cancer of the prostate.
The incidences of cancer are increasing. Cancer projections:
Scary. So please rather err on the side of caution.