A Massachusetts elementary school teacher says she suffered from severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and other symptoms that doctors dismiss as anxiety and acid reflux for a year before she was finally diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma.
Heidi Richard, 47, from Worcester said… Doctors today have repeatedly ignored his symptoms as an indication of less serious problems – and he needed an MRI to be diagnosed with cancer.
“I believed it even though I knew something was wrong. I always wanted to be seen or wanted someone to listen to me. It was frustrating,” she said.
Richard has been in remission for a year and a half, preparing for the April 18th Boston Marathon and has raised more than $11,000 for a nonprofit that took over early.
Heidi Richard, 47, developed severe abdominal pain, vomiting and night sweats in the spring of 2019. She went to several doctors and gave them antacids and anxiolytics.
Finally, he requested an MRI in April 2020, which led him to be diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Richard has always been a “very healthy person” and dates back to his high school athletic days.
However, he developed severe abdominal pain, vomiting and night sweats two years ago and went to the doctor in March 2019 because of his problems.
Their worries were set aside. Richard said the doctor did blood tests but described his pain and vomiting as “stress or anxiety” and gave him an antacid.
But the pain and vomiting continued and became so severe that he couldn’t eat and lost 30 pounds. without trying.
Richard saw another doctor who encouraged him to continue taking antacids while also giving him anti-anxiety medications, assuming his problems were stress related.
“Something went wrong, I said. I know my body, I told them. But the answers came back with authority. you’re young. You should be worried. You’re under stress. Maybe it’s mono. It could be acid reflux,” said Boston.com †
The symptoms got worse. It happened not just at night, but during the day now—he also suffered from fatigue, back pain, and swelling on the side of his neck.
He has since undergone chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant and is in remission.
He saw a doctor again, who said it was nothing serious and suggested that he take a muscle pull and prescribe a muscle relaxant.
This time, however, Richard refused to accept the diagnosis and insisted that he undergo some form of imaging test. He did a CT scan, which led to a biopsy.
Finally, in April 2020, She was diagnosed with stage 4 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. By then it had spread to her abdomen, spleen, bone marrow, breastbone, lungs, groin and neck.
The mass in his abdomen also pressed on his intestines, causing stomach pain.
Richard was frustrated that he wasn’t taken seriously from the start.
“I wonder if I would have been taken more seriously if I was a man,” he told Today. “The doctors say, ‘Oh, that’s anxiety or you can’t handle the stress of your job or you’re overreacting. It’s not such a big deal”. If I were a man, I don’t think they would tell me that.
Now she wonders what would have happened if she hadn’t requested an MRI during that medical visit.
The Massachusetts teacher wonders what would have happened if she hadn’t asked for more tests, and would it have been different if she had been a boy.
The Massachusetts teacher wonders what would have happened if she hadn’t asked for more tests, and would it have been different if she had been a boy.
Richard’s treatment included months of chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant, and he has been in remission for about a year and a half. He is also in immunotherapy.
Running again and training for this month Boston Marathon, though immunotherapy wears him out
‘I’m not a fast runner like I used to be. I get tired more quickly, so I have to stop for a walk. But I know I will finish no matter what.”
The run raises money for DetecTogether, a nonprofit that supports early cancer detection.
“Running a marathon was an analogy I used to help one of my nurses and myself understand where I was during treatment,” she said.
It read, “You are now at the 10 mile mark” or “You are within the last five miles”. So running a marathon after using this analogy in my treatment seems like a whole cycle. “
Source: Daily Mail
I am Anne Johnson and I work as an author at the Fashion Vibes. My main area of expertise is beauty related news, but I also have experience in covering other types of stories like entertainment, lifestyle, and health topics. With my years of experience in writing for various publications, I have built strong relationships with many industry insiders. My passion for journalism has enabled me to stay on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of beauty.
