spacer The next day the doctor's office called and told Shannon that she had to come back in right away. Shannon was frightened by the call. It always took four weeks to get an appointment - and she had just been there the previous day.

When she arrived, she didn't have to wait in the waiting room. She was taken right back. The doctor explained that her blood test results from six weeks earlier showed dangerously low levels of all three crucial parts of her blood - red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Her blood count was so low that it had been a medical emergency.

No one had told Shannon, though. No one had tried to figure out the reason for her problem. No one had started her on any treatment. Because of a mix-up, her test results were simply filed away.

That was very bad news. Even worse, the results from the previous day's tests indicated an even further drop in her blood count. Her doctor wanted to put Shannon in the hospital right away. Her life was in danger.

March 20, 2011

Do you know your medical test results?

by Elizabeth L. Bewley

Shannon is a busy mother whose household consists of three children in elementary school, a husband who travels on business, and a family dog. After having mysterious symptoms for six months, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in January a few years ago. She was sent to a neurologist who specializes in MS. This doctor immediately started her on drugs to treat the disease.

In early April, three months into her treatment, she felt worse than ever. Each day she sank deeper into exhaustion. She had trouble dragging herself out of bed in the morning. It took a major effort just to put one foot in front of the other to walk across the room. In a routine checkup, the neurologist ran blood tests to rule out any unknown problems.

As she weakened daily, Shannon assumed that her grueling exhaustion was because of her disease. She was overwhelmed and depressed, thinking that this was what her life was going to be like from now on.

At the end of May, discouraged and imagining that she would soon be unable to care for her children, Shannon returned to the doctor for another regularly scheduled checkup. The doctor's staff drew blood again.