Mom Undergoes ‘Intensive’ Chemo For Terminal Cancer She Never Had, Doctors Just Misdiagnosed Her
A mother of two underwent chemotherapy only to find out that she never had terminal cancer at all.
In a video recently uploaded on the Kennedy News and Media YouTube channel, Lisa Monk, 39, shared that she was diagnosed with cancer last year and was given about 15 months to live, only to find out after enduring two rounds of chemotherapy that it was just a misdiagnosis.
She said she endured the negative effects -- total hair loss, vomiting and "silvery skin" -- of the "intensive" chemotherapy sessions she had to go through following her initial diagnosis.
Her husband and two children had also suffered emotional distraught when she started preparing for what she thought was her last year to live.
"It was a very dark time. I was writing goodbye letters and letters to the grandchildren I would never meet and the weddings I would never attend," she said.
She found out that she never actually had cancer during a routine appointment in April last year. Her doctor told her that she was misdiagnosed and her first pathology test results were incorrect.
"He said a lot of medical lingo to me and then told me I didn't have cancer... [At that moment], I looked like I had cancer and I felt like I had cancer as I was vomiting. I was sick and my skin was silvery because of the chemotherapy," she said.
Monk added that instead of receiving an apology from her doctor, he congratulated her.
"The doctor then congratulated me, which really bothered me. At the time, I was in shock but now I feel the more appropriate response would be 'I'm sorry.' I asked for a copy of their pathology report and I found a hallway to call my husband and tell him the news," she recalled.
The higher-education worker later realized that her second round of chemo could have been avoided if the hospital read their pathology report carefully.
"I had had chemotherapy during this time and they could have told me a month earlier and I would have avoided the second round of chemotherapy if they had bothered to read their own pathology report," Monk said.
In the end, after she had chemo for a rare type of cancer she did not actually have, the doctors determined that the mass on her spleen "was just blood vessel activity," and there was "no cancer in it."
Monk's suffering started in 2022 after she went to a hospital for stomach pain she suspected was caused by a kidney stone. She was tested and discovered she had two kidney stones and a mass on her spleen.
Her spleen was removed in January last year and sent to three pathology labs before undergoing a fourth test, where it tested positive for clear cell angiosarcoma. At the time, she was told she only had 15 months to live.
Angiosarcoma is "a rare type of cancer that forms in the lining of the blood vessels and lymph vessels," according to the Mayo Clinic. Treatments for this type of cancer may include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
After it was confirmed that she did not have cancer, Monk's chemotherapy treatment was immediately stopped. But instead of feeling relief that she's cancer-free, Monk admitted that she's angry for her family having to undergo such a harrowing experience.
"It's been over a year. Still angry. Still healing. Still traumatized. But I'm also still dealing with some health issues...," she said in the video.She added that the misdiagnosis left her family with medical bills and emotional trauma.
"I grieve for my kids for having to even go through something like this in their lives where they thought they were going to lose their mom," she said.
