As a doctor, what is the biggest mistake that you’ve made?

I’ll answer for my doctor. Sometime in 2007, I discovered a lump on my neck.

The doctor said don’t worry about it. Then he gave me an Rx for a Z-pack, said I was likely an infected hair follicle or a cyst, since my body makes those as a hobby. This went on over a year, with nothing changing. I decided if the doctor wasn’t worried about it, then why should I.

Fast forward to April 2011, I went to a dermatologist to have a pea sized cyst in front of my ear removed. It was the dermatologist that noticed the lump. She refused to let me leave her office until she did something, and walked out of the procedure room…. She walked back in with a piece of paper, complete with an initial doctor appointment for a surgeon the very next week.

Ended up that the first doctor missed the diagnosis and had me ignoring it, I’d been sick with lymphoma (stage 3) for 5 (estimated) years and I did NOT have a clue. I felt fine, even great! No pain what so ever. I was working 2 jobs, my regular job in IT and also a Pharmacy Tech.

It wasn’t until after the R-CHOP chemo that I haven’t felt good since…. I’ve been left with CIPN (Chemo Induced Peripheral Neuropathy) – which to this day I sometimes wonder if the chemo was a blessing or a curse.

Edit: I should mention his office was about 4 miles from my house. He closed up shop and retired. I ran into him at the grocery store one day 5 or 6 years later and he told me that he’d fully expected me to sue him over his misdiagnosis, and let out a big laugh…. “That’s what we have insurance for.”

Update in 2023, I never dreamed that I’d get 4,000 upvotes. Thanks to all that took the time to read my words.

In the last two years I’ve been diagnosed as having diabetes as well. The CIPN (Chemo Induced Peripheral Neuropathy) with the addition of diabetic neuropathy – some days are just unbearable.