Gabriella Patey says she and her family are left traumatized after doctors falsely diagnosed her with terminal cancer.
The 31-year-old from Nova Scotia, Canada, said it all began on May 17, when she was given the all clear by her doctor, who said the mass in her breast was “completely benign.”
It was a huge relief for Patey, whose mother died from breast cancer a year and a half ago.
However, just a month later, her world came crumbling down when she received a call from her doctor, telling her the women’s health center had made a mistake and that she actually had metastatic carinoma – a type of breast cancer that typically has a very poor prognosis.
Patey immediately went into “survival mode,” telling her family, friends, and co-workers about the diagnosis. She also visited the bank to ensure her affairs were in order and asked her primary doctor to add her name to the list for medically assisted dying.
The diagnosis also took away her ability to sleep, as she often “cried herself to sleep every night.”
For Patey, her husband was her top priority. She didn’t want him to go through the same pain she had felt when her mother went through the same type of cancer.
However, everything changed last Friday when she received another call from her primary doctor – this time telling her that there had been a lab mix-up and that she did not have cancer.
Not knowing what to think, she sought a second opinion on Monday. The new doctor confirmed that she was, in fact, cancer-free.
Her primary care physician later called to inform her that the director of pathology at the women’s health center had conducted a thorough investigation. After reviewing her slides and medical records, they discovered that her file had been mistakenly swapped with another patient’s.
This meant that another woman was unknowingly living with one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, believing she was cancer-free.
A spokesperson for the health center said they were unable to comment on specific cases due to patient privacy but said that they are taking the concerns seriously. A formal investigation process was also launched.
Patey says the whole ordeal has made her lost her trust in the province’s healthcare system.
She also pointed out that no one from the women’s health center ever contacted her directly. She and her husband now plan to pursue legal action.
