Emily Gavigan was a normal student, until she went "crazy". She thought someone was consistently following her, she called her family members and told them to hide, she took a car and drove through many states without any money. Her parents didn't know what to do.
"Emily was like a different person. We didn't know who she was," Bill Gavigan said. "We had gone from having this daughter who was perfectly normal, happy, vibrant ... with a bright future ahead. All of a sudden, this all came crashing down."
Gavigan's parents took her to the hospital to see what was going on. She was diagnosed with a mental illness. She went from one psychiatric hospital to the next, and her parents did not know how they felt about it. They tried medicine after medicine but nothing worked. Emily felt numbness in her face and hands, and began to have seizures. She continued to get worse but the doctors found nothing wrong with her.
About a year later, Gavigan's father heard Susannah Cahalan on the news. Cahalan explained that her doctors had mistaken her disease with a mental illness, and her body was attacking her brain - she had the same symptoms as Emily did. Emily's father went to a doctor and suggested a test. The doctor declined immediately and told Bill that he wasn't accepting the fact that his daughter was mentally ill. After begging and begging the doctors finally gave in. Though she didn't have the exact same case as Cahalan, she was diagnosed with a new disease - which could be treated. All of the medicine and therapy that she had been trying could have made her case worse.
Dr. Belinda Lennox believes that there should be routine checkups for autoimmune encephalitis - the disease that Emily and Susannah had. Out of her first 46 patients, 3 were diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, and there were no noticeable differences between those three and the other patients.
Questions:
1. If you saw a story like Bill Gavigan did, requested a test, and been declined, what would you think?
2. Do you think it was good for Susannah Cahalan to spread her story? Should more people try to get the word around about autoimmune encephalitis disease?
My Opinion:
1. I would be livid if the doctors declined my request. If my child had an awful disease like this I would do my best to help them in any way. Even if the test came out negative I could still have been helping. The doctor telling BIll that he was not accepting the fact that his daughter had a mental disease was not the right thing to say, and if the test would have never been done his doctor could have died.
2. I think it was excellent that Susannah Cahalan shared her story. Without her people all across the United States could still be in the shadow about autoimmune encephalitis. If people have the chance to tell the story, I think they should so more people know about it, and can possibly get help.
Read the whole story here:
Doctors Thought She was Psychotic, but Her Body was Attacking her Brain
Replies
Great job! You commented on two days instead of three.
I would be very angry. If this was my child, and they were diagnosed with a mental illness I would also want to test this. And if i was declined I would be livid at the doctor. There is nothing wring with having a mental illness, but as this stated, the treatment they were giving her could have made it worse. I believe that the doctor should not have declined the request.
I think it is great that she spread her story out. Otherwise others that have the same case as her and Emily would never had a clue about what was happening to them and that they could be helped.
I would also be very angry. The doctors were hurting their patient instead of helping her - and that is the opposite of their job. Emily could have been down an even worse road if the story wasn't shared, and that is why people should continue to share the stories about rare diseases.
I would be mad at the doctor, because there is no reason not to take the test. It could save Emily's life!
Yes, it was very good of her to spread the story, because now hopefully more people are informed and aware of this disease.
1. You would be mad if the doctors didn't do the treatment.
2. It's good she shared her story so other people could hear it.
I would also be very upset with the doctors. Doctors are the ones who are supposed to help with disease, and they were definitely not helping with this one. Rare disease do go unnoticed, even to doctors, so I agree that all of them should be spread around.
You are right, doctors can make mistakes too. I would be right with you and push to get the test, at least to try to get the best for my family. Spreading the story did help save a persons life, and possibly helped saved many peoples lives. I agree that is worth sharing the story.
That the doctors are only focused upon the "correct" diagnosis they had given her and that the results that are showing are only temporary. They aren't open to everything and didn't try to check for the right diagnosis so they could properly treat it. Yes, because it'll tell more people about the disease so more people can be more open to that being a possibility if something like this goes on.
That is a really good point. The doctors were not open to trying everything like they should be. It is opening up more possibilities for people who might have this disease, and hopefully the doctors are open for trying it.
1. I would be furious that the doctors denied my request because the doctors are being paid to help the people needing treatment and denying any possible conditions can be a major setback for the patient. It was only a request and if the test did turn out negative at least they would eliminate that possibility and find the right diagnosis. I think when Cahalan shared her story that it reached millions and helped people realize that such a disease exists and can affect many.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next