Mother Has Chemotherapy And Double Mastectomy Before She's Told She Didn't Have Cancer In The First Place

Oct 12, 2020

Many people have the devastating experience of being told that they have cancer. They go through extensive emotional trauma coming to terms with their condition. Their family members also experience intense emotions.

Cancer treatment often includes surgical procedures, intensive chemotherapy treatments, and even radiation. These come with considerable pain and suffering for the patient as well as profound expenses. In 2019, after months of these types of treatments, one British woman named Sarah Boyles found out Doctors had misdiagnosed with breast cancer, which she, in fact, never had to begin with. 

Sarah Boyles was 28-years-old when she noticed that her infant son was distressed when he tried to feed on one of her breasts. Biopsy results revealed that Sarah had an aggressive type of breast cancer that required immediate and significant treatment.

Within a few months, she had both breasts removed, reconstructed with implants, and went through chemotherapy and all of its horrendous side effects, according to The Telegraph. 

After all of these steps had been taken, the hospital contacted her to tell her that human error resulted in inaccurate biopsy results as she said on the This Morning show. This young mother realized that she and her family experienced extreme emotional stress, and she endured unnecessary physical pain and alterations to her body as a result of a human error.

"Being told I had cancer was awful, but then to go through all of the treatment and surgery to then be told it was unnecessary was traumatizing," Sarah said to The Telegraph. 

"And while I was delighted when I gave birth to Louis, it was really heartbreaking when I couldn't breastfeed him,” she said. More than that, the fact that she had breast implants she said increased her chance of having a legitimate breast cancer diagnosis in the future.

The hospital has admitted its error and is accepting liability. It has also stated that it adjusted its policies so that multiple pathologists must review test results and agree on the diagnosis rather than leaving the diagnosis to one individual according to The Telegraph.

Now, the mom of two is urging hospitals to adopt a new AI technology that can be used in the diagnosis stage, making false negatives less likely. 

"A misdiagnosis of cancer can ruin people's lives and some people may not be as fortunate to survive," Boyle told the Daily Mail earlier this year. "It is vital to raise awareness of the consequences that families can be left to face because of errors."

"Anything that helps reduce the number of people affected by a misdiagnosis or allows others to receive treatment more quickly has to be welcomed," she added.

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