"I hope this helps someone else."
I hear that every time I write about a patient's often tortuous and usually prolonged journey through the medical system, featured each month in The Post's "Medical Mysteries" column.
I began writing the column in 2007 with twin goals: to explain the surprising complexity of medical diagnosis and to document the impact on patients and families when the process goes awry. Most stories are told from the perspective of a patient or close relative, while others reflect the viewpoint of the doctor or health-care worker who figured out what was wrong after others — sometimes many others — failed.
So how often does this desire to help others actually pan out? While there is obviously no way to measure the ripple effect, sometimes I learn about successes as dramatic as the original cases that served as the catalyst.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/medical-mysteries-that-solved-other-baffling-cases/2015/03/16/bb73f6dc-b930-11e4-aa05-1ce812b3fdd2_story.html?
