Can cancer be misdiagnosed?

My mom had the gastric-bypass surgery about a year ago, and now she had blood work done saying that she has leukemia. The doctors also said that it may be that her test results are coming back bad because of the surgery and loosing weight so fast/being unhealthy. She said that they said she had it, but could it be that this is just a result from the surgery and she has been misdiagnosed until further tests are done?

First, leukemia is pretty serious, and the acute versions are very aggressive. If the docs even suspected leukemia, she would have been sent for a bone marrow biopsy. This would have been done with in a day or two, if not the same day. The can also tell with a blood smear (they look at your blood by hand on a microscope), but that is not an official diagnosis, bc in the beginning stages, the leukemia cells are only found in the marrow.

With a bone marrow biospy, they look at the cells in the marrow and the bone. It is the only way to officially diagnose leukemia.

That being said, yes cancers can be misdiagnosed. Leukemia, especially the chronic versions often get diagnosed as something else, bc the symptoms are so vague. The symptom that sent me to the doc was extreme non menstrual bleeding, because I had no platelets. I had no insurance, so I went to an urgent care center. They actually thought that I was pregnant and had a miscarriage. They took a blood sample for the test and sent me home on hormones. When I went back for a follow up pap, they took more blood work. They only tested the on I gave for preg. The second time they did a complete blood count and chem panel and a couple other things. The doc told me that the blood work was 'indicative' of leukemia. She said she would be willing to bet my life on it. So she sent me to the hosp er. The er confirmed the blood work, and they also did a smear. They said it was leukemia, but I had to do a biopsy the next day for the official word.

With the surgery, if shes not getting all the nutrients she needs bc she cant eat a lot, that can cause blood counts to be messed up.

As for other cancers, my aunt had colon cancer, that was originally diagnosed as polyps. She went in for surgery to have two removed the day after Christmas. When she came out the docs told us it was cancer.

i hope and pray for you,iam so sorry to hear this.but i dont know.pray for a healing pray sweetie

Cancer can definitely be misdiagnosed. Get a second opinion and a third. Good luck!

I'll tell you what I've been told over and over again by trained MD's... leukemia cannot be diagnosed based on a simple blood smear analysis alone. It may SUGGEST leukemia, but it can never be used by itself as the lone diagnostic test result that leads a physician to begin treatment for leukemia. The most reliable way to determine if someone has leukemia is to obtain a sample of the bone marrow (called bone marrow aspirate). The sample is usually taken from the hip or, in very rare cases, the sternum - the bone over your heart, where your ribs meet.

If your mother hasn't had her bone marrow examined, she should have that done. If her physician hasn't suggested it or recommended it, it may be because he doesn't know how to manage a patient presenting with an abnormal blood smear (doctors DO forget stuff from their training, after all).

I don't want to tell you to go in there and demand a bone marrow biopsy... but bringing it up and requesting one isn't too much to ask. Like I said, it is the gold standard in diagnosing leukemia.

My cancer was misdiagnosed as a pregnancy (the type of cancer I had mimics pregnancy, and caused positive pregnancy tests even though I've never had sex), and then even once it was discovered it was cancer, there were quite a few details they got wrong because of inaccurate tests and doctor mistakes.

My cousin was told she had uterine cancer, and after we all freaked out and had been praying for her and everything, she found out it was a misdiagnosis. I've also known a couple of other people who have had similar experiences.

So there's definitely a chance, yes! But neither of you should assume either way, since there's a question about it. Get a second opinion right away, and if things still aren't clear (or to err on the side of caution, which I would do), a third.

I really hope for your mom's sake it's bad test results! But even if it's not, even if she has to deal with cancer, keep in mind that things aren't NEARLY what they were twenty years ago -- I'm living proof that even 'terminal' cancer can be survived! : ] I'll pray for you guys.