Grandma who began slurring was told she had stage 4 cancer—but another doctor's hunch uncovered a life-saving diagnosis
Dealing with hospitals and medical situations can be scary and all a person wants is a professional who is also humane. Someone who can journey with you through the illness and treatment and someone you can rely on. A great-grandmother named Lynda Bush and her family were worried sick when she was showing symptoms and had to get checked, CBS News revealed. What started with a headache eventually went to Bush slurring in her speech. Doctors diagnosed the woman with stage IV cancer, but another neurosurgeon stepped in and uncovered another life-saving diagnosis just in time.
Bush was experiencing one symptom after another. When her speech started to slur, her family urged her to get checked. When she did a hospital scan, a mass was discovered in her brain. She received news no one wanted to hear. The ER doctors told the elderly woman that she had stage IV lung cancer. The diagnosis took a devastating toll on the family. Amy Walls, Bush’s daughter, shared how concerning things became very quickly. "They said it had metastasized from her lungs to her brain. We could almost see her fading away in that bed. Every day was worse than the day before,” she said.
A very important factor when it comes to an illness is the right and efficient treatment. Fortunately, Bush had access to good treatment and was transferred to MedStar Franklin Square. There she met Dr. Jugal Shah, a neurosurgeon. He examined Bush and the diagnosis she received and became suspicious. He believed that there was possibly an infection and not a tumor that the woman was dealing with. "Infection can have the same appearance as a tumor. But everything I saw made me highly suspicious that this was an infection,” he recalled. When he was performing the surgery on her skull, he was shocked to see his doubt confirmed.
"As soon as we opened the brain, yellow pus came out. I knew my suspicions were immediately correct,” Shah noted. Bush didn’t have a tumor or stage IV cancer. Instead, she had a dangerous infection that needed to be treated. According to the neurosurgeon, she had an odontogenic brain abscess that originated from her tooth. The infection was reportedly caused by “Streptococcus intermedius,” a type of bacteria found in the mouth. Bush revealed that she was having work done on her tooth. In rare cases, this bacteria can travel through the bloodstream and settle in the brain.
From stage IV cancer to a brain infection, it was a frightening thought that Bush would have received the wrong treatment and left a fatal infection untreated. The woman received the necessary medication and treatment and eventually recovered well with time. The family is immensely grateful to Shah for voicing his doubt and paying attention to detail. Had it not been for his suspicion, things could have taken an unfortunate turn. Bush is also grateful to her family, who were alert and attentive when it came to her diagnosis and treatment. "I probably wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my family. They were like advocates for my care." Walls left a reminder from her mother’s experience. "You have to question things. — ‘Why are you doing that?’ ‘What is that for?’ It's very important to be there for your family.”