“When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don’t expect to see a zebra”, which was coined in a slightly modified form in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, a former professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
This model of logical thinking has over time been taken too far. Many teaching hospitals teach that common is what you will see in every patient. Every time! That is just not true.
Where would I be most likely to run into a person with a rare problem the local Starbucks or the hospital?
This is not a rant on doctors. Many doctors are ready to follow your medical needs to whatever disease or compliation of problems YOU have. Allowing the disease and the medical test findings to led them. When you find a gem like that encourage her and stick with her!
In the end whether we have good doctors and hospitals around us or mediocre being a zebra is hard. Being sick is hard whether the world can ‘see’ our sickness or not. We zebra’s need to stick together to stand strong when we are tired and weak. To find others that understand a 3rd, 5th, or even 8th opinion maybe needed. Others that understand the search for our health, treatment, and God willing cure is worth the effort, time, and money!