Published Apr 10, 2024

Woman, 39, Underwent Intensive Chemo After Doctors Mistakenly Diagnosed Her With Cancer — How to Advocate for Yourself & Your Health

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Advocating for an Accurate Diagnosis

Lisa Monk, a mom of two, claims she underwent an “aggressive” chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with terminal cancer — but was informed months later that she didn’t have any illness.
Angiosarcoma, the cancer Monk was misdiagnosed with, is a rare disease that develops in the inner lining of blood vessels and lymph vessels. It can occur anywhere in the body but is most often found in the skin, breast, liver, and spleen.
The term sarcoma is used to describe an array of more than 70 rare cancers that begin in the bones and the soft tissues.
A cancer diagnosis, whether it’s confirmed or a misdiagnosis, can be an emotional experience for patients and their loved ones. SurvivorNet experts recommend getting a second opinion during these challenging moments to ensure cancer has been detected and explore early treatment options.
Advocating for your own health can lead to better patient outcomes. Sometimes, this includes going back to your doctor multiple times or seeking additional opinions from different doctors.

Lisa Monk, from College Station, Texas, claims she underwent an “aggressive” chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with cancer — but was informed months later that she did not, in fact, have a terminal illness.

Now, she’s sharing her shocking misdiagnosis story and the confusion that ensued when she learned the treatment she underwent wasn’t necessary — a critical reminder that it’s so important to advocate for answers about your health.

Monk recounted her medical mishap story with Kennedy News in a recent interview, revealing her health issues began with stomach pains that she likened to a kidney stone back in 2022, according to the Daily Mail. A CT scan taken at the hospital ultimately showed two kidney stones and a mass on her spleen, which she later had removed in January 2023.

The Texan, who was 39 years old at the time of her cancer diagnosis, alleged her spleen was sent to several pathology labs, prompting the fourth lap to confirm she had a rare type of blood vessel cancer called clear cell angiosarcoma.

Angiosarcoma is a rare cancer that develops in the inner lining of blood vessels and lymph vessels. It can occur anywhere in the body but is most often found in the skin, breast, liver and spleen.

Monk, who works in higher education, says she was told she had approximately 15 months to live when she was informed she had cancer at a follow-up appointment after the spleen removal procedure.

It was during her first appointment at a cancer hospital in March 2023 that she was hospitalized to begin chemotherapy right away, the Daily Mail reports.

Following an immense amount of hair loss, Monk embarked on a “very aggressive” chemotherapy treatment, causing her to vomit often and her skin to appear “silvery.”

Just one month later, she claims to have been told some staggering news — that she never had cancer in the first place and her initial pathology report was faulty. She alleged the doctors didn’t apologize for the mishap and she’s now reaping the physical and financial consequences of unneeded treatment.

Recounting when she was first diagnosed to Kennedy News, Monk explained, “It was diagnosed as a super rare, super terminal type of cancer called clear cell angiosarcoma. I had gone to see my doctor as a follow up from my surgery [when I was given the news].

“I was with my mom and he asked if I was okay to get bad news in front of her. This is when he told me it was cancer. I went into shock. The diagnosis was horrible and [they] told me it was terminal. It was a blood vessel type of cancer found in the spleen and told me that the most optimistic thing he could say was to give me 15 months [to live].”

She recalled having difficulty telling her husband and kids about her diagnosis, revealing she insisted she was “going to try and fight it” but didn’t actually tell them the cancer was “terminal.”

Referring to when it was revealed she didn’t have cancer, Monk said, “I saw the nurse practitioner first and she just asked me about my symptoms and she was scrolling on the computer while she was talking to me. All of sudden she just stops talking and has this look on her face. She turned to me and looked completely horrified and told me she needed to get the doctor and then ran out of the room.

Monk recounted how a doctor ultimately told her she did not have cancer at all — and if the medical team had been more thorough, they would have told her earlier and avoided another round of chemotherapy.

Once it was confirmed she never had cancer, Monk said doctors, “determined that my spleen was going to rupture which is why it had the mass on it … it was just blood vessel activity and no cancer in it.” She also ended her chemo treatments as soon as she realized this.

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Monk remains “angry” for what she and her family has been through, both emotionally and financially.

She added, “They ruined my health and my insides are cooked. I grieve for my kids for having to even go through something like this in their lives where they thought they were going to lose their mother. I can’t take this away from them. I know on paper it only looks like a few months of my life but it felt like a lifetime.”

Understanding Sarcomas

The cancer Monk was mistakenly diagnosed with was called angiosarcoma, a rare cancer that develops in the inner lining of blood vessels and lymph vessels. It can occur anywhere in the body but is most often found in the skin, breast, liver and spleen.

The term sarcoma is used to describe an array of more than 70 rare cancers that begin in the bones and the soft tissues, such as muscles. This diverse group of diseases accounts for only about one percent of tumors in adults and just over 10 percent of tumors in children.

The main symptom of sarcomas is generally a slow-growing, painless mass, but symptoms can be hard to detect as soft tissue sarcomas are typically painless and bone sarcomas can be mistakenly diagnosed as orthopedic injuries.

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“Unfortunately, most sarcomas do not cause many of the symptoms that may be associated with other cancers,” Dr. Dale Shepard, director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute Phase I and Sarcoma Programs, previously told SurvivorNet.

“A mass the size of a golf ball or larger and growing should be evaluated as a potential sarcoma. It’s important that patients who do have symptoms are not dismissive of them.”

Advocating for Your Health

Patients advocating for their health can lead to better patient outcomes. This is especially important when your doctor has dismissed your symptoms — or you feel your diagnosis may be off.

A component of advocating for yourself in healthcare includes going back to the doctor multiple times and even getting multiple opinions.

Dr. Steven Rosenberg is the National Cancer Institute Chief of Surgery, and he previously told SurvivorNet about the advantages of getting input from multiple doctors.

WATCH: The value of getting a second opinion.

“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care. Because finding a doctor who is up to the latest information is important,” Dr. Rosenberg said.

Furthermore, getting another opinion may also help you avoid doctor biases. For example, some surgeons own radiation treatment centers.

“So there may be a conflict of interest if you present to a surgeon that is recommending radiation because there is some ownership of that type of facility,” Dr. Jim Hu, director of robotic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.

Other reasons to get a second opinion include:

To see a doctor who has more experience treating your type of cancer
If you have a rare type of cancer
If you feel like your doctor isn’t listening to you, or isn’t giving you good advice
If you have trouble understanding your doctor
If you don’t like the treatment your doctor is recommending, or you’re worried about its possible side effects
Your insurance company wants you to get another medical opinion
Your cancer isn’t improving on your current treatment

Bottom line: being proactive about your health could be a matter of life or death. Learn as much as you can from as many experts as you can, so that you know that you did your best to take control of your health.

How Common Are Misdiagnoses?

Lisa Monk’s story reminds us of a shocking study about how frequently patients are misdiagnosed. According to the study, published in BMJ, an estimated 371,00 people in the U.S. die every year due to a misdiagnosis and around 424,000 people are permanently disabled. The study said an estimated 800,000 Americans in total suffer “serious harm” due to misdiagnosis every year.

The researchers for this particular study focused on “serious harm,” but also noted that less detrimental misdiagnoses were likely occurring on an even grander scale. According to STAT, authors believe the number of diagnostic errors that happen in the U.S. each year could be between 50 and 100 million.

Despite these shocking numbers, most misdiagnoses do not have dire consequences.

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David Newman-Toker, the lead author of the paper, told the outlet, “The risk level just walking through the door in the doctor’s office that something horrible is going to happen to you because of a diagnostic error is actually quite low.”