Don't worry. It's going to be fine

If I had a penny for every patient or patient's family member who told me that their doctor said to them "Don't worry. It's nothing. You're going to be fine" when reporting symptoms that later turns out to be a serious medical condition, I'd be a millionaire. This is most likely to happen if you are the type of person who shows your emotions or cries during a doctor's visit. My experience has been that these types of patients tend to be dismissed much quicker because the symptoms are presumably in the patient's head. Now sometimes, I would agree that this is the case, but this can only be concluded after a comprehensive evaluation has been performed.

I've had patient's with multiple sclerosis and mother's with serious medical disorders that put the life of the baby at risk get told the "don't worry, it's nothing" comment. I even had one patient with classic stroke symptoms who went to a hospital and was released and told that she had anxiety. She got progressively worse the next day and went to another hospital where she was diagnosed with a stroke. Turns out that the radiologist at the original hospital misread the scan!

My solution to this problem is that if you feel like you know something is wrong with you or a family member and are not getting answers from your doctor, go somewhere else where you will get answers. Some people tend to stick with their doctors as if it is like a marriage and as if seeing another doctor is akin to cheating. Trust me, the doctor doesn't care about that. Think of yourself and your family first.