RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. For years, a woman was told the persistent cough she struggled with was the result of "allergies," until an X-ray finally revealed something more alarming.
Autumn, who does not wish to publicly share her full name, lives in Houston, Texas , and has been dealing with health issues for much of her life.
"I was born with congenital heart defects, so my heart is severely deformed," she told Newsweek . "I've undergone multiple open-heart surgeries to improve its function as much as possible, and they've really done an amazing job."
Autumn has been less enamored, however, with the approach doctors took toward a persistent cough that dates back to 2018.
Feeling unheard by a doctor is a common experience. A 2022 MITRE-Harris Pol l found that 52 percent of Americans said their symptoms had been ignored, dismissed, or not believed when seeking medical treatment.
When Autumn first sought medical advice for her cough, she told doctors about the concerning symptoms.
"It was a productive cough with green and yellow sputum, and it tasted sour, kind of like it does when you have pneumonia," she said.
She was told the cough was simply "allergies."
Then, during the pandemic, while receiving treatment for her heart condition, Autumn once again sought help for her cough. Despite previously being told it was allergies, she was urged to take a COVID test.
"I didn't understand that leap in logic. If it sounded like my lungs had an infection beforehand, why couldn't it still be an infection despite having it before COVID?" Autumn said.
Over the course of five years, Autumn saw two different doctors in a bid to get the help she needed. Nothing worked.
"I tried all the allergy medications, and nothing changed," she said. "Still a productive cough, yellow and green sputum, and extreme fatigue."
Autumn said many of her symptoms, including her fatigue, were attributed to her heart condition despite the fact that she had exercised regularly before becoming unwell.
In the time that followed, Autumn underwent a cardiac ablation to address an arrhythmia and subsequently developed pneumonia. Though she received treatment for that illness , the cough never went away.
"I started coughing up blood and decided to see a new doctor," Autumn said. "When I went to the new doctor, they reviewed old X-rays, noticed something in my lung, and ordered a CT scan."
That was when Autumn was finally diagnosed with Valley fever, a fungal infection caused by breathing in spores of the fungus Coccidioides , which is found in the soil of parts of the southwestern United States.
Symptoms can resemble allergies, a cold, or the flu, which can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis.
Though many people recover without treatment, Valley fever can be serious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5 percent to 10 percent of patients develop long-term lung complications, while about 1 percent experience a potentially life-threatening form of the disease that spreads to other parts of the body.
Autumn is due to undergo lung surgery in October to address the fungal infection. She is also undergoing cardiac catheterization to check the pressure in her heart valves as a direct result of the lung issues she has experienced.
She's sharing her story in the hope that it will encourage others to trust their instincts and seek help. She also wants doctors to take a closer look at their "implicit biases" and find ways to push back against them.
"Women often get dismissed by doctors, and it's frightening and frustrating," she said. "But even though it's hard not to be discouraged, we have to keep trying in the hope that we find someone who listens to us."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Emma Lee-Sang
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