Woman dies from Crohn's Disease after doctors say she was imagining her pain.
Photo credit: KentOnlineUK
The mother of 3 visited the hospital 50 times for her pain. Doctors at the hospital told her that the pain was "all in her head."
At first, her cause of death was pneumonia, caused by Crohn's Disease. After a post-mortem examination, it was shown she had multiple organ failure due to a perforation in her bowel (can you imagine how incredibly painful that must be? This woman suffered in astonishing ways, and she shouldn't have had to).
During one of Mrs. Ashby's visits, one nurse threatened to discharge her if she did not stop screaming in pain.
Her husband states that she was "in constant pain and she never got better. It just got continually worse." He also said that they never expected that this would happen to her because the doctors never told her that her condition was life-threatening.
Michelle Ashby was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 1992, and spent the last 3 years of her life in and out of the hospital.
The Assistant Coroner said this on Thursday:
"I find there is no evidence that had there been either a multi disciplinary meeting to discuss her case, or if Mrs Ashby had had surgery that the outcome probably would have been different – possibly but not probably. Surgery itself in relation to Michelle would be major and complex and there would have been complications which would have detracted from her quality of life and surgery was the last resort. It was a balancing act. There was always a risk of perforation and the disease becoming worse."
The Coroner concluded that Mrs. Ashby died of "natural causes...." at 43 years old. (Yeah, okay..enjoy the wrongful death and malpractice suits!)
My Two Cents
Stories like this make me so mad. As someone who is being treated for Crohn's Disease and other chronic pain conditions, I can attest to some of the treatment Mrs. Ashby received. When my spinal condition started, I remember going to the ER looking for answers, an MRI or something to see what was wrong. I was in so much pain, I was crying and had trouble breathing. The nurses and doctors didn't care. The ER doctor actually laughed at me. I had a walk-in place jiggle my belly and tell me to "lose weight (I was 145 pounds, which was healthy for my body frame. The extra fat on my stomach was excess skin from a 100 pound weight loss)." My regular (former) doctor said the pain was in my head. She actually wanted to institutionalize me. A year later, I went back to her office with proof that I wasn't making it up. She did my pre-spinal surgery physical. After that, I fired her as my doctor.
When it comes to Crohn's, those flare ups are excruciating. It feels as if your body is being ripped apart. While my condition is nowhere near as bad as Michelle Ashby's, I understand what it is like to be ignored because the pain you feel isn't something the doctors can see. If you aren't bleeding externally, and if you don't have broken bones or detached limbs, they ignore you. They think you are a pill pusher, or insane.
Invisible illnesses are very damaging and can be life-threatening. The pain felt from these illnesses NEEDS to be taken just as seriously as pain from external injuries.
Doctors, just because you can't see the problem, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist!! We just want answers and we want help. Perhaps if the hospitals that "treated" Michelle Ashby had provided an ounce of compassion (remember DO NO HARM?), she would be here to watch her children and grandchildren grow up.
I hope the Ashby's are suing for malpractice or wrongful death. Those hospitals need to be held accountable!
Sending my prayers to the Ashby's. You are in my thoughts! <3
