Nika C. Beamon

Misdiagnosed is a story about a young woman named Nika who develops unusual symptoms that make her life very harrowing. The medical mystery she ultimately uncovers doesn’t happen until about the end of the book. But it has been said that the journey is more important than the destination and this seems to hold true for Nika throughout the story, as she goes through periods of self-doubt, sorrow and self-discovery.

Nika is a writer for a television station, a most fortunate position that is not easily attainable for most writers. Even so, she often proves to be worthy of the position due to her hard work and dedication. Speaking of dedication, she finds a truly dedicated companion in the form of a man named Bryce. However, while Bryce turns out to be a champion of support for Nika through her medical troubles, he’s also a cad. And by “cad”, it means he likes to “play the field” of available women even when he’s supposed to be technically retired with him being involved with Nika. Bryce’s unfaithfulness ultimately leads to them separating, and I thought it should have happened sooner. Nika is a smart woman who does her best not to allow her illness to consume her life, but any man who isn’t willing to give all of himself to a woman isn’t a man worth keeping around. The heroine of the story struggles with this reality until she couldn’t ignore it any longer.

The disease progresses to the point of Nika spending thousands of dollars on CT scans, treatments, surgeries and medication. At one point, a close relative gets mysteriously ill with similar symptoms, leaving Nika to wonder if they have the same affliction. That becomes a brief sub-plot, as we move it along to the big finale. Nika finally finds the right doctor who diagnoses her with the associated condition and while it is not curable, it is treatable.

The only negative I have for this story is the lack of contractions in many places. Sometimes I didn’t mind them, but in other places they were quite jarring. Most people speak using contractions, so reading dialogue in which they weren’t was, to say the least, awkward. Despite this, the story moved along very well and exhibited the author’s intimate knowledge of medical terminologies. They made the story believable, lending it excellent credibility that makes the reader believe this is an actual woman going through an actual medical crisis and seeing actual doctors who she hopes will help her out of it. On that, the author deserves much praise.

The best takeaway from this story is that it showcases the experiences of people who have rare diseases and the struggle they go through in diagnosing them properly in order to find the right treatment. I felt Nika’s anguish with not getting the answers she wanted while still having to deal with mounting medical bills. The payoff at the end, however, proved to be a moment that made it all worth it. This is why I think Misdiagnosed is a great story that anyone, be they with any bad medical conditions or not, can truly enjoy.… (mehr)