Over and over, Mesha Liely was told that it was all in her head. That she was just a woman prone to exaggeration. That she had anxiety. That she simply needed to get more rest and take better care of herself.
The first time an ambulance rushed her to the emergency room in October 2021, she was certain something was seriously wrong. Her heart raced, her chest ached, she felt flushed, and she had numbness and tingling in her arms and legs. And she had recently had COVID-19. But after a 4-day hospital stay and a battery of tests, she was sent home with no diagnosis and told to see a cardiologist.
More than a dozen trips to the emergency room followed over the next several months. Liely saw a cardiologist and several other specialists: a gastroenterologist; an ear, nose, and throat doctor; a vascular doctor; and a neurologist. She got every test imaginable. But she still didn't get a diagnosis.
"I believe more times than not, I was dismissed," said Liely, 32, who is Black. "I am female. I am young. I am a minority. The odds are up against me."
By the time she finally got a diagnosis in May 2022, she felt like a bobble-head with weakness in her arms and legs, rashes and white patches of skin along the right side of her body, distorted vision, swelling and discomfort in her chest, and such a hard time with balance and coordination that she often struggled to walk or even stand
