Back at Square One

It is interesting when the shows you like collide with real-world issues. Recently, I have been thinking about The Golden Girls and how they were ahead of their time with the topics they covered. Two episodes in particular have been on my mind. They are the first two episodes of season 5: Sick and Tired: Part 1 and Sick and Tired: Part 2. In these episodes, Dorothy has been sick for a while. At first, she thought it was the flu, but she is still dealing with the same symptoms for five months before the episode even starts: debilitating fatigue, body aches, heart palpitations, difficulty speaking, fevers, a constant sore throat, and brain fog. Dorothy goes to multiple doctors. I think I remember the doctor visits the most. 

The doctor tells Dorothy she is fine and gives her a clean bill of health. Dorothy argues that she still feels sick and knows something is wrong. This particular doctor tells her that it is mental because she is single and doesn’t have a social life (which, if you watched the show, you know she is social and has friends to support her). What stuck with me the most is the pain that Dorothy feels in these two episodes. She not only feels disregarded because no one will listen to her and take her seriously. She begins to wonder if she really is crazy. In Sick and Tired: Part 2, Dorothy finally gets an answer to her medical condition after many doctors ignored her: chronic fatigue syndrome. While it doesn’t have an easy recovery, she is just glad to have a name for why she has been feeling lousy for months and that it wasn’t all in her head. 

So why were these two episodes in my head? Well, Christina Applegate has been having neurological issues for years and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021. She has been an advocate for the MS community and is trying to raise awareness. 

Unfortunately, Christina was recently told this by one of her doctors: “Congratulations! You don’t have MS!” (Multiple sclerosis is the breakdown of the protective covering of the nerves, causing numbness, muscle weakness, trouble walking, vision changes, among other symptoms). Christina was devastated by the news. You may be asking why she is so upset. She doesn’t have MS. Shouldn’t she be happy after the good news? Unfortunately, Megyn Kelly (media personality) had a less nuanced take on her podcast: 

She described Christina as being upset because she could no longer use MS for sympathy or attention. I am not sure that she meant to imply this, but her wording heavily suggests that Christina knew she never had MS and that it was all a wild goose chase for public consumption. 

Normally, I consider myself a calm and collected person, but this is the first time in a while that I saw red and was extremely pissed. I have been misdiagnosed twice, and being mad about the situation doesn’t make you a drama queen or attention-seeking. It is human to want to know what is wrong with you. Megyn Kelly did a disservice to the health community by framing it that way. 

You might think that I am overreacting. People have the right to free speech and express their opinion. I am of the mindset that telling false tales as if they were true should have some type of penalty, or that Megyn Kelly should feel some type of shame or remorse (I doubt that will happen considering the numerous bad takes she has had over the last couple of years). 

If Megyn Kelly had listened fully to Christina’s podcast, she would have figured out that Christina wasn’t sad about losing her fame because she doesn’t have MS. Christina is upset. After all, she is still sick and is back at square one. She still has neurological symptoms that are getting worse. Not only does she not have a name for what she has anymore, but she has no idea how to proceed, get some answers, or feel better. 

When I was around four, I was misdiagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (the weakening and deterioration of muscles caused by damaged neurons in the spinal cord). Back then, it was a death sentence. Doctors told my parents I may have little over a year left to live. The doctors advised my family to prepare for my funeral and buy countless pieces of medical equipment to deal with my expected decline. No parent wants to see their child die, especially so young. They were devastated for several years. They did their best to shield me from everything. They did so well; I had no clue about the tragedy facing me. They treated me the same as they always did: their loving, happy daughter. 

When I was seven, my family was still baffled. I still had the same symptoms when I was four, but my body didn’t deteriorate to the point of death as my doctors suggested. So my parents were back at square one. Also around this time, I became aware of myself since I was now going to school. I noticed that I had limited mobility, which none of my classmates exhibited. It made me curious what was wrong with me. 

My parents had me tested again. After the doctors examined a biopsy they forced me to take (which hurt like hell), I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. They believed based on my symptoms that I had limb girdle muscular dystrophy. It is muscle weakness and deterioration around the hips and shoulders. The illness wasn’t known to cause a quick death. 

The doctors explained that I would have limitations, but at seven I didn’t care. I had a name for what was wrong with me. I went around telling everyone about my diagnosis, in particular my classmates. I would tell them that I had muscular dystrophy, which caused the weakening and deterioration of my muscles. But they would look back at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I don’t blame them, though. I didn’t know what the diagnosis really meant for me in the years to come or understand the details of the disease. I was just happy to know that it was something. 

However, in 2025, I got sick again. This time it was laborious breathing, and my oxygen saturation was going extremely low to the point I had to be hospitalized and put on a vent. One of the neurologists at the hospital thought that it was odd that I was having these symptoms. They weren’t ones he typically saw in his patients with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (he runs the MDA Care Centers at his hospital with a group of doctors). He had me tested and found out that I had collagen VI muscular dystrophy. It still causes muscle weakness and deterioration, but it is centered around the breathing muscles. I was happy to know what I truly had now, but it still felt like a slap in the face. If I had known this information sooner, there was a possibility that I could have done something to slow it down with medication or exercises. At the very least, I could have mentally prepared myself instead of being blindsided. 

Dorothy, Christina, and I are not just outliers. In the U.S. alone, misdiagnosed patients are not that uncommon. In emergency rooms, around 7.4 million people are misdiagnosed each year. This leads to 2.6 million people suffering adverse effects. 

Women’s symptoms are dismissed at a higher rate than men’s. A third of women had their worries minimized or dismissed by doctors. A fourth of women receive conflicting medical recommendations. About 42% of women claim to have to advocate for their own health. 

Women trying to get a diagnosis can take anywhere from several months to a year. These hurdles lead to multiple issues. 42% of women in the workforce are not able to perform their jobs because of health issues. 59% of women with health providers who dismissed them claim that they are not able to lead a fully functioning life because of their illness. 

This is why I am mad at what Megyn Kelly said. She trivialized something she knew nothing about and gave people the wrong idea about disease diagnosis, especially among women. No one wants to be sick or wish that on anyone. We just want answers, proper care, and to advocate for others so that they don’t feel alone. 

I hope this article has provided some enlightenment. When listening to people talk about their disability and struggle for a diagnosis, please keep an open mind and be sympathetic. People with a disability in the US make up 25% of the population (70 million people). A person can become disabled at any point in their life. Please spread the word so we can uplift each other instead of trivializing people who have no control over their health and how it affects their everyday lives. 

Sources

All Work: https://allwork.space/2026/09/half-of-women-say-doctors-dismissed-them-their-careers-are-paying-the-price/ 

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0716-Adult-disability.html 

Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14505-spinal-muscular-atrophy-sma 

FOX: https://www.fox13news.com/news/study-7-4-million-patients-are-misdiagnosed-in-us-emergency-rooms-each-year 

Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350269 

MDA: https://www.mda.org/disease/limb-girdle-muscular-dystrophy 

MDA: https://www.mda.org/sites/default/files/2024/07/Updates-on-Collagen-VI-related-Dystrophies.pdf