Imagine being a healthcare professional, confident in your knowledge and expertise, only to find yourself on the other side of the medical chart, diagnosed with a serious illness. This was the reality for LaToya Bolds-Johnson, a physician assistant, with 12 years of experience when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer at the age of 36 with no prior family history.
“I initially didn’t think it was anything more than possibly a retained milk cyst,” she recalls. “I had recently stopped breastfeeding, and I was working in the ER at the time.”
Despite her instincts, Bolds-Johnson encountered resistance when she insisted on a mammogram that her doctor had ordered.
“The feedback that I received from the radiology tech at that time was…I think your physician made a mistake ordering the mammogram,” Bolds-Johnson adds. “I was like no she ordered it and I still [want it] done and so I had to push.”
The mammogram revealed abnormal findings, leading to a biopsy that she had to undergo without her husband by her side due to the pandemic.
During the biopsy or aspiration procedure, she vividly remembers thinking, “Man, I hope this is not cancer” as the lesion proved difficult to sample.
Bolds-Johnson was told she would get a call early the following week with her results, but the phone call never came. When she did receive the results, her worst fears were confirmed.
“I did not receive a phone call. Instead, I received a text message to my phone with my portal alert results and logins,” Bolds-Johns shares. “I clicked on the results and it showed a diagnosis of triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma high grade 3.”
“I was actually in the middle of performing [a] procedure for a patient at the time and [my] immediate reaction is this is not for me – there’s some type of mistake,” Bolds-Johnson adds.
Bolds-Johnson left work early and headed home in a state of panic. While in the driveway, she spoke to a nurse, who informed her that due to the 21st Century Cures Act, she was able to see her results in real time.
“It didn’t occur to me that the Cures Act also allows for patients to receive…results before a physician has had a chance to
