Desperate for answers to an undiagnosed health issue that stretched back at least five years, Brittany Brown logged on last May for her first appointment — via video — with CMC Vacaville Family Practitioner Alexiel Zhang, MD.
Brittany, who was 28 when she first spoke to Alexiel, described the dizzying series of medical missteps that finally led her to CMC. At 23, her feet had suddenly started growing, her period had stopped, her nose and lips had gotten bigger, her teeth had shifted, and she was beset by overwhelming fatigue and depression.
She had visited a podiatrist who simply told her “feet grow” and that “it can happen,” even when the feet belong to a 23-year-old. Another physician checked her thyroid and told her, “You’re just depressed.” Another told her she could be “pre-menopausal.” Yet another diagnosed her with migraine headaches and gave her a medication she could only take six times a month.
“I would lock myself in a dark room, curl up into a ball and cry,” Brittany recalls.
Finally, she asked Medi-Cal to assign her to CMC, because Alexiel was available for new patients and Brittany hoped a female physician would be understanding. It took only one appointment with Alexiel for Brittany to feel a new sentiment: hope.
“It was amazing to have someone finally listen and know I wasn’t crazy and making stuff up,” Brittany says.
Soon after, Brittany arrived at Vacaville with her mother for an in-person appointment. “This is what I think it might be,” Alexiel told her.
Alexiel diagnosed Brittany with acromegaly, a rare condition in which the body produces too much growth hormone, leading over time to abnormally large hands and feet, among other symptoms. She ordered an X-ray of Brittany’s spine and an MRI of her brain. A mass was located and most of it was removed by a surgeon in Sacramento. Brittany continues receiving monthly injections from CMC of a medication aimed at controlling the symptoms of acromegaly.
“It’s very gratifying to see a big change in someone’s life,” Alexiel says. “It stresses the importance of actually listening to your patients’ information and not dismissing them, the importance of shutting up and listening.”
Of Alexiel’s care for Brittany, Chief Medical Officer Benjamin Morrison, MD, says, “CMC has hardworking, dedicated providers who really make a difference in our patients’ lives. Acromegaly is a fascinating condition and can lead to a lot of challenges and hardships in a patient’s life. I’m proud to have providers like Dr. Zhang on our team, who not only identify and treat the common conditions, but are also listening to our patients and helping to identify and treat patients with conditions that can often go undiagnosed for long periods of time.”
Brittany is now able to think about getting a job and living a more normal life, and for this, she is grateful for the care she continues to receive at CMC Vacaville.
“It would not have happened without Dr. Zhang,” she says. “I just wish there were more doctors who were willing to sit and listen to the entire problem.”
