Have you had an MRI? Was it an MRI ‘with contrast’?

That’s when the MRI technician injects you with a chemical called gadolinium so they can read the MRI easier. They probably told you to drink a lot of water to flush it out of your system, and that it would be gone from your body in 24 hours.

What they probably didn’t tell you is that some people’s bodies don’t flush out the gadolinium and it makes them chronically sick and disabled. 

And they probably didn’t tell you that the Food and Drug Administration requires that an MRI with gadolinium comes with a black box warning.

Or that Europe and Japan have banned the use of gadolinium.

And they probably didn’t tell you that even if you do report side effects, you’ll be gaslighted by doctors who will tell you it’s impossible to have gadolinium toxicity and that you’re imagining your symptoms. 

In this episode of Medical Error Interviews, I chat with Casey Steidle, a creative and athletic woman living in California. Casey tells us about her body’s immediate reaction to the gadolinium injection, the response of the health care workers and her doctor, and then the tragedy of her doctor sending Casey for another MRI with contrast and how that severely damaged her body.

Casey also shares how she had to take control of her own health destiny when the medical system turned its back on her, and about the treatments she pursued that have helped her regain a lot, but not all, of her health and quality of life.

 

Mri toxicity illnesses - FB -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/Gadolinium

The Lighthouse Project:  https://gadoliniumtoxicity.com/

Casey’s website www.caseysteidle.com 

Instagram @caseysteidle

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Be my Guest

I am always looking for guests to share their medical error experiences so we help bring awareness and make patients safer.

If you are a survivor, a victim’s surviving family member, a health care worker, advocate, researcher or policy maker and you would like to share your experiences, please send me an email with a brief description:  RemediesPodcast@gmail.com 

Need a Counsellor?

Like me, many of my clients at Remedies Counseling have experienced the often devastating effects of medical error.

If you need a counsellor for your experience with medical error, or living with a chronic illness(es), I offer online video counseling appointments.

**For my health and life balance, I limit my number of counseling clients.** 

Email me to learn more or book an appointment:  RemediesOnlineCounseling@gmail.com

Scott Simpson: 

Counsellor + Patient Advocate + (former) Triathlete

I am a counsellor, patient advocate, and - before I became sick and disabled - a passionate triathlete. Work hard. Train hard. Rest hard.

I have been living with HIV since 1998. I was the first person living with HIV to compete at the triathlon world championships.

Thanks to research and access to medications, HIV is not a problem in my life.

I have been living with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 2012, and thanks in part to medical error, it is a big problem in my life.

Counseling / Research

I first became aware of the ubiquitousness of medical error during a decade of community based research working with the HIV Prevention Lab at Ryerson University, where I co-authored two research papers on a counseling intervention for people living with HIV, here and here. 

Patient participants would often report varying degrees of medical neglect, error and harms as part of their counseling sessions.

Patient Advocacy

I am co-founder of the ME patient advocacy non-profit Millions Missing Canada, and on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network.

I am also a patient advisor for Health Quality Ontario’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and member of Patients for Patient Safety Canada.

Medical Error Interviews podcast and vidcast emerged to give voice to victims, witnesses and participants in this hidden epidemic so we can create change toward a safer health care system.

 

My golden retriever Gladys is a constant source of love and joy. I hope to be well enough again one day to race triathlons again. Or even shovel the snow off the sidewalk.