Wow: Woman Finds Out She Has Cancer From Doctor Who Saw Her Appearance On HGTV
June 6, 2018
Woman Finds Out She Has Cancer From Doctor Watching TV
An incredibly observant surgeon helped to save a woman’s life, after he took action online when he spotted a lump on the stranger’s neck as she appeared on an HGTV show.
Dr. Erich Voigt, a New York-based ear, nose and throat surgeon from NYU Langone Health, was watching Beachfront Bargain Hunt when he noticed a small lump on the neck of a woman being featured on the program. As a trained doctor, he quickly recognized it as needing some sort of medical attention.
Voigt explained to ABC News, “I noticed that she had a lump in her neck. And as a head and neck surgeon, I’m trained to sort of notice these things.” He immediately realized it could be serious and that the woman needed to see a doctor–though he had no idea who she was.
The doctor turned to his Facebook page for help, and posted a clip from the program asking his friends if they knew how to get in touch with her. He wrote, “I am watching a tv show and notice this woman has a left thyroid mass. She needs a sonogram and fine needle biopsy. I wonder if she knows and hope it’s benign.”
Eventually, his shot in the dark was able to connect him with Nicole McGuinness of Havelock, North Carolina. She was already a brain cancer survivor, but McGuinness’ doctors had not noticed the lump in her throat–She went to see a specialist, and was eventually diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.
“It’s just a miracle in my opinion that he happened to see this on TV,” McGuinness said to ABC News. “I can’t express how grateful I am.”
Voigt expressed that he is thankful for the “awesome power of Facebook and good people!” in a second post, after he connected with McGuinness and found out that she was getting treatment for Thyroid cancer.
Absolutely insane–you never know who’s watching!