History Main / LethalDiagnosis

* ''VideoGame/TraumaTeam'' has the diagnosis episodes. Redoing the diagnosis as new symptoms show up is even part of the gameplay.

* In Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}, [[https://xkcd.com/881/ Megan is diagnosed with cancer]]. (Occasionally, Rob is shown to have it, too.) This is because Randall Munroe's RealLife fiancee (now wife) [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer not long after they got engaged]], despite being in otherwise fairly good health and having no family history of breast cancer. Both Rob and Megan are shown coping with the diagnosis, going through treatment and testing, and trying to make the most of the time they have together as best they can (because they don't know how things will pan out... or [[https://xkcd.com/931/ if the cancer might one day come back with a vengeance]].)

* The true kings of this trope are the prion diseases that affect a number of mammalian species, including humans. Prions are proteins that are poorly understood, and the exact function of the non-anomalous prion proteins are still under research. Misfolded 'bad' forms of these proteins can arise spontaneously in the brain, then transform normal prions into the 'bad' form. Once the symptoms appear, the patient usually has only a matter of months left to live, and must undergo an agonising neurological decline that progressively destroys the brain. The survivability is zero and there is nothing to slow the progression (even HIV can be treated). Neither Alzheimer's Dementia nor Huntington's has so rapid and terrible a progression. Prion diseases are mercifully rare, but given their gravity, fears of "Mad Cow" were not entirely groundless.

** Several cancers have a similar course [[note]] Lung and ovarian cancers are ''notorious'' for this, because their symptoms are so ''vague'': a cough or a stomach ache, for example. [[/note]], based on how late in the game symptoms arrive, but even pancreatic cancer has a non-zero survivability. The true kings of this trope are the prion diseases that affect a number of mammalian species, including humans. Prions are proteins that are poorly-understood, and the exact function of the non-anomalous prion proteins are still under research. Misfolded 'bad' forms of these proteins can arise spontaneously in the brain, then transform normal prions into the 'bad' form. Once the symptoms appear, the patient usually has only a matter of months left to live, and must undergo an agonising neurological decline that progressively destroys the brain. The survivability is zero and there is nothing to slow the progression (even HIV can be treated). Neither Alzheimer's Dementia nor Huntington's has so rapid and terrible a progression. Prion diseases are mercifully rare, but given their gravity, fears of "Mad Cow" were not entirely groundless.

** Several cancers have a similar course [[note]] Lung and ovarian cancers are ''notorious'' for this, because their symptoms are so ''vague'': a cough or a stomach ache, for example. [[/note]], based on how late in the game symptoms arrive, but even pancreatic cancer has a non-zero survivability. The true kings of this trope are the prion diseases. Prions are renegade proteins that usually arise spontaneously in the brain, then transform other copies of the protein in the "bad" form. Symptoms usually only show up once a patient has a year of agony and increasing dementia to look forward to. The survivability is zero and there is nothing to slow the progression (even HIV can be treated). Neither Alzheimer's Dementia nor Huntington's has so rapid and terrible a progression. Prion diseases are mercifully rare, but given their gravity, fears of "Mad Cow" were not entirely groundless.

** [[http://www.webmd.com Web MD]] and other diagnosis-by-Web search systems have a similar problem. For virtually any symptom you enter, you can be guaranteed that cancer or syphilis will show up in your list of possible diagnoses. Also, every potential diagnosis will list death as a possible side effect.

* Every episode of ''Series/{{House}}''. Every time the team comes up with a tentative theory, the patient's condition instantly escalates... usually with symptoms that don't fit the initial diagnosis. Often, considering House's radical treatments, [[JustifiedTrope the treatment itself actually can make them worse]] -- The number of times they give immunosuppressant steroids to people who end up having infections, thinking they have some autoimmune disorder, is amazing.
** This is PlayedWith in one episode where a woman comes in with a mild cough, which almost immediately is revealed to be a particularly nasty form of lung cancer. Instead of informing the woman of her diagnosis, Cameron insistently denies the results, trying to come up with a less serious explanation. When she finally gives in and informs the woman that she only has weeks to live, she repeats that she just has a cough - and the viewer never sees her again.

* A seemingly-healthy character in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' comes in to the hospital because of a health scare on the news. After he coughs heavily they perform a chest x-ray and it is revealed he has lung cancer and dies within a few days.
** They at least {{lampshaded}} this when one of the doctors questions how he could even be walking around with a disease that bad.
** Subverted, however, by Ben Sullivan (portrayed by Brendon Fraser)--Dr. Cox's best friend and ex-brother-in-law. In the first episode he was in, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He really didn't show any symptoms beyond an inability for his blood to congeal. In the third episode he's in, a year after his first appearance, he appears healthy but hasn't been seeing his oncologist for some time. Dr. Cox insists he get a workup and restart his treatments, but he dies twenty minutes after Dr. Cox goes off to run some errands for his son's birthday party.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' has the [=titular=] character AfraidOfDoctors.

* Mark's dad in ''Series/{{ER}}''. And then, eventually, Mark himself, though in a much slower form.
* Joyce Summers in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', who went from mild headaches to violent dementia in just a few episodes.
** Can be TruthInTelevision. Plenty of people never even manage to get the diagnosis before they lose it.

* In Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}, [[https://xkcd.com/881/ Megan is diagnosed with cancer]]. (Occasionally, Rob is shown to have it, too.) This is because Randall Munroe's RealLife fiancee (now wife) [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer not long after they got engaged]], despite being in otherwise fairly good health and having no family history of breast cancer. Both Rob and Megan are shown coping with the diagnosis, going through treatment and testing, and trying to make the most of the time they have together as best they can (because [[AdultFear they don't know how things will pan out]]...or [[https://xkcd.com/931/ if the cancer might one day come back with a vengeance]].)

[[folder: Fanfics ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* In fact in RealLife AIDS develops faster on patients after being diagnosed.
** This may be because AIDS is just a diagnoses of the progression of HIV, though it does fit the trope.

* In general, having a chronic and/or rare illness can feel an awful like this, as, if it's rare, then there's very few doctors or treatments for it. It's even worse if the condition hasn't name, other cases, or, if it does have other cases, said other cases died before they could have much of, if any, intervention.

* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' has an episode where this trope is played straight, inverted, subverted and spoofed all the way. A nurse at a hospital is left caring for two bank robbers who were hurt in a shootout with the police. One of them is already out of danger, while the other is not expected to make it past the night. However, when el Chapulín shows up, he mixes up the medical records and somehow convinces himself that the dying one is healthy and viceversa, much to everyone's annoyance. [[spoiler: As it turns out, he was trying to invoke YourMindMakesItReal with the dying one, repeting him over and over that he was healthy so he would convince himself that he was healthy. It worked, but unfortunately, the healthy one was repeated so many times that he was dying, he also convinced himself of it and... well [[GoneHorriblyRight you can pretty much guess how well it went for him]].]]

* This is subverted in Webcomic/KillLaKillAU, ''Room 002108'', in that Ryuuko was already sick but, when she is hospitalized, the doctors say she has to stay for tests. Her condition isn't mentioned as to be getting worse as a result of that and neither are her symptoms described.

* Creator/StephenKing's autobiography/memoir/how-to ''On Writing'' describes how his mother got hospitalized and died very suddenly of uterine cancer... because [[JustifiedTrope she'd been actively hiding her developing symptoms for fear of causing a fuss]]. She'd actually been sick for a long time.

* This is subverted in Fanfic/KillLaKillAU, ''Room 002108'', in that Ryuuko was already sick but, when she is hospitalized, the doctors say she has to stay for tests. Her condition isn't mentioned as to be getting worse as a result of that and neither are her symptoms described.

* In Webcomic{{/Xkcd}}, [[https://xkcd.com/881/ Megan is diagnosed with cancer]]. (Occasionally, Rob is shown to have it, too.) This is because Randall Munroe's RealLife fiancee (now wife) [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer not long after they got engaged]], despite being in otherwise fairly good health and having no family history of breast cancer. Both Rob and Megan are shown coping with the diagnosis, going through treatment and testing, and trying to make the most of the time they have together as best they can (because [[AdultFear they don't know how things will pan out]]...or [[https://xkcd.com/931/ if the cancer might one day come back with a vengeance]].)

* In {{xkcd}}, [[https://xkcd.com/881/ Megan is diagnosed with cancer]]. (Occasionally, Rob is shown to have it, too.) This is because Randall Munroe's RealLife fiancee (now wife) [[RealLifeWritesThePlot was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer not long after they got engaged]], despite being in otherwise fairly good health and having no family history of breast cancer. Both Rob and Megan are shown coping with the diagnosis, going through treatment and testing, and trying to make the most of the time they have together as best they can (because [[AdultFear they don't know how things will pan out]]...or [[https://xkcd.com/931/ if the cancer might one day come back with a vengeance]].)