The Woman Whose Legs Turned Black

Feb. 24, 2010 - PRLog -- Discovery Health’s popular show MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS will spotlight Eagle, Colorado resident Dr. Diane Dike this March. As part of the hit series’ eighth season, will share her riveting story with audiences across the nation. Diane’s show, premiering on Monday, March 8, at 10 PM ET/PT, will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions as she endures misdiagnoses and dismissals before ever finding an answer!

In the fall of 1990, Diane felt that her life had never been better—she was married to her high school sweetheart and working in her dream job as a teacher and professor.  One day, Diane, noticed two red bumps on her right foot, coupled with a strange sensation.  After initially dismissing the bumps as a spider bite, Diane awakened the next morning to excruciating pain with her foot completely red and swollen twice its normal size. Diane crawls for help and rushes to the emergency room, where she is told that her puzzling symptoms are the result of a simple bruise from unknowingly hitting her foot.  The doctor directs her to stay off of her foot , ice and to take anti-inflammatory pills, which helps at first—but a few days later, Diane finds her legs covered in red spots. As visits to her family doctor and multiple specialists yield no answers,, Diane’s symptoms persist–and then, six months after her initial symptoms began, her legs turn completely black. Terrified, Diane goes back to the emergency room—but after five days in the hospital, the symptoms fade and, still with no answers, she is discharged. Diane continues to suffer and, her flare ups only get worse and more frequent.  In a last ditch attempt to find a diagnosis, Diane’s doctor sends her to the University of South Florida to seek help, where she is finally diagnosed with Cryoglobulinemia, a blood disorder which causes the blood to turn into a jelly-like substance when her temperature drops below 98.6 degrees. Because there is presently no cure for this disease, Diane must regularly take medicine, keep her extremities warm and avoid stress on her body. Diane didn't handle the illness and lost everything. After a difficult divorce, becoming homeless, suicidal and ending up in a psych. ward. Today, Diane's an award winning Author, Speaker, Singer, Counselor, Rare Blood Disease Survivor. She's  remarried and created an outreach organization called Second Chance with Saving Grace. After rescuing an abandoned, broken Italian Greyhound Diane trained her to be her service dog and now they go where no woman and dog have gone before. She's learned to live with her disease while finding ways to help others.

Discovery Health’s award-winning MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS chronicles the experiences of patients who suffer from conditions outside of the medical mainstream and goes into over 73 million homes.  Each episode features patients who are initially misdiagnosed or undiagnosed altogether due to the uncommon nature of their symptoms and general lack of awareness regarding their conditions. This popular series—now in its eighth season on Discovery Health—profiles the strength and courage of heroic patients like Dr. Diane Dike and determined medical practitioners as they struggle to make sense of baffling conditions.  

*Review DVD screeners and interviews available upon request. Check your local listing for air time. "The Woman Whose Legs Turned Black."  When Diane's legs turn black, doctors think they'll have to amputate watch, Monday, March 8, 2010.

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