SALT LAKE CITY — After suffering from swelling skin, itches, and red rashes for over 10 years, one Salt Lake City woman's journey to find answers was found to actually be a rare disease.
Mistry Segrest is a professional driver and had been told by multiple doctors across California that she was just suffering from allergies.
“It felt like you had a million ants crawling all over you!” She said. “It was awful, and they’re red and some of them are meaner and more swollen and more angry looking.”
But Misty says the worst part was that multiple doctors in California were never able to give her a clear diagnosis.
“And they had sent me to allergists and dermatologists and nobody there could help me! I was just suffering, they just kept telling me I had really bad allergies," she said.
It wasn't until she came to Utah in 2023 that Segrest was referred to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, where she met hematologist Dr. Tsewang Tashi, who specializes in blood-borne cancers.
Thanks to his prior research and new technology, Dr. Tashi was able to diagnose Misty with Mastocytosis.
A cancer that only affects about one and 10,000 people.
“This is a rare disease where a lot of patients go many years before getting a correct diagnosis before somebody connects all the dots," said Dr. Tashi. “And when they get a formal diagnosis, when we tell them that, hey; It’s not all in your head! It is a real disease that we have now identified, and there are effective treatments.
It’s a huge relief!”
Dr. Tashi connected those dots and even though it meant she had cancer, Misty says it was also a huge relief.
“I mean, it’s a sock in the gut to realize you have a form of cancer, but to know that, that type of relief and joy that you know what it is!” She said. “Not quite a year, but it has really changed my life! Yes, yes completely changed my life since this happened!“
Especially since the rash is mostly gone and she’s managing the cancer with medication.
