Medical dramas often portray the timeline of hospital admission to diagnosis and treatment in the span of days, if not mere hours. For Aryan Parikh, his medical “episode” stretched to span nearly 20 years before he was diagnosed.
Parikh, a student at Purdue University, had first shown signs of irregular breathing when he was two years old. His life since then has involved a constant stream of visits with medical specialists to reach a diagnosis and, ultimately, treatment for his severe asthma and heart palpitations.
“The healthcare system is slow.”
Early in his medical journey, Parikh’s doctors had mistakenly diagnosed his symptoms as a severe dairy allergy. For nearly a year, Parikh consequently did not consume any dairy-based product, which, as a vegetarian, accounted for a good portion of his protein sources. Navigating diet restrictions and vast uncertainty proved difficult throughout his childhood. The uncertainty reached an all-time high when physicians suspected Parikh was born with a subtle case of pectus excavatum, or a concave chest. According to a 2008 paper in Seminars in Pediatric Surgery, patients with pectus excavatum can grow up healthy or in some cases, develop a myriad of respiratory and cardiac symptoms.
A year ago, Parikh’s doctors had suggested the Nuss procedure, a surgical procedure to correct the suspected pectus excavatum. After hearing that the Nuss procedure required inserting a metal bar into his chest, Parikh delayed the procedure as long as he could. Parikh remained hopeful there was a better explanation for his symptoms that did not require surgery. This time, his doctors landed on a more accurate diagnosis.
Parikh was finally diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in late 2025. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic cardiac defect marked by thickened ventricular walls of the heart, leading to abnormal heartbeats, shortness of breath and, in some severe cases, sudden cardiac death, according to the UCSF Health. But even with this diagnosis, there were doubts whether it fully encapsulated all of Parikh’s symptoms. Parikh’s doctors explored his condition through the lens of various specialties: immunology, pulmonology, cardiology and even consulted allergy specialists to compile a list of diagnoses.
Parikh expressed relief that he could be directed to the right set of specialists to help him manage his health. As an extremely active person who played cross-country, track and field and basketball throughout high school, Parikh had to balance his love of sports with his symptoms. For years amidst medical uncertainty, Parikh’s participation in sports was laced with fear that his symptoms would worsen. Now, a diagnosis sets the bounds for Parikh on when he can be active.
The lack of clarity, as described by Parikh’s experience, can funnel into disillusionment and distrust in the healthcare system. “It felt like they didn't know what they were doing at times,” he said, “I would never get a straight answer.”
“I was very confused on …how to approach this, what to do, who to talk to.”
In an article by Harvard University analyzing data from the Civic Health and Institutions Project, faith in the health care system has plummeted. Potential reasons for this trend is the rise of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased funding cuts to research under the Trump administration. In a Forbes article by Robert Pearl, M.D., rising healthcare costs and the inefficiencies in diagnosis and treatment have also contributed to this trend. Data from the health policy organization, Kaiser Family Foundation, indicated that the cost of health insurance in the ACA Marketplace has increased an average of 26% in 2026 alone.
In a 2025 paper published by researchers at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, mistrust, misinformation and disillusionment in the health care system can cause patients to delay seeking medical attention when needed. For some, the lack of an immediate answer can cause patients to get lost in the sea of referrals after referrals, roadblock after roadblock. Nevertheless, Parikh encourages people to have some trust in the system.
Despite wrestling with years of frustration and confusion, Parikh continues to have faith in the medical system. He attributes his continued faith, while oftentimes wavering, to his close-knit support system of friends and family. His loved ones worked tirelessly to find second, third and fourth opinions at every roadblock. Parikh acknowledges that “doctors at the end of the day have always done what they needed to do.”
He also adds that the years of uncertainty is not a testament of his physician’s ability, but rather providers exercising cautiousness when diagnosing a particularly complicated case. “Especially as I was growing up, there's many different things that can happen with the heart, especially for a younger kid, and I think they didn't want to completely say, ‘hey, it's this’,” says Parikh.
Reflecting on his experience, Parikh says that it is better when physicians are transparent with patients with potential diagnoses and the likelihood of each diagnosis being accurate.
Parikh’s case, like many others, demonstrates the immense patience and perseverance demanded of patients and their families when navigating the healthcare system. Medicine is incredibly complex and not always as clear cut as it seems or as patients want it to be. Transparency between patients and physicians is important throughout this process, especially when the path to a
single correct answer is oftentimes far from linear.
“[Healthcare] is slow, but the process is worth it at the end of the day. Let it happen. Don't rush decisions … the more you gamble with your health, the worse it can get.”