Everyday on TV, Radio or newspaper there is coverage on bowel cancer, if you notice changes etc etc go straight to your Doctors. One of my manager's wife has been doing that for months, to the point recently that she spent most of her day in the toilet. I don't know why but the Doctor just refused to refer her to see someone else. At first he said it was something to do with the tablets she had taken to go to the loo, then she was suffering stress, all the usual rather than just sending some one off for a proper investigation.
Finally, after requesting to see a specialist privately, she was referred she saw the consultant a week gone Monday and Tuesday she was in having very test possible, by Tuesday evening they were forewarned things were not good. Today, after going through a small operation on Monday the news is far from good. Their lives have just fallen apart, they are no longer just dealing with bowel cancer but it has already spread to the lungs and the lymph nodes. She did everything right but has been badly let down by her GP. The same thing happened to my late Aunt, for 2 years she kept going to the Doctor and all that time her cancer was spreading to the point that by the time diagnosis was made she didn't have that much time left.
Everyone makes mistakes, errors happen in every aspect of people's jobs, but when you have a patient knocking at your door more than 3 times for the same reason surely something should be looked at. Even giving peace of mind by doing further investigations must save the NHS millions, and that would just be on the amount of pills they dole out.
I received news of my scan date, to my horror it is the day of Alan's funeral. Changing it means another long wait and I just daren't. Its now 7 months since confirmation of the cancer growing and as much as it breaks my heart not to be at the funeral it would break my families heart if I put off another 6 weeks for a scan which adds on another 2 weeks for the results and then we are in October before I get anything sorted out.
On a good note, Lexi is 10 today, hubby baked her a special cake, made with chicken fillets, oatmeal and carrot all mixed with flour and eggs (sounds delightful .. not). He then put Dog chews on the top for candles... bless. It was so funny this morning as I was pulling out for work the florist arrived with a vase of flowers, I thought he had gone mad and bought her a bouquet for her birthday, it turned out they were for me as a thank you for his new 500 lens he wanted.
All for now, thoughts to Heather and family for Tuesday
Jan
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