Why was cancer not found !

genie51072 · New User Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 3 Location: essex

My mum has recently (21.02.07) died of lung cancer (as well as many other secondary forms of cancer). I first had fears that my mum had lung cancer back in November 06. To me (Joe public) it was not rocket science, ALL the signs were there. I will give you a brief outline of my mums medical history. My mum had a minor heart attack approx 15 years ago and she has undergone 2 triple heart bypasses. She also suffered with emphysema for the last 15 years. Therefore my mum has been in and out of hospital for as long as I can remember. She has had numerous chest x rays which for the last couple of years have shown what has been described to us as "a grey area" or "a shadow" when ever I have gone to question this my mum has ALWAYS told me to hush my mouth and that the docs know what they are doing !!! As my mum also suffered with anxiety attacks I have had to do as I'm told in the past ! The docs have either stated that the "grey area" was a blood clot and started injecting a blood thinning substance into her stomach for 4 to 7 days or we have been told that it is the emphysema deteriorating. to cut a very long story short every time my mum has been sent home from hospital with NEVER an inkling that cancer may be present and NEVER a plan for further investigation (ct scan). She was even sent home 6 weeks before she died with a pamphlet on breathing exercises to help control her anxiety as this was what was making her feel ill !!! I think that various health professionals thought some time ago that cancer may be present but looking at the medical history decided that there was not a lot point and also that any TREATMENT given would be v costly to a person that had already had her fair share of NHS funds. I know your first reaction would be.... NO, they wouldn't be able to do that, but nothing else adds up to me. I wondered if anyone could come up with any other explanation or if anyone else has had a similar experience or lastly point me in the right direction of how I can go about looking into this further. I have completed the form to obtain my mothers medical records, but where I go from there ??? Please help. Jeanette.
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I also would like to add that I had asked myself the question, whether my mum knew she had cancer and just didn't say anything to try and protect me a few times, and without boring you with too many details, one question, of many, my mum used to say was "why am I so tired all the time, do you think I might have M.E ?" Also approx 10 weeks before she died my mum and dad decided to have a consultation with 2 private doctors, a stomach specialist as she was being so sick alot of the time and if not being sick she was reaching constantly and also a chest specialist to firstly try and get oxygen at home as had tried on numerous occasions via the nhs but was told that she was not a bad enough case even though the oxygen levels in her blood were NEVER above 90% and could not walk more than 6 steps before she had to rest ! Again not wanting to bore you too much, the amount it cost (nearly £3,000) for various tests and procedures (eg. tube down throat into stomach etc) was far more than my parents could easily afford on their pensions but felt they had no where else to go. My mum didn't like spending £20 on HERSELF so I can safely say that she definitely didn't KNOW she had cancer. So please if anyone else has any other explanation, information, help in pointing me in the right direction or know if this has happened to anyone else I would be so grateful as I am really struggling to come to terms with why this was not found any sooner. I know this is not going to bring my poor mum back or even change the final outcome but there was definitely more that could have been done if we knew what we were dealing with to make my mum a dam sight more comfortable for pain and her sanity (and mine) in the last few months of her life. I don't want to point the finger of blame on any individuals but if what I suspect is true it is not right for so called health professionals to play god with peoples lives.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Jeanette xxx______
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Jeanette

Vee Smith · Moderator Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 821 Location: UK

Hello, Jeanette - I am so sorry for your loss; my very sincere condolences.

There is little that can be said to comfort you at this point. However, with reference to diagnosis when I was diagnosed (very late, and after a misdiagnosis) with a metastasized cancer, the consultant said it was very common for people to present late in cancer, partly because the symptoms can be those for so many disorders, partly because people are frightened of being ill. I have no answer to this - good diagnosticians are not easy to find. I often think it is because they so often look only at the symptoms and do not have a complete picture of the person. Roll on, holistic medicine!

Your anger at the distress she suffered I fully understand. There is no need for it today with such good palliative systems available. However, when my uncle died last winter, his carers were unable to get a duty doctor to come and provide pain-control in his last three days of life, something that he had always been terrified about. It is a major failure in the system that one can no longer guarantee to have medical care out of hours. I am still angry about that. It is so petty and shoddy to have a system that cannot supply the expected service.

I hope you will find more answers to your questions.

byermoor2 · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:30 am Post subject: doctors did not see the signes

hi
i lost my dad on the 18th october and my mam on the 23rd of nov,i still hav'nt come to terms with it. i lived next to them so i saw them every day and done everything for them. We had no warning that my dad was going to die we just thought he was going into hospital to get his meds changed,then they informed us that he had leukemia and he died two days later.My mother had her stomach removed and we thought she was doing fine, went for her checkup and they said they did'nt want to see her again untill her next checkup.a few weeks later she went down hill so we phoned the hospital and they said to bring her in ,they had a bed for her,after the test they informed us that a limph node next to her liver must have had a tiny speck of cancer in it that they missed and it had spread. There was nothing they could do so we brought her home.All of the family was with her ,she could not sleep ,drink,or eat and we could tell that she wanted to go and join my dad ,she had had enough.After we all said our goodbyes ant told her how much we loved her the nurses came in and put her on what you call a syringe driver ,she fell asleep and two days later she died.but what was so strange was seconds before she died she open'd her eye's and looked at both sides of the bed,i think she was checking to make sure we were all there.I will never forget that night,but i am glad i was with her every day till the end.I don't think i will ever come to terms with it,i want them back so much.

john-god · New User Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 1

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mattant79 · New User Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Posts: 3

Hi Jeanette, i know what you mean, My dad had crohn's disease so every time he went to the dr about his pain they gave him more tablets for crohn's, he got took into hospital for a op to take a look at his stomach like he always did , but they delayed the op for a further 2 weeks as the surgeon was really busy ?, they finally opened him up and and gave him weeks to live, they let him out of hospital on the wednesday and he died on the monday, he was riddled with cancer and no one picked it up no doctor, surgeon or specialist, my dad was 52, i have no faith at all in the nhs, looking back now if i took him to a private hospital he would still be here now, but thats a stage i went through after his death i looked for someone to blame, i even blamed my dad at one point everyones different, i hope you and your family are all coping with it, i'll be honest i tried to be strong as my dad left his wife for 32 yrs, me his only son, my sisters aged 25 and 13, my son his only grandchild 15 months old thats what hurts me my son will never know my dad, his grandad, but i tried to be strong and it ended up i was worse, just let it out dont hold your feelings in and if you want to talk im here for you, i cant make things better but i'll listen to you as i know what you are going through.

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