'I suffered major delays in my NHS treatment and now my cancer is terminal'

[Northerner]

A grandmother claims significant delays in her NHStreatment may have led to her cancer becoming incurable.

Cat Mackay, 60, was admitted to Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth in February after experiencing terrible stomach pains.

A CT scan revealed a "thickening" of her bowel and she was told she would need an urgent biopsy to assess what was causing the problem.

However medics said they were unable to carry out the procedure until the following week, so she was sent home where she waited anxiously for the appointment to arrive.

After eventually being told by letter many weeks later that her case was "too complex" for Bronglais to deal with, she was transferred to a hospital in Hereford for the biopsy.

In total it took more than eight months for her to finally be told that she had bowel cancer. But worse news was to follow when it was discovered that her cancer had spread to both of her lungs and her liver and was now terminal.

'My NHS treatment was delayed and now my cancer is terminal'

Cat Mackay, 60, has been given between two and three years left to live after being told she had bowel cancer. In total it took more than eight months for her to be diagnosed

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[mikeydt1]

i have been told also of cases around here where people have been left too long and the cancer has spread.

i have also been diagnosed with an abdomen mass and by the time i have the scans next week thanks to delays it will have been a month and worrying i have now developed back pain.

 

[Northerner]

i have been told also of cases around here where people have been left too long and the cancer has spread.

i have also been diagnosed with an abdomen mass and by the time i have the scans next week thanks to delays it will have been a month and worrying i have now developed back pain.

Can't 'like' this post I hope that the scans go well and you are able to get some good treatment soon

 

[grovesy]

A grandmother claims significant delays in her NHStreatment may have led to her cancer becoming incurable.

Cat Mackay, 60, was admitted to Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth in February after experiencing terrible stomach pains.

A CT scan revealed a "thickening" of her bowel and she was told she would need an urgent biopsy to assess what was causing the problem.

However medics said they were unable to carry out the procedure until the following week, so she was sent home where she waited anxiously for the appointment to arrive.

After eventually being told by letter many weeks later that her case was "too complex" for Bronglais to deal with, she was transferred to a hospital in Hereford for the biopsy.

In total it took more than eight months for her to finally be told that she had bowel cancer. But worse news was to follow when it was discovered that her cancer had spread to both of her lungs and her liver and was now terminal.

'My NHS treatment was delayed and now my cancer is terminal'

Cat Mackay, 60, has been given between two and three years left to live after being told she had bowel cancer. In total it took more than eight months for her to be diagnosed

www.walesonline.co.uk

After hearing of these stories I was suprised to hear from my hairdresser that her sister was diagnosed and received treatment during lock down, and has continued to do so for bowel cancer.

 

[Northerner]

After hearing of these stories I was suprised to hear from my hairdresser that her sister was diagnosed and received treatment during lock down, and has continued to do so for bowel cancer.

I have an elderly neighbour who was diagnosed with bladder cancer just before the March Lockdown. I believe she has been receiving treatment. I think a lot have, it depends on how 'urgent' the treatment is when hospitals are under strain, problem is it can then become urgent when delayed

 

[Amity Island]

Can't 'like' this post I hope that the scans go well and you are able to get some good treatment soon

Northerner,

We could do with some other options for responses, not just the "like".
how about:

agree (thumbs up)

sympathise (?)

 

[Amity Island]

A grandmother claims significant delays in her NHStreatment may have led to her cancer becoming incurable.

Cat Mackay, 60, was admitted to Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth in February after experiencing terrible stomach pains.

A CT scan revealed a "thickening" of her bowel and she was told she would need an urgent biopsy to assess what was causing the problem.

However medics said they were unable to carry out the procedure until the following week, so she was sent home where she waited anxiously for the appointment to arrive.

After eventually being told by letter many weeks later that her case was "too complex" for Bronglais to deal with, she was transferred to a hospital in Hereford for the biopsy.

In total it took more than eight months for her to finally be told that she had bowel cancer. But worse news was to follow when it was discovered that her cancer had spread to both of her lungs and her liver and was now terminal.

'My NHS treatment was delayed and now my cancer is terminal'

Cat Mackay, 60, has been given between two and three years left to live after being told she had bowel cancer. In total it took more than eight months for her to be diagnosed

www.walesonline.co.uk

Yes, and when people get out and apply their deomcratic rights to protest against these lethal lockdowns, they get called, covidiots, anti vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, tinfoil hats etc

 

[Drummer]

I have wondered why the Nightingale hospitals were not used for Covid related hospital visits - I have read that some of them stood unused throughout the first wave.
It would have made the permanent hospitals at least seem safer for normal visits and treatment.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I have wondered why the Nightingale hospitals were not used for Covid related hospital visits - I have read that some of them stood unused throughout the first wave.

Staffing, mostly. (Also because they're not real hospitals, they're quite special-purpose. But mostly staffing.)

 

[Amity Island]

Staffing, mostly. (Also because they're not real hospitals, they're quite special-purpose. But mostly staffing.)

Bruce,
Do you mean they built them, knowing they wouldn't be able to staff them?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Do you mean they built them, knowing they wouldn't be able to staff them?

You seem surprised?

I think the hope was that these would be warehouses of simple ventilators, such that they'd need much lower staffing than a real ICU (all the patients would be unconscious, for example), and such that it wouldn't be too hard to train people to work in them. Fortunately we never got to find whether that would work out. (I'm not at all sure there was a properly worked out plan for fully operating all the Nightingale hospitals concurrently; I suspect there wasn't, so they were expecting them only to be operating partially, with need moving amongst them together with staff.)

 

[Amity Island]

You seem surprised?

I think the hope was that these would be warehouses of simple ventilators, such that they'd need much lower staffing than a real ICU (all the patients would be unconscious, for example), and such that it wouldn't be too hard to train people to work in them. Fortunately we never got to find whether that would work out. (I'm not at all sure there was a properly worked out plan for fully operating all the Nightingale hospitals concurrently; I suspect there wasn't, so they were expecting them only to be operating partially, with need moving amongst them together with staff.)

So; like a folly?

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance. Ostentatious definition is - attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration.

 

[Northerner]

Bruce,
Do you mean they built them, knowing they wouldn't be able to staff them?

Staff were to be taken from the ordinary hospitals for the Nightingales, leaving them, in turn, understaffed. I heard an interview on Radio 4 with an ICU nurse who was explaining just how short we are of these specially-trained nurses. The government's response was to say how many new nurses had been recruited, but of course they were of no use without the training, which couldn't be given overnight

 

[grovesy]

Staff were to be taken from the ordinary hospitals for the Nightingales, leaving them, in turn, understaffed. I heard an interview on Radio 4 with an ICU nurse who was explaining just how short we are of these specially-trained nurses. The government's response was to say how many new nurses had been recruited, but of course they were of no use without the training, which couldn't be given overnight

No and staff were taken form other specialties to look after people with very a little extra training to help look after patients.

 

[Abi]

And there was even talk of training air hostesses I believe. Or was it re training air hostesses who had originally been trained as nurses.
Belief that provision of adequate numbers of ventilators was a very oversimplistic way of looking at the problem.
Staffing levels and separation of staff treating covid and non covid patients is vital. Also I believe that it has been discovered that patients with covid do better when nvasive iventilation is put off unless no other options available..
It is very concerning looking at the delays and resultant adverse outcomes for other illnesses.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Also I believe that it has been discovered that patients with covid do better when nvasive iventilation is put off unless no other options available.

My impression is that's mostly what happened: it turned out we just didn't need so many people on ventilators.

 

[mikeyB]

I suspect that the lady who stimulated this thread was terminal in any event. Those secondary growths in the liver and lungs didn’t appear overnight. They were likely present at the time of diagnosis.

Bowel cancer is depressingly difficult to treat in any event. That’s why the health service (or some private company in England) send out those testing cards out every two years. Do you send yours back? (I don’t because my bowel is monitored in any event). It’s done to catch things early.

Last year, around 16,000 in the UK met their end due to bowel cancer. It’s around 11% of cancer diagnoses, in men the third commonest cancer after prostate and lung. In women, breast cancer is at the top. That’s incidence, not death rates for cancer. Breast is best in more ways than one.

 

[trophywench]

Slightly more hopeful is something we saw on You Tube last night. Scratting about on there a few months ago on the TV for anything interesting to have a look at when there was nowt we fancied watching, we got a bit hooked on following the Vlogs of some narrowboaters and a new Vlog appeared from one couple we usually watch.

They're full timers and anyway, in September she discovered a breast lump so they headed for somewhere civilised and she then had to register as a temporary resident and get a GP appointment, which she did. Late September. GP didn't like the feel of the lump either and she got a hospital appointment within a week. They did various tests and a biopsy there and then.

Another hospital visit for the results a fortnight later. Said she suspected the worst when the Macmillan Nurse was with the doc when she was ushered into the consulting room an she wasn't wrong. Very aggressive kind which needs removing to which she agreed wholeheartedly so they'll take the lump and the sentinel lymph nodes, she had her pre-op last week and she heard on Saturday just gone that her op's - today. It will be another fortnight before she knows whether she needs any more intervention etc.

 

[Abi]

I suspect that the lady who stimulated this thread was terminal in any event. Those secondary growths in the liver and lungs didn’t appear overnight. They were likely present at the time of diagnosis.

 

[Abi]

Similarly with many of the other tragic tales. There was a young lady in her 30s with metastatic bowel cancer whose chemo was abandoned and she died a few months later. I'm not sure how much difference the chemo would have made but a very bitter pill for her family to swallow-- However there was less knowledge about covid 7 months ago -also I assume immunosuppression and covid would tend to = increased chance of bad outcome.
There had been considerable hype even before Covid a year or two ago about UK cancer survival statistics being poor compared to other countries... Probably multiple reasons behind this ..