Why was cancer not spotted?

Rev

I agree GP's are just here to fob us off. I lost my mum to cancer last December. Leukaemia. I have since found out my mother was continually anaemic for 10 years before the GP referred her to a specialist. 10 years. Could there have been a different outcome? I don't know. My mums specialist said she didn't know but that it was outrageous it had taken so long for a referral.

My friends dad was sent for a biopsy on a lump. He was called 8 months later and told it needed to be removed as it was cancerous. 8 months. Thankfully it wasn't aggressive and it was just a case of removing the lump.

Same doctor threw my friend off the practice because she moves 200 yards out of the catchment area. Her dad lives miles outside the catchment area but apparently that's okay because he's been there for years. It's either a rule or it isn't.

My great aunt keep getting what she was told by her GP were cysts. No they're cancerous lumps. She's been having there treated every few months for twenty years now.

All of the above situations are absolutely unacceptable as far as I'm concerned. As a result I have zero confidence in my GP as its the same GP as my mother had. If there's anything wrong, I won't go. Last time I did I had a lump on my boob which he refused to look at. He said I needed to make an appointment with a female GP. Which would be great if I hadn't been trying to do that with no luck for the previous 8 weeks.

I can't change GP because they're all full. IMO they are interested in their wages. Nothing more.

mazza111

Sorry you've got a GP like that Rev. I'm in the same position, I feel my doc is treating me like I'm drug seeking. The only addictive drug I take is my cocodamol (med strength) and I only take them twice a day instead of 4 times, and stick to paracetamol during the day time. I'd rather work with my body with things like Icy Hot creams, go for deep tissue massages etc than take codeine based tablets.

floss2 wrote: »

And having a niece with HMS, I know that you get a lot of pain.

I don't have it as bad as some, like my daughter, but yes I do have a lot of pain every day, but would rather save some meds in reserve in case I really need them. Like today, after my surgery yesterday, having bladder surgery has knocked my hips out slightly while being in stirrups.... grrr. So I'm back on my crutches for a few days until I can get up and about to knock them back in.


Agree with you too Bennifred, regarding the self doubts. And I think if there's any mental health issues involved with the patient it's easy to do too I'm afraid.

Person_one

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Actually that has made me feel better, knowing that the delay might not have made things worse. Thanks.

In some ways, I think its a blessing that my friend's tumour was not discovered until near the end. I've seen people with brain tumours go through months and years of intensive treatment, lose their hair, their sight, their speech, their ability to walk and even with all that, the survival rates for a lot of brain tumours are still very poor.

Hopefully your friend will be able to use his remaining time in a way that he finds meaningful, and he will have his symptoms controlled for as long as possible. That's what I'd want for myself if I had an aggressive cancer like his.

I know its hard to think of it like that at first though, anger is a perfectly understandable response.

Person_one

Oh, and any doctors/GPs reading the thread, I'd appreciate it if you had a glance at these sites:

http://headsmart.org.uk

http://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/research/recently-completed-research/delays-in-diagnosis

valk_scot

pops5588 wrote: »

I also don't understand how these things slip under the radar like this.

One of my best friends from uni got diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer a little while before we graduated, 3 years ago. He was given the all clear about 8/9 months later but obviously continued to have all the checks. Then suddenly in April 2011 we get the news that he will die within a couple of months. He held out til May 8th 2011, a month before his 22nd birthday. We were all very angry, how can someone go from being completely all clear to the point where they are making plans for their life and then future, and then suddenly have a month to live?? I've never understood it and probably will never make peace with it.

I don't think they do actually give you the "all clear" after 8/9 moths tbh, not in the sense of being 100% cured, you're fine, go away. With most cancers you get to the point of being all clear of detectable tumours and symptoms (full remission) and then after that the milestones are the two year survival rate and the five year survival rate.

Doctors are extremely careful about saying a cancer is "cured" but generally if you make it to two years in remission you can start feeling hopeful, and if you make it to five years in full remission you're probably cured...but no doctor will ever say that it's guaranteed that your particular cancer will never return. Or that you won't get a different one come to think of it.

Also to comment on how fast your friend's cancer came back...well, the tiny and practically undetectable colonies that did make it through the treatment (at least one must have) are the ones that were chemo resistant and as such are tough as old boots. Plus the person's body and immune system will be weak from all the treatment. It's very common for the cancer to come back in a far more fast growing way than the original because of this...stronger survivor cancer cells, weaker host immune system, chemo-resistant cancer cells, weakened host less able to tolerate more aggressive chemo. It's not a good combination.

seven-day-weekend

Errata wrote: »

I think it's fair to say there are superb doctors, good ones, good enough ones, acceptable ones and poor ones.
If a patient feels they are receiving poor to the point of life dangering healthcare from a doctor, the remedy lies in their own hands. Formally complain or move to another practice.

Have you tried to move to another practice? Last time I tried, all the Drs in our area would only take people on who did not already have a Dr. It was impossible to change.

lostinrates

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Have you tried to move to another practice? Last time I tried, all the Drs in our area would only take people on who did not already have a Dr. It was impossible to change.

Or rurally your choice is often.....one practice.

Here we live really near three little towns. The surgery of one takes people from our villages, the surgeries for the other two consider us out of area. There is one other village practise further away that would take me ( an improvement on our last location, where there was literally just then one practise) but the only doctor there is The father of one of my oldest friends and for various reasons it would make me very uncomfortable to have him as my gp even though he is a lovely man.

Errata

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Have you tried to move to another practice? Last time I tried, all the Drs in our area would only take people on who did not already have a Dr. It was impossible to change.

Your local CCG (old PCT) may have details of large practices near you which will take out of area patients.

Humphrey10

securityguy wrote: »

If you think you can distinguish them in advance in a way that doesn't end up increasing lifetime X-Ray load unacceptably,

MRIs don't involve X rays. They do take much longer than CT scan though, so there isn't physically time to do an MRI of everyone with vague symptoms.

I had a head CT and a head MRI (both to check for any brain abnormalities, so they were both looking for the same thing) the CT was much quicker. But as securityguy and others have said, if you CT scan everyone, you will cause multiple cases of cancer.

GPs do have a very difficult job, and they can't see in to the future so even if they are perfect (which they are not, they are as human as the rest of us) they will miss some illnesses and misdiagnose them as others.

Armchair23

Many of us have come to think that all cancers can be easily diagnosed and cured. Science is such a wonderful thing.

They just can't all be, but that's not something any of us find easy to deal with. I didn't.

Every time you pick up a paper there's an article about eating more tomatoes, not using antiperspirant or some wonder drug that's just around the corner and everything will be fine.

The diagnosis and treatment of cancers really hasn't made that much progress in decades and the advances are often marginal and very expensive.

Some cancers are slow to develop and stay within their original site, so maybe a bowel cancer stays in the bowel etc., But others grow incredibly quickly and dig in to other areas in the body and can be totally resistant to treatment.

So you might have prostate cancer in your shoulder bones or spine.
or lung cancer in your liver. This is what 'Mets' are.

So for every good news story you hear and thank God there are many, there will be some that don't work out and leave us devastated about what might have been.

If you really feel that there's been a failure by a GP or someone else then by all means make your voice heard and loudly if you have to.

But we also need to be realistic about what treatment can offer us and our loved ones. And maybe sometimes just be sad not angry.


My heart goes out to anyone with a diagnosis themselves or for a friend or family member. Nobody wants to be there.