The difference between cancer life as a royal and as a "lesser mortal"

It's not just "lost" scans etc. My OH had all kinds of tests for his first cancer diagnosis, i.e. blood tests, MRI scans, skeletal x-rays and bone marrow sample. After he was diagnosed, he had to go to the hospital in the next town (same trust) for the second stage of his treatment and the consultant there insisted it ALL had to be done again, so that meant another four journeys to the hospital as, of course, they couldn't synchronise it all to be done on the same day!

As for expensive drugs, yes, but it applies to routine/monthly prescriptions too. One of my OH's drugs costs £1000 per tablet (that he takes weekly) another costs £300 per tablet (he takes daily) - prices as per NHS website. Thing is, though, that instead of taking them weekly/daily, his consultant has advised him to take them every other week/day, to reduce his side effects, so he only uses half of what is prescribed. Apparently it's "too difficult" for the consultant to prescribe half, and "too difficult" for him to issue the drugs every 8 weeks instead of every 4 weeks. So OH is building up quite a stock of very expensive drugs in our kitchen cupboard.

The waste and inefficiency is absolutely criminal. The staff just don't care!

absolutely awful the way you have been treated - money cannot buy health but it can make it so much easier if you are ill - help in all aspects of ones life. before more funding for the nhs we need to look at the waste and mistakes that are made on the admin side. twice i have been sent appointments cancelling the appointment and then giving me the same appointment again. friends have turned up to see a cancer consultant and no scan results have been sent over this has happened twice. then consultant on holiday no one dealing with his cases - more delays and when it is cancer you want treatment sorted as soon as.

the nhs needs reform and social care but no one seems willing to do it., as for doctors and nurses going on strike - it should be written in their contracts no striking .

Nope. Think again. Like everything else it depends on where you live. I’m lucky to be treated by a national centre of excellence but l have first hand experience of friends who haven’t been so lucky and significant delays have seriously affected their prognoses.

Oh yes
I had forgotten the challenge of trying to get the prescribed drugs as they discharged with 48 hours worth on a Friday and it was really obscure.

but also being prescribed thousands of pounds worth that were never used as they changed their mind and they couldn’t be returned.

and lost scans. And having to have blood tests twice as the hospitals 10 miles apart cant access each others results.

and now a 3 hour wait for a blood test!

Last time i checked neither royalty or "royalty" were getting buses to and from chemo! While being told by the NHS cultists that "the NHS is not a taxi service"

Must be nice to get to an age where you need elderly care before your body craps out and tries to kill you. Maybe the people who need elderly care are the royalty of the genetic lottery?

They're really not. My OH has had cancer for six years and he's had nothing but crap "care" and the run around from his oncology department. Lost scans (after taking months waiting), treatments cancelled at last minute, passed from pillar to post just for the simple things like blood tests, turning up for appointments with consultant and waiting 2-3 hours only to be told he's gone or didn't even arrive, so wasted everyone's time. Crowded waiting rooms without ventilation (before before and after covid) despite them being cancer patients and immunonsuppressed. Turning up for pre-arranged appointments to collect drugs to find they've not even been prescribed, or they've lost them. Turning up for infusions as per agreed appointments only for them not to have been prescribed, so wasted appointment for both patient and nurses/dept. It's been a sodding fiasco from start to finish. Trouble is all the people involved (and there are lots of them, he has a full page of names and direct phone numbers) just pass the buck and fob him off. If he wasn't so switched on and on top of things, he'd be dead by now as he's having to fight for every single appointment/treatment as nothing is happening automatically/scheduled as it should be. People really need to do lots of research themselves, take notes, question anything that looks/sound wrong, and keep chasing them. It really shouldn't be like that when it's something as serious as cancer!

Cancer patients are the 'royalty' of the NHS in terms of funding & care compared with mere mortals of mental health, elderly care & learning disabilities

@JenniferBooth thank you.

I have mixed feelings about my treatment as I am (as far as anyone can tell) not showing signs of disease - "cured", if you will, albeit with a 30-40% chance of local reoccurrence (can't recall the stats about distant reoccurrence and not currently in the mood to torture myself, but they're not fun either and unlike the local stats, they can't be changed).

To be clear, I could have had the radiation. I turned it down. The radiation oncologist was the first doctor I met who was happy to help crunch the numbers, and was very straight with me about the radiation side effects that he saw in his patients. If I'd seen him before my surgery, I'd have been able to advocate for myself sooner. He said to me "sometimes I wonder what I'm doing [by giving people radiation]".

The (non-radiation) doctors that I saw before my surgery pooh-poohed my concerns regarding radiation. I was told that the "new" radiation doesn't give you burns (it does) and one doctor said to me "Well have you taken paracetamol before? That has side effects too".

If you ever get cancer treatment on the NHS, my advice is Google everything. They tell you not to, but Google is how I found out that a mastectomy without radiation was a viable alternative to a lumpectomy with radiation for my cancer/stage. Don't take for granted that you will be offered options, even if they're capable of providing them.

I ‘ve often been told by French oncologists that British oncologists are very good and they are well respected . It’s just the welfare service that isn’t up to scratch..Then again between NI and pension contributions I pay about 20/25 percent of gross salary so we do pay for it. It’s totally worth it though in my opinion ,if nothing else but for peace of mind .

@Cocococoa hope you are doing well now. When I read the first few lines of your post I admit that my initial thought was "Aha, one of those with a super job and lots of support that doesn't normally apply to the majority huh!" And I see you are in France.

That is how it should be and I am pleased you were well looked after. I often who or where the NHS benchmarks itself against. It obviously isn't the French health system anyway.

This is fucking appalling. So gobsmacked i dont know where to start. @CammyChameleon Sorry dont know what to say

I feel for everyone who gets cancer, rich or poor.

I'd probably have had an easier time during treatment if I was in a position to outsource cleaning, cooking and school runs. I wanted to do fun things with the kids too, but often found that the energy for "fun" had been used up on the essentials.

The NHS is patchy as hell when it comes to cancer.

Imagine chasing a doctor you've been referred to for months before he sees you, only for him to finally see you and find that you have Stage 4 cancer with only months left to live? Happened to a lovely person I met at chemo who is now gone.

I had my last chemo infusion cancelled due to the side effects, I was told it was okay, they'd bring my surgery forward. They didn't, so my surgery happened outside the "sweet spot", giving the cancer cells more chance to recover and damaging my long term prognosis.

I was also railroaded into a less invasive surgery combined with radiation instead of more invasive surgery without radiation, without anyone bothering to tell me what radiation entailed until after the surgery.

So I didn't get radiation, and now after almost a year of me pushing, I'm going to have the more invasive surgery prophylactically on the NHS. Mustn't waste the NHS's time, they can waste yours though!

I had more than 12 months off on full pay then when I felt better went back to work part time but on full pay for a three months before going back full time . I was in France…… and wasn’t given special treatment, it’s the same for everyone there.

Unless she makes an appearance at Wimbledon, I doubt we will see her in public again until late Autumn at the earliest.

Do most cancer sufferers ever get the bones of a year off for treatment and recovery? On full pay with limitless family and other supports?

The comparisons with non Royals/Wealthy are totally bizarre and smack of veneration.

As with all who are ill, I wish her and you all well. Agree that the process rather than the treatment is different if you have time and money to spare.

Anyone experiencing a need for hospital care for physical illness or mental health issues recognises the additional horror of the lack of supportive functioning services.

Yes. And that being the case, it’s all the more galling when press and palace get together to paint a portrait of ‘the bravest woman in Britain’ when the woman in question is rich and privileged. The implication that Kate has handled cancer better than anyone else, when she has access to the best treatments and faces none of the challenges ordinary people struggle with when they are faced with a cancer diagnosis, is insulting.

Those ‘petty points’ are the main thrust of the thread.

? It's a wider discussion that's not about you at all, lol.

Whatever love, get a life! I have better things to do than argue with you about petty points!

Sending you very best wishes and lots of positive vibes !!

These are the results of 14 Tory years not the Royals. There are lots of rich, privileged people who get cancer and often they will not need to go through what you have but that doesn't mean they haven't suffered an equally hideous ordeal. I'm sorry you have had a rotten time. Anyone experiencing a need for hospital care for physical illness or mental health issues recognises the additional horror of the lack of supportive functioning services.

Correct. I he went down the alternate therapy route and paid a load of charlatans a shit load of money for their snake oil. By the time he came to his senses it was too late.

I'm sorry OP that you've seen such poor service from your NHS treatment. I'm being treated for breast cancer on the NHS at the moment too & my treatment has been quick, caring & competent from the moment I went to the GP with a lump.

I've had to juggle a bit of admin as had an operation at a different hospital from my chemo & immuno - the fact that electronic records seem to be stuck in their building of origin - almost as if the Internet hasn't yet been invented) but other than that I'm glad to say that I haven't been able to fault the treatment I've received.

I know that doesn't make the life / treatment any easier but I felt the need to say that you don't have to be a princess to get excellent treatment. Sadly you do probably need to near the right hospital, which isn't right either.