3 people I’ve known this week have died from cancer that was diagnosed too late to treat, all died in weeks. And I’m really sad about it all.

[Afterfire]

Just that really. All relatively young (40s).

My mum and Gran both died of bowel cancer that wasn’t picked up on until it had spread to the point of being a death sentence- both died 6 weeks after diagnosis. Both had blood tests, colonoscopies, endoscopies, all sorts. All clear - only a CT scan showed it up in the end.

I thought that was unusual.

But then this week I’ve found out 3 people I have known - a distant friend, a teacher of my sons, and the relative of someone I’m close with; have all died in similar circumstances. One of them even had an unnecessary hysterectomy as they thought their problems were menopausal and only after that were they diagnosed with bowel cancer that had spread too far and they died weeks later.

We are persistently told that early detection prolongs life but all these people pushed and pushed for investigations which they were either denied or that came back clear.

Its left me feeling absolutely terrified of developing cancer and no one realising until it’s too late. I have multiple health conditions as it is and of course with my family history of bowel cancer I am extra vigilant but experience has taught me even if I get the all clear it doesn’t mean everything is okay.

Please be kind. I’m feeling really low and fragile. Everything just seems so pointless when people suddenly die like this. Too young. Just horrendous.

Same. Our hospital is on black alert. Queues of ambulances waiting outside.

Inside? Empty wards, empty MRI (if you're private you get a slot next day. NHS is a 6 month wait for the same machine!!)

We have people slowing the referral process because they work 1 or 2 days a week as a medical secretary who never catches up.

GP is phone only. Its an eerily quiet building, 3 floors high and the building was built for the city (16,000 patients!) And its empty.

The a&e team are inundated. But if treatment was available earlier on then I expect patients ending up in A&E would reduce significantly!

Then the government wastes £21million a year on Quangos like healthwatch which nobody has ever heard of and doesn't have any impact.

An absolute mess.

I know a young GP who says he would love to work weekends only as it suits his lifestyle. If younger GPs like weekend working then open it up.

The older GPs with family commitments can continue working weekdays.

The admin staff need to work a decent amount of hours to ensure that its covered all week. Our local practise has 5 admin. 2 of those women are allowed to work one day a week each? Ideal for them but it is not effective for the community and the patients need to be prioritised. Of course they've worked there all their lives so they get special treatment 😂

I honestly think that the NHS needs to scrap people who work 1 day a week. It must slow things down considerably! Especially if it's a lone role and not a job share (like my neurology medical secretary! She's a lone ranger slowing it all up! Lots of complaints on Care Opinion to confirm this!)

We're not owed a long life, but people here are talking about being fobbed off, dismissed, doctors ignoring signs like massive lumps ...

OP, I don't have any words of wisdom but just wanted to say I'm so sorry, what a tough time for you.

It does seem to be a lot more common than I thought

Just to keep it in perspective, it is not really common. We all know hundreds of people, and they know hundreds of people, and the deaths you have learned of this week were people you knew distantly or knew of. When we are anxious about something, suddenly it is everywhere. We talk about it to our friends about it and they say "Oh yes, that happened to my second cousin" and we start to feel it is much more common than we knew.

I agree with you. My dh would probably still be alive if he'd "bothered the NHS' more. I have two friends who have health anxiety who are constantly at the GP and hospital having tests and I suspect they'll live a long life due to any issues being detected early.

I think the problem is that actually, there just aren't enough of them. I know a few GPs, all are completely and utterly overworked. They hardly make any social events because of it.

It's completely drummed into us in the UK 'DO NOT GO TO THE DOCTOR UNLESS YOU'RE AT DEATHS DOOR' they just don't have this in other countries. If you're sick, you go to the doctor. I have a Ukrainian staying with me, she's shocked at how spares the health service is in the UK compared to Ukraine.

We get what we vote for though and the Tories have just cut the number of medical school placements be 25% this year.

I’m so sorry you’ve had so much heartbreak and loss around you, it’s very understandable you’re upset.
Covid policies have added to what was an already overburdened system and it’s not acceptable to me so many people are now dying when they could have and should have been saved. Our own reactions and demands I’m afraid, added to this problem because I think we all got caught up in the fear of covid, which for the vast vast majority was never going to seriously affect us. To shut the healthcare system down in many areas to deal with it was a disgrace. Those who warned us were vilified and ridiculed, by us too. I think it’s past time for society to have a good look at ourselves and ask each other why we listen so much to media and why we pass the responsibility and decisions in our own lives off to our governments. They’re so incompetent I don’t know why we do it. Nobody wants to even talk about one of the major contributors to both covid and many cancers, our lifestyles, what we eat and what we weigh. Boris was met with anger when he tried to say it, using himself as a perfect example actually.

I think one thing we can do today to reduce health anxiety is to take control of our own health and take better care of ourselves. Not everything is preventable but most of the top 10 causes of death are.

I know a few GPs, all are completely and utterly overworked.

At my local surgery nobody is full time, all part timers and it’s a fancy fancy surgery too. Their average salary is above £50,000 for 2-3 days a week.

OP your thread has just prompted me to make that cervical screening appt - the letter has been sitting on my desk for a week and would probably remain there.

I have known a few people die of cancer but not late diagnosis. Someone important to me died from Covid in the first wave - it is still incredibly upsetting. Another parent at school died suddenly and unexpectedly about a year ago. It seems like it is everywhere but I think as you get older you realise it's a (horrible) part of life.

On the other hand fairly 'elderly' (they wouldn't appreciate being called that!) relatives have recovered from breast cancer, avoided covid and related complications, etc.

One of my friends is a 'part time' GP. She works three 12 - 14 hour days. Her husband is full time, he works five - six days like that. Like I said, they hardly make any social events. They also have young children.

Same,
I know newly qualified Doctors who would PREFER to work 2 days a week due to lifestyle (lots of skiing abroad!)

Is this really true? Not the case where I live.

And, as I said, the government, in it's wisdom, have cut med school placements by 25%. They must think we have too many doctors.

People are allowed to work part-time if they want to. And they would choose to if healthcare was private as well.

And those newbies want to work 2 days a week so they can go skiing 😂

@wah How do you know how much your GPs earn? I haven't a clue.

This. Our surgery is notorious for missing things and being lax. They are currently before the CQC and in the public eye for some serious misses. 2 GPs. Both work part time and they have their GP net earnings online. Last year their 'average net pay' was £82,000 (I have just looked).

The surgery is running on ANPs and nurses working their arses off. My son has regular visits due to a number of medical issues and the ANP we see most often was due to retire early 2020. Last time we went i mentioned this and she rolled her eyes and said that there was simply no way she could retire. As I have known her for so many years I said 'maybe it's because you no longer have any Gps working' and she looked me in the eye and said grimly. 'No, we don't have any Gps working'.

That is just m y surgery. I was being fobbed off for an illness that has seen me incredibly unwell for about 4 years. Finally in the middle of this year I paid for a private appointment and blood tests and discovered that I have an auto immune disease that is very easily treated with medication, but is ultimately fatal if not treated. 5 months of medication I am like a new person. yet i have been getting iller and iller and iller for years and just told to 'get more sleep' or 'take vitamins' or once asked if i usually felt particularly anxious about my health and nothing done making me feel like a total time waster. All it took was a simple blood test to find out what was wrong.

Think you've missed the point.

The point is part timers are slowing and clogging up the NHS. And people are dying

I know it isn't comforting in terms of your grief, but in case it helps your anxiety. I know three people, all late thirties or early forties, who had cancer in 2021/2022 - one lymphoma, two breast cancer - and all three were quickly diagnosed and effectively treated. All three are back to fairly normal lives, albeit with shorter haircuts, now.

We get what we vote for though and the Tories have just cut the number of medical school placements be 25% this year

Is this true?!?

My GPs are brilliant.

But my Aunt died of bowel cancer not diagnosed until months before she died. By the time she had any symptoms, it was advanced. It is scary.

But I also know a relative diagnosed with bladder cancer three months ago. Very quickly diagnosed and treated and is now cancer free.

I totally understand op. My cousin who is 37 and just a year older than me has just had bowel cancer and she had to push and push and push for 6 months to be taken seriously.
The doctor even said to her "I guarantee you it is nothing sinister" then it turned out she had a 4cm tumor.
Luckily they got it and removed extra bowel just in case. It seems that she doesn't need chemo either but jeez, she really feels lucky it hadn't progressed.

She too is very healthy, cycles a lot, east very well etc etc.

Now I am super scared of bowel cancer. Apparently my great grandad died of it

@OrangePumpkinLobelia awful :(

I know people are allowed to work part time but in the private sector, part time is only agreed if it suits the business.

Seems like part time is agreed in the NHS even though it has a detrimental effect on the community.

Case in point as above PP.

@self GPs are self employed. They have contracts with the NHS to deliver work.
There is an enormous shortage of GPs. So if you are suggesting the NHS should not offer contracts to surgeries with part time GPs, then you are saying loads of people would only be able to access private healthcare.

I am also just going to add that I KNOW many Gps are indeed working themsleves into an early grave. But I can speak only of my direct experience with my GP surgery. They have been unimpressive for some time. Covid did not help. I am literally talking about it now with a colleague who uses the same surgery and she has just told me that our surgey has apparently advertised for a locum so hopefully things will look up.