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.

Please can we talk about some of the signs and symptoms that were ignored? So that more people can be saved?

What is the solution?
What is the quickest way to detect cancer - MRI? How much does one cost?
I know that my blood test results are always bad - I ended up having a bone marrow biopsy and turns out it's just me.
Are there ways of screening for cancer that could be done every 2-3 years - presumably too expensive for the NHS.
My friend lost both parents to cancer (30 years apart) - within 6 weeks of diagnosis. All aunts and uncles on one side died within 2 months of diagnosis.
It would not be unreasonable to assume my friend was at high risk of cancer but what can she do?

The problem is some signs are very subtle and vague.
Unexplained weight loss should always be taken seriously.
Routine MRI tests can not be done as space needs to be left for those who need them.
Blood tests can in many cases detect issues that need further investigation. So always push for those if worried.

Yes, the U.K. had the worst cancer detection rates in the OECD prior to the pandemic. The pandemic has made things worse, mostly through massive staff attrition.

I am a nurse in the NHS and shock horror work PT....

That doesn’t mean my department is left short because I'm PT as other's are employed to cover the outstanding hours. We work on whole time equivalent.... and can employ as many staff as we want to use those hours.

The issue is whether there are staff to actually employ.

Therefore in the admin and GP scenarios previously..... maybe there are the hour's available but no-one to do them.

@BiscuitLover3678 the signs and symptoms make no difference. I had every single symptom of bowel cancer - altered bowel habit, bleeding, pain. Later on I got fever which is typical of more advanced disease. I had upwards of 30 appointments with multiple GP’s to discuss this issue even taking the NICE guidelines into the GP office with me and pointing out they were not compliant and should have referred. Apparently this marked me out as someone needing MH treatment as opposed to being concerned about a potential tumour. I cried and asked how I was supposed to pay my mortgage when I felt so awful it was a struggle to work. GP shrugged.

My colon ruptured in the car on the way to work later that day. I woke up in the aftermath of a crash caused by me passing out at the wheel.

I have no truck with GP’s - they know much less than they think.

Yes

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62594141

Lots of stories here about GPs fobbing people off without tests. This is not lack of resources or gatekeeping of specialist care - it's more like active medical negligence.

It's just been announced waiting lists are at another all-time high.

I worked in the service for many years as a nurse. In 2009 waiting lists were pretty much a thing of the past and NHS satisfaction was the thing at an all-time high.

What the tories have done to the NHS in twelve years is nothing short of criminal. We have been warning of this for a decade.

I didn't realise but I was showing classic signs of tiredness before my diagnosis.

I'd fall asleep on the sofa at 8pm every night. Even my dc said to me 'Mummy why are you SO tired.' I put it down to being a single mum, working full time, late 50s. Tired is normal - I was wrong. It never occurred to me to go to the gp.

Thank God for routine screening !

I remember 2009. Waiting lists were very short.
We spend way less than other developed countries on healthcare. The Royal Family have more wealth than is spent on our healthcare in a year.

This is objectively untrue.

"NHS Digital’s latest GP appointments data, published today, showed that 65% of appointments in GP practices were delivered face to face in July.

This is the highest figure since March 2020, when 66% of appointments were delivered face to face."

Pre-pandemic it was 80% so nearly back to normal. The difference is that GPs are now able to fit in many more patient contacts overall due to phone/video/electronic consultations. This is a good thing and preferred by most many patients.

They are actually working harder than ever.

My Dad's symptoms were weight loss (3 stone), sweating, tiredness, serious confusion (brain fog), lack of appetite and horrendous shoulder pain. All explained away as "long Covid".

My mums symptoms (just before she was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer that had spread) were a swollen stomach (put down to menopause), persistently low iron (put down to Crohn’s disease) and persistently low potassium requiring frequent hospital infusions (put down to a recent knee replacement). She died 6 weeks after her cancer diagnosis. I think a lot of things are missed if you have existing conditions as it’s so easy to write things off as related to those.

This is untrue as well.

nhs spending in 2021 was £130bn

The crown estate is estimated at £17bn but that isn't their personal wealth. That pays for Windsor, Buckingham Palace, staff, Royal collections etc.
The Queens personal wealth was estimated at £370 m.

I haven't read the full thread but I would urge those who can afford it to go private. I recently had a big lump in my breast. I waited to be seen on the NHS for 9 days and nearly had a breakdown imagining the worst case scenario. My mam asked my what was wrong as I was a wreck and booked me in the same day to be seen privately. I had a full consultation, two biopsies and a follow up check (wasn't anything serious) and it came to just over 1k.

I know I'm very lucky my mam can pay for things like that but to be honest I would pay that myself as I just don't trust the NHS now. I'm hearing more and more of these stories where serious things are missed.

For me personally (not necessarily for other people), I would rather have a swift process from diagnosis to death of just a few weeks. Let's just get it all over with and zero fuss. No pressure to faff about with treatments and go through the misery of chemo etc, potentially just to extend life for a few months - utterly pointless. So be aware that some people will make their own choices about when/if to access services or screening.

Of course, and this is absolutely your right, but for many here they didn’t make that choice, that choice was made for them, and that is unfair.

So sorry to everyone who has lost someone

I had a thread a couple of weeks ago about the consultant I saw after my GP referred me when she found a lump.

Consultant told me it was caused by my underwired bra and sent me away.

I am 49 and asked if he could just give me a mammogram 10 months early, but no, he wouldn't.

I went private and saw a consultant who works in the same NHS breast clinic and he referred me back to the NHS and was shocked that I had been forced to go private.

I got slated by quite a few MNetters for 'disrespecting' a consultant and thinking my fears were valid and deserving of investigation. I wonder if they wouldn't do the same in my position?

@Toyingyu You would not be seen more quickly privately where I live. I know. My DP had a cancer scare recently. NHS and private waiting times were the same for a MRI.

@mini Always push for what you need. Ignore those who say otherwise.

The Crown Estates is a swizz. It is owned by a trust but the Royal Family have full use of them. Same with Duchy Estates. The only thing they can't do is sell them. They live in the palaces, enjoy the art collections and choose what to hang in their houses and individual rooms, etc.

It's scary as it's so prevalent now and there's no sure fire way to avoid it.. But it's still good to keep healthy to avoid other conditions which I see in my daily life making peoples lives difficult.
But yeah.. why is it so common now 😔

My late Mum died a month after her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, in 2019. She'd been to the GP with pain, sickness etc, and was given antibiotics, told it was her age (mid-80s), IBS or gastritis. Way too late for any treatment by the time she was diagnosed.

So sorry for everyone's losses on this thread

Cancer is so common now. It is scary. My mum was shocked that two of my friends my age have already died of cancer.