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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Extreme NHS cutbacks, spinal tumor, just wait and see!

37 replies

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:10

So I met a close friend for lunch today and she is quite rightly worried about her brother. A few weeks ago they found a small tumor on his spine. But apparently because of NHS cutbacks they are not going to investigate it further as it's not in the breast or testicles.

They don't know if it's benign, they don't know if it's attached to the spinal cord. He's just been sent home and told to "Keep an eye on it".

He's in his early 30's by the way, just had a kid.

It seems madness to me that they're not even going to investigate it.

AIBU to think this is a total travesty, to think that the NHS has got to this point? Do we need to have blood splatted up the walls before we get any treatment? What happened to prevention being better than cure?

I'm in shock, I have always been a big supporter of the NHS and how hard NHS have to work, but this is too far for me.

OP posts:

BooBooGlass · 21/02/2011 16:11

I don't think you're getting the full story here. Sorry.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:14

No, I don't know the details, fair enough, but neither does my friends brother. In fact all he knows is he has a small tumor on his spine and they're not going to investigate it until it gets bigger. They've told him it's because of cut backs, if it was in his breast or testicles then it would be.

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duchesse · 21/02/2011 16:15

Presuming it's been biopsied and turned out to be benign, his doctors might (quite rightly) have decided that the risk to your F's brother of surgery so close to the spine may outweigh the risk of leaving a potentially very slow-growing or not growing tumour in situ. My sister and I have had fibromas on our backs and on her arms for as long as I can remember. She had a few of hers removed, including one on her back, as it rubbed on her bra strap and caused her pain. The others (including all of mine, one very near my spine) are still in place and I see no need to interfere with them.

I do not believe that any doctor would leave a malignant tumour in place in pursuit of some bizarrely misguided desire to cut spending.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:21

This is my point, he's even not been offered a biopsy. If they'd found it benign then I would agree. But they're not even testing it.

I'm so shocked, my F has written to the Brain & Spine Foundation to see if they can offer any advice. Friends brother cannot afford to go private.

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Sassybeast · 21/02/2011 16:22

So now the only potential malignancies being investigated are testicular and breast ? sorry - my department must have missed that memo

Somebodys been reading too much Daily Wail...

controlpantsandgladrags · 21/02/2011 16:24

Don't believe that for a second, sorry.

iamabadger · 21/02/2011 16:25

Load of rubbish. If he's had no investigations to check exactly where it is then how do they know it's there? FFS.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:27

I don't read they Daily Bollox, I'm not trolling. I support the NHS and the over worked staff, I have had nothing but good experiences of the NHS, I almost can't believe it's free.

I met my friend and this is what she told me. She's not an ignorant or uneducated person, she's actually in the middle of her PHD. I decided to put this on MN as I wanted to know if this was happening everywhere or if it was local to where F's brother lives. Am going to text her and find region now.

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KurriKurri · 21/02/2011 16:32

It is possible he hasn't fully understood what was said to him - easy to do when you are anxious. He should go to his GP so s/he can go through the hospital report with him.

I'm pretty certain no one would have said to him 'we won't investigate it's not in the breast or testicles'. That just doesn't happen if they think you've got cancer they tend to 'overcheck' everything, to be on the safe side IME.

iamabadger · 21/02/2011 16:34

Unless the NHS has suddenly become a front for some sort of ring of murderers and I didn't receive the memo then he obviously does not require treatment at this stage. On a more serious note, it's quite possible that his scans will have given the doctors the information they need to make a clinical decision about how to proceed - y'know because they are the clinicians. No matter how clever your friend is if she's not a medical clever person it has no bearing on the situation!

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:36

Kurri, in my experience of friends and family any lump, bump or growth has always been investigated in some way.

That's why I'm finding this so shocking, this friend is not easily walked over and her brother is also an intelligent professional. I have only met him a few times, but I can't imagine he'd be the sort to misunderstand.

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DillyDaydreaming · 21/02/2011 16:37

Confuzzled - I work for the NHS and can categotically tell you that there is NO WAY the NHS would leave a potentially malignant tumour in situ to save money - t beggers belief.
I don't think you are getting the full story here - is it possible that it's a benign cyst at the base of the spine (just under the skin) that might cause your friend's DB more hassle if they remove it than leave it?

There is just no way they would leave a tumour unbipsied just to save cash - no way - that's a fact.

princessparty · 21/02/2011 16:39

i have gor some little lumps on my spine and hips and the doctor told me they were most probably nodules and to keep an eye on them incase thay got any bigger.This was about 10 ywears ago and they haven't.Could your friends DH have something like this?

AMumInScotland · 21/02/2011 16:42

I'm really quite sure that there has been a misunderstanding here - your friend's brother needs to go back to the doctors and get them to explain this to him again.

Even the most short-sighted person would realise that it is cheaper to investigate and treat a problem while it is still small, rather than to leave it to get bigger before taking action. So, honestly, I think there will be good reasons why they are taking this course with him, and it is not going to be anything like as brutal as the version you've been hearing so far.

KurriKurri · 21/02/2011 16:43

I have all my lumps and bumps investigated too Confuzzled - I'm a cancer patient - but they are not always biopsied, sometimes they are just looked at and I'm told they are nothing to worry about. Sometimes they are ultrasounded or CT scanned.

I only offer that as a possible reassurance. But if your friend is worried, he should push for a more detailed explanation from his GP, or ask for a second opinion. (or think about getting it looked at privately - if financially poss.) It's clearly affecting his peace of mind whatever is going on and he needs more info. I hope he gets reassurance soon - these things are naturally worrying.

BooBooGlass · 21/02/2011 16:44

I'm glad I'm not the only one who disbelieves this. I have had an awful lot of contact with the NHS in the last 2 years, all for nn life threatening conditions, PND, anxiety and eating disorders if you want specifics. The treatment I recieved could not have been more thorough, and I am still only a phone call away from help should I need it. I really very much doubt that somethng acute would be ignored due to 'cutbacks' and I think it's a shame the NHS has such a bad rep- if they can spend so much time and resources on sorting my silly little head out then I'm sure that a genuine spinal tumour would not get overlooked for the sake of saving a bob or two.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:47

My F is very upset and angry at this, so I'm not going to badger her for more info. I'm just retelling what she told me because she's so angry and I wanted to do something to help her, to see if this was the way things are now.

I didn't ask how the tumor was found. I don't think he had any scans but I'm not sure. He was told it would be investigated further if it was a breast or testicle tumor but as it's not then he just has to "Keep an eye on it".

So this is either really bad practice, a major misunderstanding or some serious problems with the NHS.

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WhereYouLeftIt · 21/02/2011 16:50

Sorry, but this sounds like some kind of Chinese Whisper - somewhere along the chain the information got garbled. I don't believe a tumour on the spine wouldn't be investigated, and I don't believe a doctor would say it was because of cutbacks, and I don't believe a spine would be treated less seriously than breasts/testicles.

DillyDaydreaming · 21/02/2011 16:51

...and if he's NOT happy then he MUST go back and ask for it to be investigated.

It sounds like a cyst under the skin to me - one of those things we are routinely told to "keep an eye on". Doesn't mean he has to accept that and as an intelligent person he MUST have the nous to realise that the NHS treats all tumours - not the ones they pick and choose.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:53

BooBooGlass, I agree with you, I've had 2 children, PND and my kids have been ill on and off with different things. The NHS has always been amazing, especially labour ward and the kids hospital. My FIL has MS and gets looked after so well, my MIL had breast cancer and she got amazing treatment. The NHS is huge and amazing and we are so lucky to have it. I just can't get over them not even doing a biopsy on a tumor, or checking to see if it's attached to the spine.

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SardineQueen · 21/02/2011 16:54

If they haven't done a any investigations then they can't know it's a tumour - could be a cyst or some other sort of thing.

I think there has been a misunderstanding here.

Original poster

Confuzzeled · 21/02/2011 16:55

DillyDaydreaming, I hope that's the case.

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LessNarkyPuffin · 21/02/2011 16:57

Bollocks.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 21/02/2011 17:00

I really dont think you have even a small part of the story here.

It just dosent make any sense at all.

Its more likely they know what it is and do not want to start digging around near a healthy young man's spine. Understandbly he probably wants it out but its not in his best interests if it isnt growing or interfering with his health.

MadBanners · 21/02/2011 17:56

Tbh, this just does not make sense!

For a start...if they had said that to him, and it turned out to be a tumour, a life threatening one, or one that spread..can you imagine the claim he could put in!

No NHS hospital would refuse to biopsy a suspicious lump. It just would not happen! The negligence case would be huge.

There is a Duty of Care owed...and this could be a potential breech of that duty that could lead to harm..and lead to a big compensation pay out.

I am pretty sure other things would be cut back long before that if needed. Excisions of minor lumps and bumps for example...manipulations of fractured noses, bloody Carpel Tunnel Decompressions...all annoying sure, but not potentially life threatening.

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