2 week urgent referral type 1

[BornSandyDevotional]

Hi.

My husband has an urgent referral for suspected cancer.

It's upper GI.

He's had a non-invasive scan and has been referred as an urgent 2WW.

Communication from both the GP and hospital has been dreadful.

I understand they're supposed to refer to this as an urgent suspicion of cancer referral.

They haven't.

He's type 1 diabetic, aged 56.

Diagnosis was around 40.

I didn't know him then.

He's lost an extreme amount of weight despite being 5ft7 and just a tinier bit bigger than me anyway.

And I'm short

He is vomiting frequently, can't eat and there have been a couple of times where I've put laundry in and he's obviously shat himself and tried to clean it up.

What's worrying more is that there have been a few instances of real mood swings (not violent) over around the last 12 months.

I'm not sure he's been overly honest with me as a person (thanks boarding school!).

I just wondered if anyone else had experienced the mood swings.

He has a consultant meeting on Friday, more bloods on Monday and a load more scans on the 26.

The diabetes worries me because it does increase susceptibility.

I know 93% of people go through urgent appraisal like this.

I just have a really bad feeling because of the mood changes.

Please tell me it's all in my head.

Thank you.

I meant: 93% go through the appraisal/tests and are clear.

I just don't know how to support.

Didn’t want to read and run. Have had experience with family members with cancer and mood swings have been part of it (but experienced during treatment).

Can you go with him for the consultant appointment on Friday? I found when my mum was going through this it was hard for her to remember all that was said so a companion helps for sure

I am hoping to go. My manager was on leave today. They're very accommodating and kind. I'm sure she'll let me have the time off.

I'm just not sure he'll want me to be there.

I was thinking of taking leave for the day regardless.

Thank you for responding!

Definitely try to go with him, if he's okay with you doing that, because two people are more likely to take more in. Make sure you come away with the plan going forward to work this out. I would suggest including the question "If this isn't cancer, there's still a problem, so what is happening to rule out other possibilities as well?" You sometimes find cancer referrals are designed to rule out the cancer, and may forget that "not cancer" isn't a diagnosis. I presume your GP has already done basic blood tests, to rule out such as coeliac disease, and stool samples for blood and inflammation?

When I was going through a two week referral process and subsequent diagnosis I asked if I could record the various consultations on my phone - consultants were happy for me to do this.
One more junior staff member said she’d prefer I took notes.
I put this down to her own insecurities/fear of litigation. If you can’t attend consultations with your husband or he prefers you not to be there ask him to record the conversations.
It’s really very difficult to remember what was said after the event.

Thank you so much.

I will make sure I'm there.

He's in quite a lot of pain, clearly.

But he won't say anything about it to me.

So presumably not to the consultant.

I'll go.

Thank you.