HRH The Princess of Wales Is Being Treated For Cancer

[TheSquareMile]

Radio 4 announcing it now.

Some readers tend to mistake the silly hyperbole of the headlines with what the members of the RF have actually said. It's a shame.

My DH’s was diagnosed when he was admitted to A&E after collapsing, but l think GP’s bear some of the responsibility for the fact that so many cancers are diagnosed when patients are admitted either as emergencies, or as a result of admission for other conditions.

DH had been visiting his GP for months complaining of worsening shoulder pain and other symptoms I now know should have been connected and treated as a red flag for urgent referral on suspicion of cancer. Instead the GP insisted on treating other symptoms as different conditions (for which he had to make separate appointments according to their policy of one appointment for one complaint) and by the time he collapsed the cancer had spread and he died on life support a week later, without regaining consciousness.

The A&E doctor who discovered the cancer via a plain X-ray (deemed unnecessary by our GP, who among other things, was treating DH for a trapped nerve in his shoulder) said that they frequently discover cancers, the symptoms of which patients report as having consulted their GP about, weeks or even months previously. GP’s are the gateway to secondary care and something is clearly amiss if we have got to this point.

There’s a NY Times opinion piece published a few days ago that says similar Amara. Or anyone else interested in the married in women. The comments section was interesting too, I thought. if you haven’t read it you might be interested. I came across it today.

NY Times

(I got to read it without signing up or anything, but when I linked the article just now I checked that, and now I need to sign in - for free - to read. Maybe you get the first read without having to hand over any info).

So true. Also, very often now the tabloid headlines are not true to the article at all, and some people only read the attention grabbing headline and think it’s true. But if they read the article they’d realise it is not as the headline portrays.

@Rosscameasdoody I'm so sorry , you must be devastated . Your GP completely failed your husband .
All this in the media about the POW must be horrible for you .

I feel very sorry for the Princess and her family.

However I feel even sorrier for someone I know who has cancer and has to wait ages for her treatment. She is a widow with two children and has to work as well.

I see Sarah Vine another journo now apologising for the furore over the Mother's Day photo. They are falling over themselves to say " oh but" . So many people jumping on a hate bandwagon because it was the popular thing to do ? To show they were edgy? To get column inches? Leeches.

I am there with you now, fortunately my DCs are grown up and I'm still in treatment, working, exercising and living life.

I would say Cancer is a broad term for many illnesses many which are treatable or are held back with drugs

@Rosscameasdoody I'm so sorry to hear this. I was found on a routine test following an ambulance visit.

My friend's GP missed skin cancer when finally referred it was too late. It wasn't ignorance by the GP it was so incredibly rare that most GPs would never see it in their patients.

She’s had surgery and is undergoing preventative chemo as a belt and braces precaution to minimise the risk of spread. With all due respect to her, that’s not exactly fighting for her life

I see we've reached the stage of discourse where we minimise early stage cancer. Do you behave like this in real life, or it it just your online persona?

Basically yes. They source their pleasure from the demise of others.

And yet on the other side of the coin my friend had a very rare skin cancer type presenting as a wart under her fingernail. Her GP had had recent experience of something similar so knew exactly what it was. My friend had an appointment with dermatology within 2 weeks for removal and associated radiotherapy. Sometimes l think it’s just the luck of the draw, but it shouldn’t be so.

Having lost my DH to an aggressive cancer which went undiagnosed because of GP error, l’m not in the habit of minimising anything to do with cancer, no. Had he been afforded an early stage diagnosis he might well still be here. By what HRH said herself, she is clearly not at the stage where anyone but the gutter press would use unwarranted, emotive phrases such as ‘’cancer stricken’ and ‘fighting for her life’. It’s unnecessary hyperbole, it’s clearly triggering to those on the thread who have cancer, and that’s the only point l was making. If you’re not capable of understanding that, it’s not my problem and it certainly doesn’t warrant your rude response. So l’ll ask you the same question - do you behave like this in real life, or is it just your online persona ?

I don't think they (speculators) will feel bad. They might feel embarrassed. Or even sorry for themselves.

Having lost my DH to an aggressive cancer which went undiagnosed because of GP error, l’m not in the habit of minimising anything to do with cancer, no. Had he been afforded an early stage diagnosis he might well still be here. By what HRH said herself, she is clearly not at the stage where anyone but the gutter press would use unwarranted, emotive phrases such as ‘’cancer stricken’ and ‘fighting for her life’. It’s unnecessary hyperbole, it’s clearly triggering to those on the thread who have cancer, and that’s the only point l was making. If you’re not capable of understanding that, it’s not my problem and it certainly doesn’t warrant your rude response. So l’ll ask you the same question - do you behave like this in real life, or is it just your online persona ?

So nice of you to worry about people with cancer being triggered. I was diagnosed with early stage cancer when I was 31. My children were babies. Even with an early stage diagnosis - which, as you so sneeringly say, was "hardly" fighting for my life, I have around a 30% of dying of this disease. You weren't just talking about hyperbolic language, you were minimising the experience of an early stage cancer diagnosis. I can assure you that a stage 1/2/3 diagnosis is not some gateway to sunshine and roses.

I wasn’t sneering I was simply commenting on the language used in the press and speculating on the reasons behind it. I qualified what I meant and it wasn’t personal against HRH or any other cancer sufferer for that matter. It was simply the unnecessary ramping up of the drama - which is probably what prompted the decision for HRH to appear personally to make a statement. Even that hasn’t calmed things because these lurid headlines are now stoking yet more drama by using language suggesting she’s at death’s door, which is simply not the case if her own statement is anything to go by.

You only quoted the part of my original post that suited your purpose, and it was completely out of context to the point I was making. I’ve explained what I meant. Having lost my own husband to cancer I’m hardly likely to minimise any aspect of it, but if that’s what you want to think that’s your prerogative. I’m sorry you misinterpreted my words, but I’m not going to further derail the thread by arguing the toss, and I’m not engaging any further with this nonsense.

I'm not a royalist but i wish her and anyone else suffering with cancer,a full recovery.I couldn't understand what business it was of anyone else to speculate where she was anyway as surely that is her personal business,but i did notice that there were many so called famous people on line adding there two penneth worth and wondered why they so desperately needed to post up spiteful vile comments..Oh i don't know,but it's a sad horrible world from the one i was brought up in many years ago..Anyway its a glorious sunny sunday afternoon and i hope your all having a lovely peaceful day and wish you well.x

What I see is that we’ve reached the depressingly familiar MN stage of discourse, where people cut and paste selected bits of posts to support their own misunderstanding - thereby taking them out of their original context and inviting a pile on from other posters. Well done.

Yes, and on top of her husband being accused of having an affair, or beating her up plus some lowlife trying to access her medical records.