Hi, my name is David. My wife Janet had been showing signs of dementia for about 2 years and suffering from increasing confusion.
This January she had severe back pain and after 3 months of GP visits she finally had an MRI scan which revealed an “anomaly “ on her lower spine. The GP said he would refer her to a specialist and the appointment would be Jan 2023 or later! He prescribed pain medicine.
We have always had BUPA cover but never used it. I told him and he agreed to refer her.
To cut a long story short she had an operation on her spine which “fixed “ the crushed vertebrae issue and the lower back pain. But, after two weeks it recurred higher up on her back. The surgeon arranged a new MRI and CT scan and that’s when we discovered she had Stage 4 Lung Cancer!
She was admitted to the NW Lung Centre and underwent a number of tests to try and diagnose exactly what type of cancer she had. Also to check if it had spread to her brain. Because of her fragility it became obvious that she would not survive any of the possible treatments . So after a lot of pleading they finally agreed to discharge her 3 weeks ago.
The Macmillan nurses were very supportive and they do a great job. I really appreciate what they did.
But and it’s a big but the communication in the NHS is abysmal. Delay after delay and no one in overall charge. Hand written notes in 2022!
We came home three weeks ago and after chasing, I was finally contacted by phone by our GP and then a Macmillan nurse. The GP said he would visit a week later which he did same for the Nurse. The NHS has still not adopted email it seems it’s down to snail mail!
So here I am, my wife is struggling to say how she feels, I feel abandoned and all alone.
Despite daily texts and calls to our children and Janet’s sisters.
Promises made are meaningless but I will do whatever is needed to make her remaining time comfortable.
Never made a post like this before.
This January she had severe back pain and after 3 months of GP visits she finally had an MRI scan which revealed an “anomaly “ on her lower spine. The GP said he would refer her to a specialist and the appointment would be Jan 2023 or later! He prescribed pain medicine.
We have always had BUPA cover but never used it. I told him and he agreed to refer her.
To cut a long story short she had an operation on her spine which “fixed “ the crushed vertebrae issue and the lower back pain. But, after two weeks it recurred higher up on her back. The surgeon arranged a new MRI and CT scan and that’s when we discovered she had Stage 4 Lung Cancer!
She was admitted to the NW Lung Centre and underwent a number of tests to try and diagnose exactly what type of cancer she had. Also to check if it had spread to her brain. Because of her fragility it became obvious that she would not survive any of the possible treatments . So after a lot of pleading they finally agreed to discharge her 3 weeks ago.
The Macmillan nurses were very supportive and they do a great job. I really appreciate what they did.
But and it’s a big but the communication in the NHS is abysmal. Delay after delay and no one in overall charge. Hand written notes in 2022!
We came home three weeks ago and after chasing, I was finally contacted by phone by our GP and then a Macmillan nurse. The GP said he would visit a week later which he did same for the Nurse. The NHS has still not adopted email it seems it’s down to snail mail!
So here I am, my wife is struggling to say how she feels, I feel abandoned and all alone.
Despite daily texts and calls to our children and Janet’s sisters.
Promises made are meaningless but I will do whatever is needed to make her remaining time comfortable.
Never made a post like this before.