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Hi to all and i hope someone can help, here is a short version of my problem,
My 75 year old mother was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer of her spine about 18 months ago, she had a bone scan and MRI scan and when we went to the hospital for the results the consultant told us that she had bone cancer in her spine as there were "hotspots" showing that were cancer,
We left the hospital and my mum was understandably devastated as we all were (4 sons and a sister), she was given a course of radiotherapy to target the area affected and we were told that chemotherapy was a last resort to prolong the inevitable, she underwent the radiotherapy, we were refferred to the McMillan nurses who visited her regularly for the past 18 months,
She went to have another scan about 6 moths ago to see how far the cancer had progressed, when she had the blood test results and the MRI scan results the consultant called us in and said "well there is nothing sinister there" when i asked him what he meant he said "there is no cancer, it is degenerative arthritis", when i asked him why he had diagnosed bone cancer he didnt really have an answer and just said "sometimes its hard to tell the difference",
Do we have a case for misdiagnosis and also if we do who do we go to?? i dont want to just use a national claim company i want to know if there is someone that we can approach that is well know in these matters,
Any help or advice would be fantastic and i look forward to hearing any replies,
Erm, are we talking about cervical cancer here? Or something else? Just asking because there is a difference between the two, how they develop and get tested.
You don't mention anywhere if there were specific tests done for cancer done in the initial stages? I know you mention MRI and 'bone scan'. Then you mention blood tests and more scans more recently in the last six months. I am assuming they ran other tests before diagnosis was made? But I would have assumed there were slightly more tests than this? I know things can get misdiagnosed ... I'm just curious, not prying ... lost a relative to cancer.
Yes, it's hard, but you have your mother. Not being harsh here. Or trying to.
Just seems like a monumental catestrophic misinterpretation of results if so to me! And that it wasn't picked up sooner if so.
Hi Jason.
I read your thread and, to be brutally honest, I found it offensive!
Be thankful that the doctor's original diagnosis was wrong. Would you rather have been told it was degenerative arthritis and then turn out to be cancer?
If you walk into an A&E dept. complaining of chest pains, they will assume, until proven otherwise, that it is a heart attack and treat you accordingly..... But severe indigestion can give similar symptoms. I know, I've had both! I for one would rather be diagnosed with a heart attack, then find it was only indigestion, than diagnosed with indigestion and find that was a heart attack.
Pericarditis (caused by a viral infection) symptoms are indistinguishable from the symptoms of heart attack. It's only the blood tests over the next 4 or 5 days showing the build up of antibodies that proves what the correct diagnosis is. It destroyed over 25% of my heart muscle plus damaged a valve and put me off work for three months.
Instead of trying to make a fast buck, be thankfull that the doctor's original diagnosis was wrong and your Mother has been spared cancer.
My sister-in-law and a friend and colleague of thirty years both died from bone cancer. It is not pretty.... and it's not pleasant watching them go steadily downhill.
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Im sorry but how you can find my post offensive is beyond me, for 18 months since my mother was diagnosed with Bone cancer our family has been torn apart, my sister has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, my mother did not know how long she had left to live, we even arranged for all the family to get together to say a final family goodbye to my mum, my brother came over from australia, for 18 months our lives have been torn apart and i am now being told that my post is "offensive"???? my mum woke every day not knowing if it was here last and my post is offensive???
So if my mother had been diagnosed with cancer in her arm and they amputated it and then admitted they made a mistake, would you still say "thats ok, youve still got your mum"?? i dont understand you logic??
My father died in 2005 from leukemia so yes i understand it is not "pretty" as you mentioned, my mother has also overcome bowel and lung cancer as i mentioned so no i understand it is "not pretty", i have been affected as all my family have by cancer, and to be told that your mother has terminal cancer and for her to live with that first hand, not knowing how long she has left to live or if she will wake up the next day is "not pretty",
I am not trying to make a "fast buck" and find your insinuation offensive, surely if the NHS are allowed to make these mistakes and no-one corrects them then other families will suffer as we have, do you think that all people that expose the NHS's failings are doing so to "make a quick buck"
I came to the forum for advice not to be flamed, but i once again see that asking for much needed advice from a forum is not the way to go as you just get slammed for asking a question, thanks a lot for not helping in one way and i thought that moderators were supposed to be impartial,
Well I am pleased for you mother and all the family to be given an all clear must be wonderful, however you are also rightly angry, all that worry, and anxiety.
I'm really not sure where you go from here, I have some knowledge through a relative who works for a no win no fee company and after asking him I have to say the chances of any such company accepting your case are slim, you could look to the internal complaint procedure of the trust and go from there
I have much to say about her condition and how it has affected my mum, but i dont feel i can as everyone else here seems to wait on your every word and find something to flame you about so i dont feel at all happy about talking about it now,
I have to say I agree with Rooster on this one, I don't see what your problem is (your analogy of 'if they had amputated' doesn't equate, they didn't amputate anything, your mum is still intact and more importantly ALIVE.)
The NHS is between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea nowadays, whatever they do somebody somewhere wants to make a fast buck out of it. Personally I would just be relieved if my mum had been told she had cancer and then found out it was a mistake, but then I am not out to profit from someones genuine mistake
I agree with the sentiment of Rooster et al but I don't agree with the "offensive" categorisation.
There is a possibility that you have been misinterpreted as seeking to make money and falling into the compensation culture. I didn't get that from your post but I can see how others might.
What I feel you and your mother are entitled to is an explanation of how this mis-diagnosis arose and no more. This should be given in terms that you are able to understand.
Now, the problem. The NHS is not really geared up to do this sort of thing. It uses up consultants time and the lawyers historically advise against it as it can be seen as an admission of culpability - but the law has moved on in this area - has the NHS?
Thus the only way people find that they can get to the bottom of things is to get legal.
Too often on hears of people awarded money from the NHS who say that all they wanted was a quick explanation of what had gone wrong.
IMHO the only thing offensive that this thread raises is that the NHS has no mechanism for doing this.
I agree I saw the original post as wanting explanations, also other people may go through the same thing, we have only the consultants word that the particular cancer was hard/difficult to diagnose, I'm no expert but I have been lead to believe that blood test looking for particular markers are also used (e.g CA125).
Its quite possible that we have no one with sufficient knowledge to advise accessing the forums.
I saw the original post as after money, sorry if I got the wrong impression.
What I suggest you do if you are looking for answers is get mum to request a copy of her notes in the first instance to see what has been documented over the past couple of years (and by whom).
I would be asking things like - when the cancer was diagnosed on the bone scan and MRI were the tumour markers also raised (shows in blood test - but not always). Were the scans seen by an oncologist and did the oncologist organise the subsequent chemo/radiotherapy (ie who decided it was cancer - was it a specialist). Were any biopsies done? (ie tissue samples that could be examined under a microscope to determine if they are cancerous).
You need to establish if the treatment has been effective and put a cancer into remission or if indeed there was a misdiagnosis. If there was misdiagnosis then there may a case for negligence.
I would also suggest contacting the patient advocacy and liason service (PALS) at the hospital. If you put everything in writing to them and detail the questions you want answers to they should be able to help you understand what has happened. You could also ring the macmillan team and they should be able to help answer your questions.
I would hate to have a doctor condemmed for such an error. Yes you have been through an emotional roller coaster and she is distressed, but help can be given for this. She is alive and all that is needed is surely a letter to the care trust of the hospital stating you were disstressed at the error. They will probably give an apology and state the difficulties involved in diagnosing these conditions, but wish you well and to be honest is it necessary. Just think if it was the other way around, your concern would be with your mother, just destress and return extra care to her and youll recover.
I would hate to have a doctor condemmed for such an error. There would be an enquiry, yes the doctor may be challenged, their actions may be scrutinised, however if mistakes were made this would be an opportunity to learn from them. you have been through an emotional roller coaster and she is distressed, but help can be given for this. She is alive and all that is needed is surely a letter to the care trust of the hospital stating you were disstressed at the error. They will probably give an apology and state the difficulties involved in diagnosing these conditions, but wish you well and to be honest is it necessary. Just think if it was the other way around, your concern would be with your mother, just destress and return extra care to her and youll recover.
I see nothing wrong with from asking a trust for an explanation, others will decide about misdiagnosis, and negligent practice.
It is worth noting that the OP has not posted since 16th June.
I know everyone will agree it is wonderful your mother doesn't have cancer. However the fact that your mother was misdiagnosed and then given radiation treatment unnecessarily is shocking.
Anyone would want to know why this happened, if her unnecessary treatment has long or short term health implications and what can be done to avoid this happening to another patient in the future.
I hope the hospital and the consultant involved give suitable answers to this poster.
If someone told you your mother was dying, and let you think this for months and then one day said "oops, sorry, I meant she's ok" and then sent you on your way- would you want an explanation?
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Thus the only way people find that they can get to the bottom of things is to get legal..
Agree with Bernie here. In 2002 the reverse of what happened to Clondike's mum happened to our family. My mother's oncologist missed the fact that her cancer had returned after 4 years remission, and without going into all the details she died as a result. I requested a copy of her medical file and was shocked at what I read in it.
We wanted something done about this to prevent it happening to another family , but were told that unless we made a legal claim seeking damages then there really wasn't much that could be done.
Aware of the fact that financial compensation only reduces the funds the NHS has to deal with living patients in need of treatment, and that no amount of money would bring her back or make us feel any better, we dropped it. Her consultant was also 6 weeks from retirement,
It did leave us feeling very frustrated, angry and emotional for some time, but think the decision we took was the right one for our family in the end.
Cancer misdiagnosis
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Re: Cancer misdiagnosis
Originally Posted by stardust_john
