Bowel cancer
Watch this postHi I’m Paul I’m not looking for sympathy but I thought I would share my story with you.
How much has the last 18 months have changed I had a RNY Bypass on the 31/10/2017 and I weighed 22 stones and 11 pounds and got down to a healthy weight of 12 pounds and 4 pounds.
I was doing so well well for the 8 months I have been losing blood in my stools. This being blood clots mainly and also now and then I would notice blood in the toilet and loo paper. I told this to the dieticians and bariatric nurses who had put this into a letter to my own doctor and to refer me to a specialist. I found out that the letter was received at the doctor's surgery when I’m registered and just scanned onto my files but no one actually read this letter.
Six to eight weeks ago I ended up in A&E with severe pains in my stomach area and bowel to be given buscopan and sent home being told it was kidney stones. Don’t get me wrong but I have had this pain since March this year and hiding the pain with loads of painkillers so no one knew how bad it was. The doctor kept saying they think it was piles but there was no evidence of piles which I knew by the clots in my stools having piles 10 years ago I knew pile do not bleed like that.
2 weeks ago Thursday I started losing blood constantly and last Tuesday I lost that much blood I was rushed to hospital from work and was admitted to hospital. All my blood test and counts were fine so they did not know why I was losing the blood and in so much pain.
Last Friday I had a camera inserted into my back passage where they found cancer a tumor which is 3cm by 5cm approximately.
So I was told this news a day before my birthday which was a big surprise to me.
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15 years ago when I was 61 I visited the doctor because I had blood in my stools. Not to worry she says its haemorrhoids. So a month or so later off I go on my Winter holiday thinking all is ok. Still no change in my condition after the holiday so I visited the surgery again. This time a different doctor. She sent me for tests and I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, I had my op to remove the tumor in a very short space of time after the diagnosis. Fortunately for me it was caught in the relatively early stages and I did not need a cholostomy bag, and neither did I need to have radio or chemo therapy. I have lived life to the full ever since and just celebrated my 76th
birthday. I count myself extremely fortunate and mightily grateful to my ex wife who looked after me during my recovery. Hope all goes well for you. Remaining positive is a great help too.
So sorry to read about your recent diagnosis. You must have felt on top of the world having lost so much weight and probably now feel as though you have been shot down in flames. As Trish says, your priority is to have the treatment offered and to concentrate on getting well.
In your place I would also be writing a letter of complaint about your GP to your local Primary Care Trust. They will investigate your complaint and hopefully ensure that your GP has a protocol in place for reading and acting upon the mail which they receive. Letters and test results are not automatically scanned into a patient's records - someone in the surgery has to read them first before they are handed over to (usually) a receptionist who does the scanning. Having worked for over 26 years in a surgery, I know that mistakes happen but that is no excuse for medical negligence. Good luck with your treatment.