Broken Arm

In early July 2022, at the end of warm summers day with the family in the garden, Brenda had a fall. She was in terrible pain and was unable to move from the ground. I called for an ambulance that day but we were advised it was very busy and to make Brenda comfortable on the ground. They weren’t in  a position to give an e.t.a. We called the cancer patient phone line and they were unable to help. We eventually received an estimated arrival time for the ambulance of five hours. I informed the caller that we were not prepared to wait, it was getting dark and Brenda was declining. My son and I administered some morphine that Brenda had in the house for her bone pain and after a short time we proceeded to lifting Brenda from the ground – Brenda then passed out. Once at the hospital Brenda was diagnosed with a severe break in her arm and had a cast fitted. The following day the hospital contacted Brenda to advised that she needed an MRI scan to ascertain if she had bone cancer in the same arm. In the days following that call, Brenda continued to experience very significant pain levels and we looking into a private scan for her arm to speed the process up. She went to hospital several times as an out patient and attended A&E at one point. It was at that stage that a professor became involved, due to the number of times Brenda had been in as an outpatient due to the pain in her arm. Brenda was fast tracked for consultation with him and almost immediately received her MRI.

Soon after the MRI scan, the Professor phoned Brenda and I – he confirmed a very complex fracture to her arm. He also confirmed that bone cancer was present and was severe. He stated that surgery would therefore not be appropriate in this case, as the bone would likely break up when drilling during the surgery that would otherwise be required. The professor queried if Brenda and I were aware of the extent of the bone cancer – I informed him that we were aware of the breast cancer, liver mets and of some of the cancer on the bone. The professor stated that the MRI results had shown extensive cancer throughout Brendas full skeletal mass. He was aware that I was in shock. I advised him that Brenda and I had continually been told by her oncology team that the bone cancer had remained stable throughout all treatment, with no progression in the bones. The professor talked us through a plan of action and getting a better cast fitted to help with the pain. He advised that even with cancer in the bone, it could still remain itself, although not in the normal way that a non cancerous bone would heal.

 A short time after Brenda sustained the fracture to her arm, we had a consultation with the oncology professor. He had been made aware of Brendas accident and had read over the other Professors notes in relation to the MRI results and arm fracture. Her oncology professor went on to say that the other professor was entitled to his opinion regarding the extent of the bone cancer, and implied that he didn’t necessarily agree with the findings. At an earlier consultation, the oncology professor had advised that the extent of bone cancer was very difficult to measure. So we were left in a situation where an orthopaedic professor was advising that MRI showed extensive cancer in the bones, and an oncology professor who did not find this to be the case. What we knew for sure was that Brendas bone pain was getting progressively worse – it was more wide spread and much harder to control as time went on.