Oncology

A couple of weeks later Brenda and I attended a consultation with a senior registrar at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh. She started off by informing Brenda that she was sorry to inform her that the cancer had spread to her liver and bones. We advised the doctor that we were already made aware of this at the mastectomy consultation.

The doctor appeared shocked by this, she also appeared to be somewhat at a loss when we told her the surgeon had advised he would revisit the possibility of a mastectomy if the treatment proved helpful in any way.

We went on to inform the doctor of the consultation we had prior to meeting the surgeon. Being informed it was only a small recurring primary breast cancer. It is not possible to describe how the doctor came across at hearing that news. She made a very sincere and compassionate apology on behalf of the NHS. Whilst carrying out a full physical examination, the doctor spoke with Brenda and enquired if she had been suffering from any back, hip or pelvic pains. Brenda confirmed that she had and that she had been diagnosed with wear and tear in these areas after undergoing an Xray. The doctor again apologised and told her that these were symptoms of bone cancer.

During the same consultation, there were two breast care nurses present. One of them was a nurse practitioner and the other was a trainee. A significant part of the appointment was taken up by the doctor apologising for warning signs being dismissed. The nurse practitioner could see how upset we were and approached Brenda to advise that we should forget the past and focus on the future. The doctor asked Brenda if she was aware that the cancer was no longer curable – Brenda advised that after the consultation with the surgeon and being told the cancer was Stage 4, it was actually out daughter that went on to inform Brenda and I that this meant it was no longer curable. The nurse practitioner went on to advise Brenda that she would live for many years and that the condition was highly treatable. The consultant then excused herself from the room and informed us she was going to confer with another doctor. When she returned, she was accompanied by her colleague. They were of the opinion that it wouldn’t be appropriate to start Brenda on chemotherapy, feeling that she wouldn’t tolerate it very well. We weren’t sure on what basis they had made this decision as Brenda was strong, fit and healthy, minus the cancer. The conclusion was they decided to start Brenda off on a targeted therapy drug called palbociclib. Brenda and I were later to discover this was a costly decision.

 Sadly, things go from bad to worse for Brenda. Soon after starting palbociclib, she had an appointment with a senior registrar. We were shocked at hearing that one of the tumours on Brendas liver was alarmingly large at 7cm. However, a number of weeks later during a consultation with another doctor, we were told that the largest tumour on Brendas liver was 2.5cm. The doctor went on to say that the size of the tumour was of no significance. Through our own research, we realised that simply wasn’t the case. We were unable to confirm which doctor was correct. The inconsistencies in advice, information and results throughout Brendas treatment were prevalent.