Hi Tracey,

I'm Richard, I'm an experienced Endoscopy Nurse and so I've looked after many people in a similar position to yourself. I hope I can help answer some of your queries.

I know it must be concerning that your GP has referred you so urgently, especially if he didn't really explain what would be happening and why and with the recent loss of your Father, which I'm very sorry to hear about.

The 2 week rule (also called 2 week wait) is a referral for patients who have signs and symptoms that can be caused by cancer BUT in my experience, the majority of patients referred on this pathway do not have cancer.

This referral pathway ensures that the people who unfortunately are diagnosed with a cancer are treated as early as possible to give them the best outcomes.

I'm sorry that this wasn't expalained by your GP to begin with - many people referred this way face extreme anxiety for the same reasons. But to answer your question simply:

The 2 week rule is very common practice.

Best Wishes

Hello Rich 

Regarding the 2 week wait time for scans etc , my Dad had a camera down his throat 2 weeks ago , they found a lump , they took a biopsy and it came back a week later as OC cancer , now he has an MRI scan on the 22nd of this month , then apparently it takes 2 weeks to get the result ? In these 3 to 4 weeks since they found the lump , does this type of cancer spread in that time period ? 

The waiting is killing me im not sleeping as keep waking up.every hour at night , this is just a horrible time not knowing what is happening in my dads body and seeing him not eating properly .

Many thanks 

Hi Mikkey,

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad's diagnosis and know it must be extremely difficult to come to terms with. I can see why your losing sleep.

the 2 week rule only refers to the time from referral to investigation. But there are further targets for cancer treatment.

Unfortunately I can't really advise on your Dad's case, but 3-4 weeks is very rapid. It's now a case of your Dad's medical team collecting as much information as they can to ensure that they get the right diagnosis and can offer the best treatment options.

I know it is difficult to watch as a loved one suffers. Theres some information here about oesophageal cancer that may be helpful.

I don't know whether your dad is not eating because he has no appetite or because he physically can't but there is advice available on the link above about eating too.

wishing you all the best at this difficult time.

Rich

Thank you so much Rich , i appreciate your words , he can eat soft foods only and drink normally , he is anaemic too and sleeping lots feeling tired all the time . Yes he says he looks at food and has not much of an appetite. He means so much to me , im hurting so bad , i just want him in hospital with treatment as he is suffering . Im not religous but i prey they can help him and he can live normally again . He is a fit non smoking and drinking 69 year old . The NHS is a great institution it is just the not knowing . I can say this is the worst time of my life seeing him in this way . And i feel for all and everybody going through this at this time . It is really not nice . Thank you Richard .

The feelings you have are completely normal and I can understand that the waiting for results must be horrendous for you.

There is plenty of support available if you need to speak to someone, here and elsewhere.

I think though, as tempting as it is to have that care so readily available in a hospital setting, your Dad is better off at home with his family, you clearly care for him a great deal.

With regards to eating. Give your Dad all the foods he loves, small meals regularly can help. Make them as as calorific as possible to build him up.

Best Wishes

Thank you very much Richard yes he is my life , i have a partner but seeing my dad like this hurts like no other pain , ive personally cheated death 2 times , once through bowel surgery and sepsis , then 18 months ago i had a stroke at 46 , all that pain and worry is nothing compared to seeing my dad suffer . Thank you for the information it is very much appreciated . Your doing great work on here . Keep up the good work as it helps greatly. Thank you again .

Hi Tracey,

At a cancer conference last year we were told that current NICE guidance to GPs is that if a GP thinks there is as little as a 5% chance that a patient had cancer then an urgent referral for diagnostic tests should be made. 

This means that the vast majority of such referrals will not result in a cancer diagnosis and their cancervworries are over.

The threshold used to be higher but and awful lot of people (including me) weren’t referred until the cancer had spread - simply because cancer was rare in their age group. 

I hope this helps.

Good luck with your results

Dave

Hi Richard/Dave, 

Thank you so much for your replies.

If this had been explained to me as you have just kindly done so then my anxiety would not have been so high.

It makes sense now that you have explained how the referral pathway works. I will now try to calm down a bit now! I have to do the prep tomorrow so am looking forward to that...not!

Thanks again for taking the time to explain the referral. I wish doctors would realise the extreme anxiety this can cause some patients and explain the process more clearly.

Mikkey,

I am also so very sorry to hear about your Dad.  The waiting must be so awful for you.  I really hope you hear soon and your dads treatment can start ASAP and that he responds well.

Wishing you all the best.

Tracey

I’m glad that you’re feeling less anxious now and wish you the best for your procedure.

If it helps, most people say that the prep is the worse part of the whole thing. A quick search online will reveal plenty of tips to help you get it down.