6 years ago my mum was diagnosed with gallstones, told by the hospital they wouldn’t take her gallbladder out unless it was a life or death situation because of her COPD. My mum never once complained to the GP or hospital ever again.
Sept She had a flare up, suffering with jaundice, we got her to A&E. They put stents into her bile duct (which was meant to be changed every 3 months for the rest of her life) which got infected, 3 wks later new stents, which got infected. Every time she went in hospital the doctors kept telling her we think you have cancer. 3 wks later on 10th December she had an over 7 nearly 8 hr operation. They took the stones out of her gallbladder, 4cm stone out of her gall duct, a 4cm tumour out of her gallbladder, the stents out and the rim of her liver. I was told she had gallbladder cancer that had spread, they would have to take her gallbladder out fully, a piece of her stomach, a piece of her bowel out, a piece of her pancrius, and 40% of her liver, an 80 year old wouldn't handle that kind of operation."The operation has brought her time, and chemo would buy her more time" Every morning the doctors would come around, scare the living day lights out of her and say things like “have you got use to the idea your dying yet?” she kept going down with infections, they sewed her stomach open to drain so when she had infection so it wouldn't heal. The day before she came out of hospital, a doctor told my mum she will never get better, she won't get any more operations, she will never get chemo, she is just coming home to die. When she came home, they had put her straight in touch with a hospice for her end of life plan. The doctors had scared her so much she was in a deep depression, she had gone from 14 stone, 8 stone in hospital, surviving on cups of milk. The idea of chemo gave her the will to get better when the encologist from another hospital phoned her. Her weight went up to 11 st, They didn't want to start chemo until her stomach had healed. She was given 3 to 6 months after chemo as its a very agressive form of cancer. Just as she was about to start chemo, the CT scan results showed her cancer was so small oncologist said they must be clusters and cells, so small they wasn’t even showing up on the CT scan, but her CT scan showed inflamation, and blood showed she had an infection. 2 weeks later she ended up in A&E cholecystitis, CT scan showed no progression in her cancer, 3 weeks later back in hospital blood test, cholecystitis, A&E student doctor told me they wouldn’t do any operations or procedures on her now as it would set her back with starting the cancer treatment, sent home with rotating antibiotics. Discharge letter states walls of bile duct thickened with fat strands, infection secondary to obstruction. My mum was put on rotating antibiotics. 4 weeks later back in A&E she was dialogised with Sepsis, secondary to cholecystitis. The same student doctor in a&e told me My mum will be put on rotating antibiotics, their expecting her to get infections until either the infection kills her or the medication gives her liver failure, that she only has a few months to live. The antibiotics are buying her time, and so is each infection, that I should be greatful they gave her an operation to buy her time. That if she died while on chemo it would be better for her, because chemo is so bad, and it would stop her suffering. They did a ultra sound scan in the ward, then a CT scan before admitting her, and a MIR scan a couple of days later. Every time a doctor came down they said something different, one saying she can have chemo, next saying no she can't, one came down saying they can do stents so she can have chemo, another said they could put a camera down the bile duct. That same day they had the big meeting where all the doctors discuss the patience. After the meeting doctors spoke to my mum and said she is now on palliative care, no operations, no procedures. When I asked the doctor when she has a flare up who do I call to help her, his answer was "we're surgeons, don't waste our time, talk to st christophers" Oh and suddenly she has a tumour that has grown from her liver towards her bile duct, heading through her bile ducts, the reason why she keeps going down with infections is because her emmune system can't handle the cancer (Cholecystitis is caused by an obstruction in the bile/gall duct), strange the tumour wasn’t there when her Cholecystitis problems first started. She will be kept on rotating antibiotics for the rest of her life. Told our next step is hospice end of life plan. "that we should have a few conversations with them before she dies".
I emailed Guys cancer centre and they phoned us yesterday. Told us where my mum wasn't able to have chemo to clear up any residue of the cancer from the operation, the left over cancer from the tumour in her gallbladder has attached it self to scar tissue in her gallbladder and bile duct. She said she will send the CT scans and MRI scans over to guys hospital for a second opinion, will phone me 2 weeks time as next week she is on holiday.
Kings College hospital surgeons are liars and have hung it out until its too late. All because my mum is 80 years old and has gallbladder cancer, a cancer she would of never of got if Kings college hospital took her gallbladder out 6 years ago.
