Cancer Waits For No One

The other day a message was posted on the Kiss From A Rose website. It was from a mum, who's seventeen year old daughter is in the middle of treatment for a tumour found in her groin. In her message, she explained the beginning of their journey and an all too familiar account of repeatedly visiting her GP and local hospital, trying to get them to recognise the pain her daughter was in, waiting too long for a diagnosis.

Why is it that when it comes to teenagers, so many medics turn a blind eye? I just don't understand it. Here was a girl with physical symptoms - a lump growing at the side of her groin, and she was told it was a bruise by medical professionals. Much like my mum who was told to take me a psychologist when I persisted with visits to A&E 10 years ago at the beginning of my journey, her mum was told to stop reading so many Women's Magazine's when she challenged the 'expert's' opinion. It absolutely infuriates me, and I worry about the apparent lack of progress and recognition of teen cancer by doctors still, an entire decade later.

Why would a young girl who otherwise could be out with friends and enjoying life, insist on returning to A&E nearly every week, if there wasn't something wrong? I'm sure that doctors very often come across people who over react and panic unnecessarily over their health, and NHS funding is limited, we can't be handing out scans and X-Rays to everyone who comes along complaining of an ache or a pain. But there must be some way of ensuring that if a patient visits a hospital complaining of the same pain in the same place, maybe five times for example, then they are automatically given a scan, just to be safe. How is that in some cases we can afford to award breast implants and other cosmetic procedures on the NHS to people who feel it would improve their way of life, but we are so reluctant to spend money on what seems to be a forgotten generation? Have teenagers earned such a bad reputation that they deserve to be ignored?

Kiss From A Rose accounts my frustration at having to wait nearly two years to be diagnosed,  it was nearly two years of absolute hell, trying to get someone to listen to me, trying to get someone to help me. It was very nearly too late for me, and it broke my heart when I met others on my ward who were diagnosed too late. Perhaps they were waiting too long to be heard... perhaps they could have been saved... perhaps it would have taken just one scan when they first realised something could be very wrong... perhaps?

I hope that by talking about my story and others' we finally break through the arrogance and ignorance of some doctors, it needs to be recognised that we know our own bodies, no matter what age we are. When it comes to being diagnosed and giving yourself a chance to beat it, surely it goes without saying, Cancer Waits For No One.