And Still, They Will Not Listen

Over the last couple of weeks since my most recent scan results, I have been trying hard to tell everyone I know about the benefits of eating right, and exercising more. If not to assist in the treatment of an existing medical issue, but to at least ensure you stay as fit and healthy as possible, to look after your body as much as you can.

I have also visited a couple of local schools, one primary, one secondary - my own Secondary School Townley Grammar, in fact. I went to raise awareness about health, fitness and having the confidence to know your own mind and body and so push for medical attention when you think you need it.

I started at the local primary school where the teachers organised a fund raising event for the British Liver Trust - a charity I have been working hard to promote awareness of and raise money for. They decided to hold a 'Breakfast Club' where the children and their parents could pay a few pounds for a couple of slices of toast and a hot drink or juice and socialise before school started. I thought it was a fantastic idea, and was thrilled when the school asked me to come along and talk a little about the Trust as well as my story. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, especially the little ones, and I was shocked to find out that people were queueing for over twenty minutes just to buy a cup of tea and contribute to the fund! It was extremely heart warming to see how people care and will strive to help when given the chance. When I stood up in front of everyone to explain a little more about the Trust and about my experiences everyone fell silent, and I felt really proud to be a voice for such an important charity. I spoke about how just a year ago, I was told there was nothing the hospital could do for me, and warned me not to expect to last too long past the end of this year, yet with perseverance, optimism and a little initiative I fought it, I'm healthier than I have been in a long time, I'm alive.

When I stepped down I was approached by many mums, some just wanted to say hello, but others had their own stories about fighting to be heard, and fighting to be treated. Not everyone I spoke to was talking about cancer, and as I listened, I realised that perhaps it isn't just cancer that gets over looked so much. Those feelings of frustration at out National Health Service started bubbling again, why do some doctors have such issues listening to their patients?

That morning the pupils raised over one thousand pounds for The British Liver Trust, what an amazing achievement in under two hours.

But I wanted to reach out to the age group I was when I started my treatment, so I went back to school. The Head Master of Townley Grammar School allowed me to hold a series of talks to different age groups about what it is like to be diagnosed with such a devastating, and isolating disease at such a vulnerable age, so far I have spoken to Years 10 and 11 as well as the Sixth Form, and in a couple of weeks I will return to talk to Years 8 and 9.

I explained that I wasn't there to scare anyone, but with 1 in 3 people affected by cancer now, I wanted to give them a little information about what it is like to be diagnosed and have to go through chemotherapy, as well as how to support someone they might know going through similar treatment. The students were so welcoming, and it was lovely to see some of the teachers that taught me many years ago. But I was most struck with the response I got following each talk. I invited people to come to me afterwards and ask any questions they might have - rather than standing up in front of all of their friends and I thought perhaps one or two might have approached me, but last week I was talking to students for over forty five minutes following my speech, as they asked me for more information about the chemo, and how to support family members fighting cancer.

The most frustrating thing for me however was when a couple of students approached me about complaints they had made to their GPs over a long period of time, regarding pains they were experiencing. Both had been refused scans, and both were taking the pain killers I had been sent away with so many times. I ask the questions again, why aren't these doctors listening to their patients?

But there was worse to come. One young lady, who has given me permission to talk about her story as she too wants to raise the point that teens are too often overlooked my GPs, told me about her cousin. A boy of 13, he complained for many months of a pain in his knee, but was continuously told by his doctor not to worry about it, it was growing pains, it was in his head - the usual. One day at school the pain was so bad, as he put his foot down on the ground while walking down some steps, he fell and broke his leg. Of course, he was taken to hospital where they pinned his leg together, put on a plaster cast and was told to rest it while it healed. The problem was, it wasn't healing, and it was only when he continued complaining about the pain that the hospital finally carried out a scan to find out why his leg was taking so long to mend.

Then they found his tumour.

How did they miss that when they were pinning his leg back together? But by now it was too late, the boy's cancer had spread up the bone in his leg, and it had to be amputated immediately and followed up by an intensive course of chemotherapy. His mum thought he was getting better, until the hopital realised it had spread to his pelvis and it wasn't responding to the treatment. He died two months ago at home with his family. The hospital told his mum if the tumour had have been found while his leg was pinned, his chance of survival would have been much higher. Is that fair? To tell a grieving mother that if a medical expert had listened to her son when he was complaining that he could still be here today? How many times does it need to be said that we know our own bodies? So why didn't that doctor listen to his patient?

But there is hope. After talking to the Sixth Form I was approached by two young ladies hoping to be accepted into medical school next year. They asked me how to be good doctors, they asked me how to avoid making the same mistakes my GP and so many others had made. I thought how refreshing it was that they had asked those questions, and it demonstrated to me that already they had the right approach to patient care, they are an encouraging example of our next generation of doctos. I told them to have an open mind, if someone comes to them three, four, five times with the same complaint, to look deeper, to acknowledge that something might be very wrong. I told them to remember my story, to remember that noone knows their body better than the person themselves, I told them to listen to their patients.