"Dont get cancer in Durham"

My wife was diagnosed with lung cancer in January of this year, it was curable. There were tests, biopsies, scans, and a tour of the North Easts Hospitals supposedly "fast tracked", there were constant reassurances that this was curable. There were delays, a few days here, a few weeks there. Then there was the surgeon, by the time we got to see him and he had done all his tests and repeated all the original ones; The cancer had spread to the ribs and chest wall and had encroached further onto her lung making the whole thing inoperable. But not to worry, theres still a cure. We'll shrink the beast, with Chemo and remove whats left with surgery. We saw the oncologist, who was confident that a radical procedure of both Chemo and Radiotherapy would cure it. So more tests and scans were done. No treatment yet no one lifted a finger to affect the cure. Then came the hammer fall, Sorry it's spread to the bone, we can only offer palliative care now, we can no longer cure it. So after months of prevarication and delays, the words that has devastated so many lives rears it's ugly head. Terminal. A whole family destroyed. We constantly told them of our concerns over the delays, especially after being told by North Tees Hospital that they don't fast track results from outside their area. This meant almost a months delay. Only for a surgical biopsy to be carried out for the same test by the surgeon. This is not an isolated incident last year my life was placed in danger when UHND lost my notes, all of them, they hadn't been digitised and some idiot put them on a shelf and left them.