Long wait for scan result

My name is Joanne and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

Thank you for posting on our online community. I can see that you have joined a number of our community forums and I hope that you are finding them useful.

I’m sorry to hear that your husband hasn’t had the results of his recent scan yet. Waiting for results can often be one of the most challenging things that you will face during and after cancer diagnosis and treatment. The worry of waiting can have a significant impact on your emotional wellbeing.

Individual hospitals and indeed Consultant’s can have their own policies and approaches to giving scan results. Some consultants prefer to speak to each of their patients’ face to face, to go through scan results and allow their patient to ask any questions that they may have.

This may result in longer waiting times for appointments and we would suggest in the first instance, contacting the secretary again to clarify if this is what will happen.

You can also ask if there are any other options for getting your husband’s results, either by letter, or telephone or video consultation.

If your husband has a clinical nurse specialist, you can also contact them to talk through how the wait for results is impacting you both. They may be able to give you further information on the current waiting time for your results.

Whilst it is natural to worry about formalising your concerns, there are robust procedures in place to support patients and their families when navigating challenges in your care. Each hospital will have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service who can advise and support you. You will find contact details for your hospital by searching for the hospital name and PALS.

Whilst it is difficult to focus on anything else when you are waiting for these results, I’ve included some further information on dealing with Uncertainty and Cancer which you may both find helpful.

You may also want to give us a call on the support line – sometimes it can be useful to talk through how you are feeling at this time.

I hope this information is useful, and that you are able to get more information very soon.

Ref JH/AMc

Hi Joanne, thank you for your helpful reply. I rang the Secretary again today and the consultant subsequently rang my husband with the scan result. Very thankfully it was clear. He will now progress to an ileostomy reversal very soon we hope.

We are immensely grateful for this good news, and also for your help and this website in general. In an ideal world test result waits would be significantly reduced, and I do hope that others don’t have to endure such a long wait. But for today, I am practicing sincere gratitude above all else. With best wishes to everyone.