New here posted in another place but not sure how to introduce myself so copied here too

2 replies
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Morning All,

What a wonderful resource this is.
My husband has been fit and well until about six weeks ago.
a chest X-ray showed a mass and a smaller mass. Also a massive amount of fluid in lower left.
he had fluid drained now four times in the last three weeks.
I know we are waiting and have biopsy’s and things booked but what I can’t understand is how different he is in such a short time.
not eating, sleeping all day, hasn’t left the house for six weeks and lost almost three stone.
should I be more aggressive with speeding things up or is this how it goes ?
he has barely spoken in the last week.
I can’t work out if this is shock, and emotional reaction or a rapid decline.
he’s told me ‘ I will be gone soon, but it’s OK ‘ which isn’t like him. He has never been passive about anything in his life.
I am at a loss as to what to do to help him.
Any thoughts or advice gratefully received.
thanks

Mary

Mmum over 3 years ago

Hi, welcome, but sorry for the driver behind your post.
Are you in the UK, in E& W? If so, then you can try the PALS service (patient advisory and intermediary service). Others on here have used it to grest success to find out what's going on and get backdoors engagement with your team.

Have you been referred to a consultant? You should have been advised waiting times for biopsies and scans. If it's considered as an urgent concern of a cancer diagnosis, or a referral on a priority basis, then there are targets for you to be seen in. I don't know what they are universally, but here in Scotland I was advised 4-6 weeks on the urgent pathway and I was seen in 3 weeks. Every area different though I believe. It depends what timescales you were given and the priority attached to it, whether you should be chasing or not, I think? If you've got a referral to a consultant then you could try their admin support too.

Or what about just phoning the GP and detailing the symptoms? Your GP may be unaware of any recent changes and thinks you are receiving the attention and treatment and investigation required from secondary care.

Whatever Next over 3 years ago in reply to Mmum

Thank you for your response.

I am actually at A&E now as he has become very unwell today.

I think the cancer diagnosis we are waiting is sitting underneath something more acute.
Like sepsis or something.
Thanks again for responding

mary