My previously 'well' mum is going to be sent home untreated, without a diagnosis/biopsy that she has waited 6 weeks for.

FormerMember
FormerMember
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Hello everyone - I'm, fortunately new to all this stuff.

My fully functioning 84 year old mum was admitted to hospital, for the first time in her life, on boxing day -

We waited a week for a scan, then told new years eve they thought she had some type of cancer/mass and things were going to move quickly.  She came home & carried on, waited patiently for 5 weeks before getting an out patient biopsy appointment, ending up in an ambulance the next day with breathing trouble. 

After another 10 days at  hospital, she has just been told that the biopsy didn't work, but she's now unfit & bed bound,, so they are sending her home with a hospital bed...but no further treatment or diagnosis.     

  Is this type of delay normal for older patients?  She  had so much faith in the health system and nobody mentioned at any stage that she wouldn't even get a chance at beating it...or finding out what happened.

  • Hi  and welcome to the online community

    I'm sorry to hear that your mum has not currently had any treatment or diagnosis.

    You say that she was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day. Was this as a result of a referral from her GP or was she taken ill? She then had a scan and was told that this revealed some sort of tumour or mass. A biopsy on the mass was then carried out 5 weeks later but, unfortunately, they were not able to tell from the pathology results what this mass was. In the meantime, she was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties but is now well enough to go home.

    Quite often more than one biopsy has to be carried out but it sounds like she's currently too unwell for them to carry out another procedure at the moment. Is she being discharged from the hospital back into the care of her GP? If so then she should get in touch with her GP to find out what is going to happen next as he/she is responsible for your mum's health once discharged. 

    If your mum isn't been discharged from the hospital then she should have been given the contact details of a specialist nurse/key worker and this person would be the one to contact to find out what your mum's team is planning on doing next. 

    You could also contact the PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) at your mum's hospital as they can act as a point of contact for patients and also liaise with her medical team.

    Wishing you and your mum all the best

    x

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