Hi! I’m new on this forum and have been interested to read everyone’s posts.
Back in March, I was referred by my GP for post-menopausal bleeding and got an ultrasound about a week later. A couple of hours after this, the GP phoned me in the early evening to say due to the thickness of the endometrium, she was referring me on the 2-week pathway. A biopsy followed, taken by a very nice senior nurse in her office in the hospital.
A few days later, I had a cholesestectomy (gall bladder) op at the same hospital. A week after that, the biopsy results came in with a letter from the nurse saying I had complex atypia hyperplasia of the endometrium and I would need a total hysterectomy. Another ultrasound was arranged but I was also sent a text calling me in immediately for an MRI. I called the MRI dept back and explained I’d just had the gallbladder op and they said “oh no, we can’t do the MRI this close to your op - we’ll have to delay by six weeks….”. I was also asked to set up a blood test at the hospital, which when I googled, said it was to check for ovarian cancer!! (CA125). It doesn’t seem normal to have an MRI before a hysterectomy for this diagnosis either so I attempted to contact the hospital to speak to an actual Doctor - but not possible. They hide behind some firewall and you can only speak to a very nice - but medically unqualified secretary. A telephone call has apparently been arranged (I received notification by letter) from this apparently hallowed Consultant in mid-June.
So, so much for the 2-week pathway!!! The waiting, I understand - it’s par for the course on the NHS. But the total lack of comms from the gynaecologist-oncologist or her department, apart from a nurse, is staggering when she’s ordered tests which seem clearly for looking for cancer. And the fact they clearly don’t want anyone contacting them! I got an appointment with my GP to discuss it and she said their total lack of communication was “sub-optimal”. If a Consultant is doing tests to detect and/or rule out cancer, you’d think some direct communication from them, even by letter, would be nice - especially when it’s going on for weeks. (My gallbladder op - same hospital - was preceded by a full appointment with the Consultant himself a few months’ before where he explained in great detail about the need for the op and the op itself, and on the day, he was also very communicative immediately pre-op; he is also one of their eminent surgeons according to all the nurses I spoke to).
