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I was a family practitioner in the UK when at age 48 i was diagnosed with OM. That was in Dec 2006 just before Xmas I found out that I had 1:4 chance of developing metastatic disease and was going to be offered no monitoring but blood tests and the occaisional ultrasound of the liver.
Many battles with the NHS ensued and for a long time I felt incredilbly isoloated , working in the NHS I did not see how a cancer pateint could not be referred to an oncologists. I found out why – they had no intention of trying to prolong my life in the event of mets. Well I did. I bought private MRI +Gad + diffusion weighting found my mets in 2009 and found a good surgeon who had never treated an OM patient before but cared about his patients. Eventually I found Professor in Southampton who could tolerate me in his oncology clinics and organised ipilimumab for me. In 2011 more mets in the liver were treated with SIRT and in DEc microwave abaltion and I started 2012 disease free again.
I realise that it was my medical education and status that opened doors for me. In a country that has socialised medicine I find this repulsive. I aim to try and alter this so other patients with OM who develop metastases will get the oppourtunity to prolong their lives by timely and appropriate treatments.
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