A Dolly Parton tribute performer claims she was sent home twice by doctors after finding a small lump on her arm that turned out to be terminal cancer. Carla Palmer, 41, feels deeply “let down” by her care at the hands of NHS medics and believes her condition could have been treated if it was caught earlier.
The award-winning singer, who previously toured the globe as the ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker, first noticed a pea-sized bump on her left forearm three years ago. But when she went to see her GP, Carla claims they said she just had a "swollen lymph node” and it would likely go away over time.
Six months later Carla visited an A&E ward for a second opinion, but she was sent home again after medics allegedly said the bumps were “nothing to worry about”. The performer started experiencing night sweats and fatigue last year after noticing more lumps, before tests revealed she actually had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
