A mother who was diagnosed with lung cancer was initially sent home by an A&E doctor with antibiotics and being told her CT scan was "clear". Victoria Powers, 34, was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2017 and was celebrating being rid of the disease for over five years.
But she received the heart breaking news that she was diagnosed with lung cancer late last year after visiting A&E on New Year's Eve with a cough that would not subside but was told she was "clear" and sent home with just some antibiotics, reports BirminghamLive.
A few days after, a scheduled check-in with her breast surgeon, however, showed shadows across her lungs and liver. Further scans showed her cancer had returned and was now in her lungs, liver, lymph nodes and bones. The disease is said to be incurable.
The tragic news came after Victoria, from Great Wyrley in Staffordshire, lost her grandfather in December and told how her persistent cough had friends concerned before she visited accident and emergency at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.
She told BirminghamLive: "My grandad passed away at the start of December and I had a bit of a cough. I rang the GP who gave me antibiotics over the phone two days before Christmas.
"It didn't clear so I rang them back but I couldn't get an appointment as it was the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I was out with friends when I got a pain in my side alongside the cough so they took me to A&E.
"It was 10pm at night and there were 172 people waiting to be seen so I said I didn't want to stay, I didn't feel like I needed to. A lady told us to come back the following morning when it was quieter.
"On New Year's Eve, me and my mum went back and I told them the issue and was told I had a high pulse rate and low oxygen so they wanted me to stay. I had an ECG, a chest X-ray and a CT scan, which I think was looking for a blood clot but I do flag up as an oncology patient as soon as I go into hospital.
"A doctor then told me that the CT scan was clear and I was sent home with some antibiotics. I had a routine appointment with my breast surgeon and he asked how I'd been.
"I told him what happened and he said that he'd check it all for me. Because it was my five-year check, I would have been discharged if he didn't find any issues. He went off and came in and told me that the CT scan I had on New Year's Eve in A&E wasn't clear and there were shadows on my lungs and liver.
"For them to have missed it when I flagged as an oncology patient, you think they would have noticed something on the lungs."
She has bravely undergone three cycles of chemotherapy so far. There is a said to be a risk that the cancer may compress her spinal cord, so she also went for an MRI scan, on top of an ultrasound, biopsy, CT scan and a bone imaging scan
Her eight-year-old son, Jacob, even helped to shave her head before the treatment.
She added: "Your risk of cancer returning is supposed to reduce as the years go on and I rang the bell to show five years clear in December 2022. And then a few weeks later I was slapped in the face after finding out it was back and had spread.
"I deteriorated in January when I was waiting for biopsy results and got weaker and weaker.
"Jacob knows that I'm poorly but he doesn't know the extent of it. He helped my mum shave my head because that's a visible side to it so I wanted it explained to him.
"I have a line for my treatment, which he sees and he knows what it does. But as for the actual cancer, I don't talk about it in front of him.
"My breast surgeon and oncologist are amazing and I couldn't knock them or any of the care I've had from them but it is just the A&E side of it."
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Victoria's friends Gemma, Jamie, Jo and Sarah who are planning to take on the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge to raise money for Victoria and her family through her treatment. The fundraiser has already reached over £9000 of the intended £10,000 target.
Jamie-Ann said: "We like to keep ourselves busy. Jo is 40 this year and on her list of 40 things to do before 40 was to do the three peaks challenge. I don't think we quite expected the response we have had - it is amazing."
Victoria added: "I can't believe how much it has gone up to, it is overwhelming. You just live your life and try to do your best and I never would have expected to do this kind of thing and the response from it is amazing. I'm so grateful to those who have donated and shared it."
BirminghamLive say The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has been approached for comment.
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