The husband of a mum-of-two who has has just weeks to live says she was 'badly let down' by doctors who sent her home twice and dismissed her symptoms. Sarah Middleton, 48, was diagnosed with an advanced form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in May 2022.
But just two months before, in March, she had twice visited the A&E department at Royal Derby Hospital after suffering from sudden and sharp chest pains, as reported by Derbyshire Live. Despite this, the mum claims she was told that nothing was wrong.
Her husband, Marius Grigoriu, said: "The fact that now, barring some kind of miracle, we're almost certainly going to lose Sarah, is horrendous. She probably wouldn't be in the position she is in now and on end-of-life care if they'd have investigated it two months earlier. It's horrific. Sarah was badly let down."
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In late March last year Mrs Middleton was rushed to A&E with chest pains after being advised to go by a 111 operator. She said she thought she "might be having a heart attack."
Blood samples and other tests revealed her pain could have been the result of one of two things, a malignancy (a cancerous tumour) or a pulmonary embolism (a blocked blood vessel in her lungs). She was sent home with blood thinners and told to return two days later for a scan. In the meantime, the chest pains eased.
When she had the scan, it was clear, which ruled out the pulmonary embolism, but Mr Grigoriu and Mrs Middleton allege that the prospect of malignancy was not then investigated. At the same appointment, Mrs Middleton begged the Advanced Nurse Practitioner to check she was okay and asked if they could manipulate (feel) her stomach due to swelling and a "heavy feeling" she'd noticed there.
They did, but advised her it was probably "post-Covid inflammation" and that there was nothing seriously wrong, with Mrs Middleton having suffered a bout of the illness a couple of months prior. She went home, still uncomfortable.
Over the next two months, her stomach continued to bloat until, her husband describes, she appeared "pregnant". Mrs Middleton went to her GP who told her to self-refer for a CT scan at Royal Derby Hospital. She did and booked in for the next week.
She was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes in her stomach a week later. It was at stage 4b - described by Mr Grigoriu as "very advanced."
Mrs Middleton only got the results after going back to A&E again when her stomach pain became too much to bear. She was rushed into chemotherapy after her husband's intervention, having initially been told there'd be a two-week wait due to a lack of beds. Mr Grigoriu said treatment was then still delayed due to reduced staff numbers over the Queen's Jubilee weekend.
When she finally went in, Mrs Middleton spent four months as an in-patient, away from her family, until the course finished in September. But just weeks later, she was told it hadn't worked and that the prognosis was poor.
In the meantime, Mr Grigoriu had researched alternative treatment options, hoping they'd never need to be considered. But when the results came in and Sarah returned to hospital for salvage chemotherapy, he set up a GoFundMe page in an attempt to raise money for her to be flown to America for a clinical trial with a specific treatment combination at Washington University.
But after setting a target of more than £200,000 to allow her to stay for three months, Mr Grigoriu was hit with the news that Sarah was not eligible for the trial due to not being medically insured in the USA. Other options for trials in Germany and Japan were rejected too.
After the salvage chemotherapy, Sarah was left with the only option being CAR-T-cell therapy on the NHS, a complex and specialist treatment where changes are made to your T-cells and they are then returned to your body in the hope they will then recognise and attack the cancer cells.
This treatment was given on December 29 after being admitted to Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital on December 23, missing Christmas and New Year with her family. Afterwards, she had to remain isolated in accommodation next to the hospital for 28 days and had a CT scan at the end of January for her results.
The tumours had only partially responded to the treatment. Thirty days later, a follow-up scan revealed they'd started growing again and had spread to her chest.
In severe pain and unable to eat, Sarah's consultant advised that they could try an unapproved drug called Glofitamab in a final attempt to save her life. The family prayed for a positive response, and while initially, her reaction was promising, they were given the news just days ago that it had not worked.
With all treatment options exhausted, Sarah, who once ran 10km four times a week, has been given just weeks to live. Mr Grigoriu is hoping to use the GoFundMe money and whatever else they can raise for one last round of chemotherapy to keep her alive until her daughter's birthday in July.
He said: "Words don't really exist for how bad it is. Our family's been torn to pieces basically. My daughters aren't going to have a mother now and won't be able to turn to her for the small things like a bit of emotional support of something. They're not going to have that now. It's been a terrifying experience for all of us to be honest with you."
Dr Sreeman Andole, Interim Executive Medical Director at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, on behalf of Royal Derby Hospital, said: "We understand that this must be an extremely distressing situation for Sarah and her family and our thoughts are with them all at this difficult time.
"Unfortunately cancers can sometimes be complex, and each type of cancer is diagnosed and treated in a particular way. We would welcome Sarah's family contacting us directly so that we can fully investigate her case, provide support, and answer their questions and concerns." You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
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