09 May 2023 , 03:47
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A mother who had fought off breast cancer then developed lung cancer, but only after being told her CT scan was clear, whereupon she was sent home by an A&E doctor with some antibiotics after suffering with a persistent cough.
Victoria Powers, 34, from Great Wyrley, near Wolverhampton, had originally been diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2017 and was celebrating five years of overcoming the disease when she was given the heartbreaking news that incurable cancer had spread to her lungs and liver, as well as lymph nodes and bones.
But on New Year’s Eve last year, she visited A&E at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton after she started suffering with a pain in her side, possibly brought on by her bouts of coughing – and it was then she had an ECG, a chest X-ray and a CT scan only to be told everything was clear and she was given some antibiotics.
She takes up the story with 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.
Mum Victoria was initially sent home with antibiotics after A&E doctors saw nothing on the her CT scan“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.
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“It was 10pm 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 scan was clear and I was sent home with some antibiotics.
“I then 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.”
Victoria has since undergone three cycles of chemotherapy, while her eight-year-old son, Jacob, has 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.
“Jacob knows 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.
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It had been five years since Victoria had warded off breast cancer“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 £9,000 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.”