King Charles has cancer

[I'm With Stupid]

Sorry to hear your issues. The drink is by far the worst part of the colonoscopy though. I’ve had them with and without sedation and they don’t hurt either way.

Good luck and I hope you get the news you want. I overheard what the doctor was saying during the procedure, so had a pretty good idea of what the results were going to be.

I had one and they gave me a little USB stick with a video of it, for the whole family to enjoy. No idea why anyone would want that, but there you go.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I had one and they gave me a little USB stick with a video of it, for the whole family to enjoy. No idea why anyone would want that, but there you go.

Wow. I don’t feel as though I’ve missed out on that little extra. Get it on OnlyFans and see if there’s any interest in it!

 

[metalblue]

God save the King, and FUCK cancer!

It’ll probably be the surgeon rather than god but agree with the sentiment

 

[hammocity]

I think it’s important to reassure as many men as possible about colonoscopies not being as bad as we all fear they could be. If it helps one extra bloke go and it saves a life, it’s more than worth it.

Even if the worst is diagnosed, it’s not necessarily the end. My grandad was given 6 months to live in 1989 when he had 1/3 of his bowel removed due to cancer. He lived another 26 years and died aged 84.

Good luck anyway.

Very reassuring and great advice to anyone on here.

 

[metalblue]

Why would you need to track your oncologist?

I've never had to track him or had a problem of where to ring if I need anything. And before you ask, yes, I'm on the NHS. My treatment is based in Leicester. They have a dedicated cancer centre, like all regions, of which my oncologist is part of a huge team that look after an increasing amount of cancer patients. If I have a problem I ring a 24 hour manned hotline. They then advise me what to do. Usually go to Leicester. If I have an admin problem, and it's quite hard to have one of them seeing as they text and send mail out on a regular basis, then there's a number to ring. It's not my oncologist.
The times I do have to go in to see someone I occasionally get my oncologist. Mostly I get one of his team. They all sing from the same song sheet so it's never a problem. If I really need something then they provided his secretary's number. Just leave a message and they are in contact within 24 hours.

He rings me once a month before my home treatment, to discuss my recent bloods and to make sure I'm ok to have my next immunotherapy. He did this yesterday and yes, I'm still kicking the cancers arse. It's a personable chat and lasts around 5 minutes. There's no rush on his part. He listens to my concerns. If I bring anything up then it's put down for the next blood tests. That I arrange at my local hospital once a month.
Today I've had a call about the delivery of tomorrow's drugs. A nurse will text me in the morning to confirm delivery and time she'll be popping in to administer.

It's all very slick and well organised and for the most part doesn't involve him at all. At least what's visible to me.

As for taking up a place...as you said, most, if not all specialists work NHS and Private. They have spaces to fill. No one will lose out because of this as both systems work independently and alongside each other. I've been to private hospitals for scans. I've been to private hospitals for operations. I have some next week.

If you pay to have private then you will not jump any queue. You will just see less patients around. It's more of a one on one scenario. Your appointment will be on time. Generally. If it's a private hospital it will appear brighter, cleaner and more efficient.

The King though, different proposition. He will have his own surgeon. A surgeon who is probably not doing other operations but spends his time doing lectures and teaching. He probably has a title added, like OBE or Sir. It's another level of treatment in a very exclusive private hospital. One that the likes of you and I, private or not, will never see.

Great to read all that mate.

The trust Mrs MB is at for breast cancer the consultants work both NHS and privately but from the moment you’re under the consultants care (diagnosis) you’ve typically had your surgery within 3 weeks on the NHS.

I get the point @supercity88 was making in that you’d logically think if they didn’t work privately they’d have more appointments to give on the NHS but as @SWP's back says it’s already ring fenced time and often they are having private appointments quite late in to the evening when doing private work which they wouldn’t get to do in the trust anyway.

I recall one private surgery Mrs MB had on her shoulder her consultant operated on her, nipped over the road to our local NHS hospital, done another couple of operations and then was back to check on Mrs MB. They do work hard and I dare say feel a lot of obligation towards the NHS.

 

[supercity88]

Why would you need to track your oncologist?

I've never had to track him or had a problem of where to ring if I need anything. And before you ask, yes, I'm on the NHS. My treatment is based in Leicester. They have a dedicated cancer centre, like all regions, of which my oncologist is part of a huge team that look after an increasing amount of cancer patients. If I have a problem I ring a 24 hour manned hotline. They then advise me what to do. Usually go to Leicester. If I have an admin problem, and it's quite hard to have one of them seeing as they text and send mail out on a regular basis, then there's a number to ring. It's not my oncologist.
The times I do have to go in to see someone I occasionally get my oncologist. Mostly I get one of his team. They all sing from the same song sheet so it's never a problem. If I really need something then they provided his secretary's number. Just leave a message and they are in contact within 24 hours.

He rings me once a month before my home treatment, to discuss my recent bloods and to make sure I'm ok to have my next immunotherapy. He did this yesterday and yes, I'm still kicking the cancers arse. It's a personable chat and lasts around 5 minutes. There's no rush on his part. He listens to my concerns. If I bring anything up then it's put down for the next blood tests. That I arrange at my local hospital once a month.
Today I've had a call about the delivery of tomorrow's drugs. A nurse will text me in the morning to confirm delivery and time she'll be popping in to administer.

It's all very slick and well organised and for the most part doesn't involve him at all. At least what's visible to me.

As for taking up a place...as you said, most, if not all specialists work NHS and Private. They have spaces to fill. No one will lose out because of this as both systems work independently and alongside each other. I've been to private hospitals for scans. I've been to private hospitals for operations. I have some next week.

If you pay to have private then you will not jump any queue. You will just see less patients around. It's more of a one on one scenario. Your appointment will be on time. Generally. If it's a private hospital it will appear brighter, cleaner and more efficient.

The King though, different proposition. He will have his own surgeon. A surgeon who is probably not doing other operations but spends his time doing lectures and teaching. He probably has a title added, like OBE or Sir. It's another level of treatment in a very exclusive private hospital. One that the likes of you and I, private or not, will never see.

I'm glad you have that level of care and treatment, I really do. Why is the big fucking question!!!

The answer is, because the trust and the team of people looking after her were useless. She didn't get a clear picture. She didn't have a 24 hour manned helpline. She had three receptionists giving her shit for calling them to dare chase up a scan result or blood test result or get any information at all. She would often need another scan by the time they got the previous scan result through. She was contacted once at 4am saying they'd had blood results back in and were extremely concerned (a blood test from a week before). They told her to get to A&E immediately in order to go to a ward and be treated. She did so. She sat in a wheelchair in A&E for 4 hours until they moved her to a ward to wait another 3 hours before she got a bed. They had no knowledge of her results or why she was there. She had a couple of major surgeries and then chemo/radiotherapy managed through an oncologist. But she was having a lot of scans/tests throughout and there was just no direction. The surgeon never seemed to speak to the oncologist or vice versa and she didn't feel re-assured at any point as to what was going on. Things only improved when a hospice got involved in her end of life care and managed to fire the right shots to get things actioned.

Great to read all that mate.

The trust Mrs MB is at for breast cancer the consultants work both NHS and privately but from the moment you’re under the consultants care (diagnosis) you’ve typically had your surgery within 3 weeks on the NHS.

I get the point @supercity88 was making in that you’d logically think if they didn’t work privately they’d have more appointments to give on the NHS but as @SWP's back says it’s already ring fenced time and often they are having private appointments quite late in to the evening when doing private work which they wouldn’t get to do in the trust anyway.

I recall one private surgery Mrs MB had on her shoulder her consultant operated on her, nipped over the road to our local NHS hospital, done another couple of operations and then was back to check on Mrs MB. They do work hard and I dare say feel a lot of obligation towards the NHS.

You've picked up on the point. But it's ring fenced time because there's a demand for it. Going private feeds the demand for surgeons/doctors/nurses who would otherwise be working for the NHS full time. As more and more people go private more of the NHS workforce will undertake private work to supplement their income, as is their right. But you aren't helping the NHS and you are essentially paying to jump the queue as the waiting time to see that person privately is far less than seeing them in their NHS capacity.

The King will be on a bespoke regime and I hope he fully recovers and gets the care and treatment he needs. Maybe people have jumped on what I've said because they view it as coming from an anti-royal perspective, but I probably should have clarified I don't actually think this issue is fair to be discussed in a thread about his diagnosis and should be saved for the NHS thread really because it's on a much broader scale. But I've been triggered!

 

[MillisleBlue]

If you have any symptoms that could suggest cancer you’re generally seen with 14 days on the NHS.

I had a FIT test just three weeks ago, on the Tuesday, the Doctor called me in said I had a high level of blood in my waste which could be bowel cancer. Had my prep meeting at the hospital on Friday and booked the Colonoscopy and Endoscopy for last Tuesday.

Unfortunately my BP was so high on the day the procedures were cancelled. Seeing the Dr tomorrow for a prescription of Diazepam, Friday at hospital for the pre procedure then next Tuesday at the hospital again.

The stuff you take to clear you out is bleedin horrible and all I can think of is when I come round from my procedure the Doc will be telling me the worst news. I’ve been having abdominal pains for some months now but it’s not that painful so I kind of ignored it.

I’m 64 so had a decent life but having worked hard all my adult life I would like a few more years just to carry on enjoying my retirement (just 18 months at the moment).

Keep everything crossed for you, mate. I hope you get every chance at a long and enjoyable retirement.

 

[BimboBob]

I'm glad you have that level of care and treatment, I really do. Why is the big fucking question!!!

The answer is, because the trust and the team of people looking after her were useless. She didn't get a clear picture. She didn't have a 24 hour manned helpline. She had three receptionists giving her shit for calling them to dare chase up a scan result or blood test result or get any information at all. She would often need another scan by the time they got the previous scan result through. She was contacted once at 4am saying they'd had blood results back in and were extremely concerned (a blood test from a week before). They told her to get to A&E immediately in order to go to a ward and be treated. She did so. She sat in a wheelchair in A&E for 4 hours until they moved her to a ward to wait another 3 hours before she got a bed. They had no knowledge of her results or why she was there. She had a couple of major surgeries and then chemo/radiotherapy managed through an oncologist. But she was having a lot of scans/tests throughout and there was just no direction. The surgeon never seemed to speak to the oncologist or vice versa and she didn't feel re-assured at any point as to what was going on. Things only improved when a hospice got involved in her end of life care and managed to fire the right shots to get things actioned.



You've picked up on the point. But it's ring fenced time because there's a demand for it. Going private feeds the demand for surgeons/doctors/nurses who would otherwise be working for the NHS full time. As more and more people go private more of the NHS workforce will undertake private work to supplement their income, as is their right. But you aren't helping the NHS and you are essentially paying to jump the queue as the waiting time to see that person privately is far less than seeing them in their NHS capacity.

The King will be on a bespoke regime and I hope he fully recovers and gets the care and treatment he needs. Maybe people have jumped on what I've said because they view it as coming from an anti-royal perspective, but I probably should have clarified I don't actually think this issue is fair to be discussed in a thread about his diagnosis and should be saved for the NHS thread really because it's on a much broader scale. But I've been triggered!

I would like to point out that when I went to Kettering once as it's the closest hospital to me and I needed urgent care I sat in a&e for 24 hours waiting for a bed. No one seemed to know what I was doing there or indeed why.

My point is that cancer care varies immensely from county to county.

Sorry your Mum had to go through what she did.

 

[SilverFox2]

Got the same stunning news for my dad early last year. Thankfully his was caught early, the NHS (credit where credit is due) were fantastic with him and he's still soldiering on like nothing ever happened. Must be an older generation attitude.

I remember about 5 years ago a Professer of Cancer being asked what the biggest cause of cancer was.

His reply was getting older.

 

[remember arthur mann]

I remember about 5 years ago a Professer of Cancer being asked what the biggest cause of cancer was.

His reply was getting older.

Yep, cure cancer and you'll probably deny ageing, it's all about mutating.