Doctors missed my husband's cancer 37 times

[Guest guest]

Doctors missed my husband's cancer 37 times

By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH 16:07pm 11th July 2006

On a staggering 37 different occasions, doctors missed carpenter Cura's cancer, telling him he had nothing more to worry about than kidney stones.

By the time he died four months ago, aged just 31, his body was riddled with the disease. Here, his 34-year-old widow , who lives in Gillingham, Kent, with their children , six, and Abigail, three, tells the family's heartbreaking story.

THE death of any young man can only be described as tragic. But what makes my husband's death particularly devastating is that it could have been avoided altogether.

Had 's doctors not dismissed his concerns so readily, he would have been standing beside me last Friday as I cheered on our son at his school sports day.

Instead, I stood there alone, struggling to hold back tears as six-year-old hurtled down the sports field. Almost every day, my three-year-old daughter gets tearful and asks when her daddy is coming home. She thinks he is still at hospital.

I've tried to tell her he's not coming back, but she's too young to understand. has become very quiet and withdrawn. He and were best friends and loved playing football together. I don't think he can make sense of it either. We all draw some comfort from the many photographs of that cover our walls, but it is still hard for me to comprehend the turn of events that has seen my favourite of those images, taken just before our wedding in 1999, end up adorning my husband's gravestone.

Meanwhile, the doctors who treated are still continuing to see patients every day. The thought that, thanks to their respectable jobs and so-called expertise, they may be seen as pillars of their communities fills me with horror.

's consultant maintained throughout that was too young to have cancer and simply had a bad case of kidney stones. Thanks to his confident and authoritative air, I saw virtually skip out of hospital after his appointments, such was his relief that, despite presenting with all the obvious symptoms of cancer — including dramatic weight loss, pain and passing blood — he'd been given the all-clear.

was worried as soon as first told me he felt ill in April 2002. He came home from work and said he'd been passing blood. It seemed odd as was very fit and healthy. He was a carpenter and the sort of person who hardly ever even got a cold. saw our GP that same evening.

The doctor mentioned that cancer was a possibility but added it was very unlikely because of 's age. Just to be sure, though, he referred him to a specialist at the Medway Maritime Hospital a week later.

But later that same night, took a turn for the worse and we ended up at the A & E department of the same hospital. By the time we arrived, he was doubled up with pain in his back and groin, and he'd also started vomiting.

An X-ray showed a clear obstruction in 's left kidney, which doctors diagnosed as a kidney stone. He was admitted to hospital for three days for monitoring, after which he was sent home with some antibiotics to wait for the stone to pass. Over the following weeks, did not get any better.

He was still passing blood and vomiting, and seemed to be constantly going back and forth from the hospital, sometimes saying for a few nights, sometimes coming straight home again. Each time, the hospital confidently stuck to their original diagnosis.

At home, I watched in horror as my husband's weight dropped off. He developed dark circles around his eyes and struggled to continue working. I was desperately worried. In September, we asked for 's kidney to be removed after a scan showed it was failing. With still passing blood and losing weight, we also raised the question of cancer, having done some research about the symptoms online.

But the consultant told us that definitely did not have cancer. He also advised that the kidney was not removed as he believed it better for a young person to keep two kidneys if possible.

It was only in December, by which point a scan showed 's kidney had virtually completely failed, that the consultant agreed it should be removed. Again, though, he reassured us that it definitely wasn't cancer.

We were told we'd have to wait six months for the operation. Had we realised the seriousness of the situation, we would have paid for the operation to be done privately, but all along we were led to believe that 's life was not threatened in any way.

Although 's health continued to get worse, we believed it was just a question of waiting for the operation and then he would be well again.

By the time it finally went ahead in July 2003, had made a total of 37 visits to hospital, both to see the consultant and to seek help at A & E when his pain or sickness became unbearable.

After the operation, which took eight hours, 's health seemed to pick up and we were confident life would quickly return to normal.

But at his check-up a month later, we were told the operation had also revealed the presence of a large growth. As was by now becoming the pattern, again we were told it was nothing to worry about and were sent home.

Later that week, however, we received shocking news. The hospital telephoned and said the growth was, in fact, a malignant tumour, 8cm in diameter.

Again, we were told not to worry. Even if they had known it was malignant, they said, the treatment would have been to remove the kidney — and that had been done.

We then telephoned a doctor friend of ours in Leeds. He told us straight away that a tumour of that size is huge, and said we must insist on a CT scan to check the cancer hadn't spread.

The next morning, after phoning the hospital and being told our consultant was unable to see us, and I turned up at the hospital and waited on the ward. We were confused and frightened, and told nursing staff we would not leave until we'd seen the consultant.

Finally, after a couple of hours, his registrar saw us and agreed to give a CT and bone scan to put our minds at rest. At the end of August, had his scan and on September 3, 2003, his 29th birthday, we returned to the hospital to get the results.

Given the registrar's apparently unconcerned attitude throughout the CT and bone scan, both and I expected to hear that everything was fine. Despite the treatment we'd had so far, we genuinely had faith in the doctors who were looking after us.

Nothing could have prepared us for the moment the consultant turned to us and said that was terminally ill. The cancer, he said, had spread into 's lymph nodes and abdominal organs. The only thing he could offer us now, he said, was chemotherapy. It would prolong 's life but wouldn't be a cure.

In that moment, our worlds fell apart. had quite literally been handed a death sentence. He just sat there in total silence and shock.

My voice trembling, I asked the consultant what would have happened had the kidney been removed when we first complained. The consultant told me had that happened, we would not be having the conversation we were at that moment.

That night, rather than celebrate 's birthday, we sat at his parents' house in shock. It was almost impossible to believe that after so many months of asking 'Could it be cancer?', and being fobbed off, we had now been told that would die.

started chemotherapy at London's Royal Marsden Hospital almost immediately. Throughout, he never lost hope that he would beat the cancer.

He tried everything, from chemotherapy and biological treatments such as Interferon, to surgery to remove infected lymph nodes and new trial drugs. He tried herbal remedies, drank two litres of water a day and we all stuck to a healthy diet, eating mainly organic fruit and vegetables and staying off red meat and fizzy drinks.

Incredibly, despite the prognosis, there were periods when 's health seemed to improve. At times, he was even able to work and he was determined to support us for as long as possible.

To help us channel our anger, 's mother suggested we contact Harman, a lawyer well known for dealing with cases of medical negligence. She enlisted five independent experts to comment on 's case, each of whom stated that ruling out cancer had not been the correct way to proceed.

From his bed, wrote letters to the Medway NHS Trust, describing the treatment he'd received and demanding an explanation. It helped him to feel he was doing something.

Harman also got hold of a letter that the consultant, Palmer, had sent our GP on the day of 's diagnosis. Incredibly it said: 'Ironically, my obsession with trying to keep young patients with two kidneys has proven to be mistaken.' It seemed bizarre to me that a doctor could speak so lightly about a personal 'obsession' when it was costing a man his life.

In August 2004, we heard that the cancer had spread to his stomach lining and become even more aggressive. His weight quickly dropped from 13st to 10st and fluids began to build up on his stomach. In December 2004, the Mars-den told us nothing more could be done and suggested hospice care.

It was then that for the first time I saw , who had been so strong and positive throughout, break down. I watched, holding back my own tears, as he told the hospice nurse he was frightened and wanted to see his children grow up.

Desperate, we turned to an alternative health guru who prescribed a regime in Indian herbs.

Again, for a short while, 's condition seemed to improve.

By March 2005, he was well enough to go and watch Chelsea play football and we even went on a family holiday.

Around the same time, just days before we were due to attend court, the hospital settled out of court, accepting that mistakes had in general been made. It seemed unfair to me that the consultant should get off, but it was a relief that at least some of the distress they'd caused us was acknowledged and we could focus all our energies on getting well.

But last September, he found a lump in his right side and he returned to the care of the local hospice. Although we had a lovely Christmas together, by January was so unwell he had to give up work. Fluids again started to build up in his stomach, he became very bloated and was put on morphine. He died on February 28 after suffering a seizure.

After 's death, I was determined to fight on again. Medway Maritime Hospital issued the following statement, but it has come as little comfort to me.

'Medway NHS Trust would again like to express its heartfelt and sincere condolences and regrets to the family of Mr Cura. Mistakes were made and nothing that the Trust can say will alleviate the suffering and loss experienced by this family. However, lessons have been learned from this tragic case.'

The hospital maintains that 's cancer was so aggressive he would have died even if it had been diagnosed a year earlier. But I don't believe that is the case and I'm not satisfied at all. I would also still like to see 's consultant held personally accountable.

I have asked the Department of Health to hold an independent inquiry and look into the whole management of the case. saw lots of doctors and there was no co-ordination that would have revealed his cancer. I'm waiting to hear what will happen next.

To a certain degree, fighting for justice for is helping keeping me going. But the procedure is long and drawn-out, and on many days, were it not for the children, I'm not sure I'd be able to get out of bed.

It seems hard to believe that in this day and age you can go to a hospital that many times, have so many scans, X-rays and blood tests, have a doctor look you in the eye and tell you there is nothing to worry about, only then to discover you are, in fact, terminally ill.

Like so many people in this country, and I put all our trust in the medical establishment. Sadly, by the time we discovered they'd got it wrong, it was too late.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=395077 & in_page_id=1774 & in_a_source=

[Guest guest]

Dear Natasha, I am so sorry about your loss. It is so hard to deal with the loss of a loved one.You mentioned your children,every day you will see your husband in them,and know he is not really gone,he has just moved on to a different place.I will pray for you and your children.Peace,PeachStatePam <figment@...> wrote: Doctors missed my husband's cancer 37 times By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH 16:07pm 11th July 2006 On a staggering 37 different occasions, doctors missed carpenter Cura's cancer, telling him he had nothing more to worry about than kidney stones. By the time he died four months ago, aged just 31, his body was riddled with the disease. Here, his 34-year-old widow , who lives in Gillingham, Kent, with their children , six, and Abigail, three, tells the family's heartbreaking story. THE death of any young man can only be described as tragic. But what makes my husband's death particularly devastating is that it could have been avoided altogether. Had 's doctors not dismissed his concerns so readily, he would have been standing beside me last Friday as I cheered on our son at his school

sports day. Instead, I stood there alone, struggling to hold back tears as six-year-old hurtled down the sports field. Almost every day, my three-year-old daughter gets tearful and asks when her daddy is coming home. She thinks he is still at hospital. I've tried to tell her he's not coming back, but she's too young to understand. has become very quiet and withdrawn. He and were best friends and loved playing football together. I don't think he can make sense of it either. We all draw some comfort from the many photographs of that cover our walls, but it is still hard for me to comprehend the turn of events that has seen my favourite of those images, taken just before our wedding in 1999, end up adorning my husband's gravestone. Meanwhile, the doctors who treated are still continuing to see patients every day. The thought that, thanks to their respectable jobs and

so-called expertise, they may be seen as pillars of their communities fills me with horror. 's consultant maintained throughout that was too young to have cancer and simply had a bad case of kidney stones. Thanks to his confident and authoritative air, I saw virtually skip out of hospital after his appointments, such was his relief that, despite presenting with all the obvious symptoms of cancer — including dramatic weight loss, pain and passing blood — he'd been given the all-clear. was worried as soon as first told me he felt ill in April 2002. He came home from work and said he'd been passing blood. It seemed odd as was very fit and healthy. He was a carpenter and the sort of person who hardly ever even got a cold. saw our GP that same evening. The doctor mentioned that cancer was a possibility but added it was very unlikely because of 's

age. Just to be sure, though, he referred him to a specialist at the Medway Maritime Hospital a week later. But later that same night, took a turn for the worse and we ended up at the A & E department of the same hospital. By the time we arrived, he was doubled up with pain in his back and groin, and he'd also started vomiting. An X-ray showed a clear obstruction in 's left kidney, which doctors diagnosed as a kidney stone. He was admitted to hospital for three days for monitoring, after which he was sent home with some antibiotics to wait for the stone to pass. Over the following weeks, did not get any better. He was still passing blood and vomiting, and seemed to be constantly going back and forth from the hospital, sometimes saying for a few nights, sometimes coming straight home again. Each time, the hospital confidently stuck to their original diagnosis. At home, I watched in horror as my husband's weight dropped off. He developed dark circles around his eyes and struggled to continue working. I was desperately worried. In September, we asked for 's kidney to be removed after a scan showed it was failing. With still passing blood and losing weight, we also raised the question of cancer, having done some research about the symptoms online. But the consultant told us that definitely did not have cancer. He also advised that the kidney was not removed as he believed it better for a young person to keep two kidneys if possible. It was only in December, by which point a scan showed 's kidney had virtually completely failed, that the consultant agreed it should be removed. Again, though, he reassured us that it definitely wasn't cancer. We were told we'd have to wait six months for the operation. Had we

realised the seriousness of the situation, we would have paid for the operation to be done privately, but all along we were led to believe that 's life was not threatened in any way. Although 's health continued to get worse, we believed it was just a question of waiting for the operation and then he would be well again. By the time it finally went ahead in July 2003, had made a total of 37 visits to hospital, both to see the consultant and to seek help at A & E when his pain or sickness became unbearable. After the operation, which took eight hours, 's health seemed to pick up and we were confident life would quickly return to normal. But at his check-up a month later, we were told the operation had also revealed the presence of a large growth. As was by now becoming the pattern, again we were told it was nothing to worry about and were sent

home. Later that week, however, we received shocking news. The hospital telephoned and said the growth was, in fact, a malignant tumour, 8cm in diameter. Again, we were told not to worry. Even if they had known it was malignant, they said, the treatment would have been to remove the kidney — and that had been done. We then telephoned a doctor friend of ours in Leeds. He told us straight away that a tumour of that size is huge, and said we must insist on a CT scan to check the cancer hadn't spread. The next morning, after phoning the hospital and being told our consultant was unable to see us, and I turned up at the hospital and waited on the ward. We were confused and frightened, and told nursing staff we would not leave until we'd seen the consultant. Finally, after a couple of hours, his registrar saw us and agreed to give a

CT and bone scan to put our minds at rest. At the end of August, had his scan and on September 3, 2003, his 29th birthday, we returned to the hospital to get the results. Given the registrar's apparently unconcerned attitude throughout the CT and bone scan, both and I expected to hear that everything was fine. Despite the treatment we'd had so far, we genuinely had faith in the doctors who were looking after us. Nothing could have prepared us for the moment the consultant turned to us and said that was terminally ill. The cancer, he said, had spread into 's lymph nodes and abdominal organs. The only thing he could offer us now, he said, was chemotherapy. It would prolong 's life but wouldn't be a cure. In that moment, our worlds fell apart. had quite literally been handed a death sentence. He just sat there in total silence and shock. My voice trembling, I asked the consultant what would have happened had the kidney been removed when we first complained. The consultant told me had that happened, we would not be having the conversation we were at that moment. That night, rather than celebrate 's birthday, we sat at his parents' house in shock. It was almost impossible to believe that after so many months of asking 'Could it be cancer?', and being fobbed off, we had now been told that would die. started chemotherapy at London's Royal Marsden Hospital almost immediately. Throughout, he never lost hope that he would beat the cancer. He tried everything, from chemotherapy and biological treatments such as Interferon, to surgery to remove infected lymph nodes and new trial drugs. He tried herbal remedies, drank two litres of water a day and we all stuck to a healthy diet, eating mainly organic fruit and

vegetables and staying off red meat and fizzy drinks. Incredibly, despite the prognosis, there were periods when 's health seemed to improve. At times, he was even able to work and he was determined to support us for as long as possible. To help us channel our anger, 's mother suggested we contact Harman, a lawyer well known for dealing with cases of medical negligence. She enlisted five independent experts to comment on 's case, each of whom stated that ruling out cancer had not been the correct way to proceed. From his bed, wrote letters to the Medway NHS Trust, describing the treatment he'd received and demanding an explanation. It helped him to feel he was doing something. Harman also got hold of a letter that the consultant, Palmer, had sent our GP on the day of 's diagnosis. Incredibly it said: 'Ironically, my

obsession with trying to keep young patients with two kidneys has proven to be mistaken.' It seemed bizarre to me that a doctor could speak so lightly about a personal 'obsession' when it was costing a man his life. In August 2004, we heard that the cancer had spread to his stomach lining and become even more aggressive. His weight quickly dropped from 13st to 10st and fluids began to build up on his stomach. In December 2004, the Mars-den told us nothing more could be done and suggested hospice care. It was then that for the first time I saw , who had been so strong and positive throughout, break down. I watched, holding back my own tears, as he told the hospice nurse he was frightened and wanted to see his children grow up. Desperate, we turned to an alternative health guru who prescribed a regime in Indian herbs. Again, for a short while, 's condition

seemed to improve. By March 2005, he was well enough to go and watch Chelsea play football and we even went on a family holiday. Around the same time, just days before we were due to attend court, the hospital settled out of court, accepting that mistakes had in general been made. It seemed unfair to me that the consultant should get off, but it was a relief that at least some of the distress they'd caused us was acknowledged and we could focus all our energies on getting well. But last September, he found a lump in his right side and he returned to the care of the local hospice. Although we had a lovely Christmas together, by January was so unwell he had to give up work. Fluids again started to build up in his stomach, he became very bloated and was put on morphine. He died on February 28 after suffering a seizure. After 's death, I was determined

to fight on again. Medway Maritime Hospital issued the following statement, but it has come as little comfort to me. 'Medway NHS Trust would again like to express its heartfelt and sincere condolences and regrets to the family of Mr Cura. Mistakes were made and nothing that the Trust can say will alleviate the suffering and loss experienced by this family. However, lessons have been learned from this tragic case.' The hospital maintains that 's cancer was so aggressive he would have died even if it had been diagnosed a year earlier. But I don't believe that is the case and I'm not satisfied at all. I would also still like to see 's consultant held personally accountable. I have asked the Department of Health to hold an independent inquiry and look into the whole management of the case. saw lots of doctors and there was no co-ordination that would have revealed his cancer. I'm

waiting to hear what will happen next. To a certain degree, fighting for justice for is helping keeping me going. But the procedure is long and drawn-out, and on many days, were it not for the children, I'm not sure I'd be able to get out of bed. It seems hard to believe that in this day and age you can go to a hospital that many times, have so many scans, X-rays and blood tests, have a doctor look you in the eye and tell you there is nothing to worry about, only then to discover you are, in fact, terminally ill. Like so many people in this country, and I put all our trust in the medical establishment. Sadly, by the time we discovered they'd got it wrong, it was too late. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=395077 & in_page_id=1774 & in_a_source=

See the all-new, redesigned .com. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

This is an incredibly sad story and any extra words from me right

now, I wouldn't feel appropiate.

I am so sorry for the lose of your husband, the loss of a father for

your children and the emotional trauma you have gone through.

I pray that you find peace and comfort during this time and the

years ahead.

Blessings to you and your family,

Barbara

Doctors missed my

husband's cancer 37 times By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH 16:07pm 11th

July 2006

>

> On a staggering 37 different occasions, doctors missed

carpenter Cura's cancer, telling him he had nothing more to

worry about than kidney stones. By the time he died four months

ago, aged just 31, his body was riddled with the disease. Here, his

34-year-old widow , who lives in Gillingham, Kent, with their

children , six, and Abigail, three, tells the family's

heartbreaking story. THE death of any young man can only be

described as tragic. But what makes my husband's death particularly

devastating is that it could have been avoided altogether. Had

's doctors not dismissed his concerns so readily, he would have

been standing beside me last Friday as I cheered on our son at

his school sports day. Instead, I stood there alone, struggling to

hold back tears as six-year-old hurtled down the sports field.

Almost every day, my three-year-old daughter gets tearful and asks

when her daddy is coming home. She thinks he is still at

> hospital. I've tried to tell her he's not coming back, but

she's too young to understand. has become very quiet and

withdrawn. He and were best friends and loved playing football

together. I don't think he can make sense of it either. We all draw

some comfort from the many photographs of that cover our

walls, but it is still hard for me to comprehend the turn of events

that has seen my favourite of those images, taken just before our

wedding in 1999, end up adorning my husband's gravestone.

Meanwhile, the doctors who treated are still continuing to see

patients every day. The thought that, thanks to their respectable

jobs and so-called expertise, they may be seen as pillars of their

communities fills me with horror. 's consultant maintained

throughout that was too young to have cancer and simply had a

bad case of kidney stones. Thanks to his confident and authoritative

air, I saw virtually skip out of hospital after his

> appointments, such was his relief that, despite presenting with

all the obvious symptoms of cancer — including dramatic weight loss,

pain and passing blood — he'd been given the all-clear.

> was worried as soon as first told me he felt ill in April

2002. He came home from work and said he'd been passing blood. It

seemed odd as was very fit and healthy. He was a carpenter and

the sort of person who hardly ever even got a cold. saw our GP

that same evening.

> The doctor mentioned that cancer was a possibility but added it

was very unlikely because of 's age. Just to be sure, though,

he referred him to a specialist at the Medway Maritime Hospital a

week later. But later that same night, took a turn for the

worse and we ended up at the A & E department of the same hospital. By

the time we arrived, he was doubled up with pain in his back and

groin, and he'd also started vomiting. An X-ray showed a clear

obstruction in 's left kidney, which doctors diagnosed as a

kidney stone. He was admitted to hospital for three days for

monitoring, after which he was sent home with some antibiotics to

wait for the stone to pass. Over the following weeks, did not

get any better. He was still passing blood and vomiting, and

seemed to be constantly going back and forth from the hospital,

sometimes saying for a few nights, sometimes coming straight home

again. Each time, the hospital confidently stuck to their original

> diagnosis. At home, I watched in horror as my husband's weight

dropped off. He developed dark circles around his eyes and struggled

to continue working. I was desperately worried. In September, we

asked for 's kidney to be removed after a scan showed it was

failing. With still passing blood and losing weight, we also

raised the question of cancer, having done some research about the

symptoms online. But the consultant told us that definitely

did not have cancer. He also advised that the kidney was not removed

as he believed it better for a young person to keep two kidneys if

possible. It was only in December, by which point a scan showed

's kidney had virtually completely failed, that the consultant

agreed it should be removed. Again, though, he reassured us that it

definitely wasn't cancer. We were told we'd have to wait six

months for the operation. Had we realised the seriousness of the

situation, we would have paid for the operation to be

> done privately, but all along we were led to believe that 's

life was not threatened in any way. Although 's health

continued to get worse, we believed it was just a question of

waiting for the operation and then he would be well again. By the

time it finally went ahead in July 2003, had made a total of

37 visits to hospital, both to see the consultant and to seek help

at A & E when his pain or sickness became unbearable. After the

operation, which took eight hours, 's health seemed to pick up

and we were confident life would quickly return to normal. But at

his check-up a month later, we were told the operation had also

revealed the presence of a large growth. As was by now becoming the

pattern, again we were told it was nothing to worry about and were

sent home. Later that week, however, we received shocking news.

The hospital telephoned and said the growth was, in fact, a

malignant tumour, 8cm in diameter. Again, we were told not to

worry.

> Even if they had known it was malignant, they said, the treatment

would have been to remove the kidney — and that had been done. We

then telephoned a doctor friend of ours in Leeds. He told us

straight away that a tumour of that size is huge, and said we must

insist on a CT scan to check the cancer hadn't spread. The next

morning, after phoning the hospital and being told our consultant

was unable to see us, and I turned up at the hospital and

waited on the ward. We were confused and frightened, and told

nursing staff we would not leave until we'd seen the consultant.

Finally, after a couple of hours, his registrar saw us and agreed to

give a CT and bone scan to put our minds at rest. At the end

of August, had his scan and on September 3, 2003, his 29th

birthday, we returned to the hospital to get the results. Given

the registrar's apparently unconcerned attitude throughout the CT

and bone scan, both and I expected to hear that everything

> was fine. Despite the treatment we'd had so far, we genuinely had

faith in the doctors who were looking after us. Nothing could have

prepared us for the moment the consultant turned to us and said that

was terminally ill. The cancer, he said, had spread into

's lymph nodes and abdominal organs. The only thing he could

offer us now, he said, was chemotherapy. It would prolong 's

life but wouldn't be a cure. In that moment, our worlds fell

apart. had quite literally been handed a death sentence. He

just sat there in total silence and shock. My voice trembling, I

asked the consultant what would have happened had the kidney been

removed when we first complained. The consultant told me had that

happened, we would not be having the conversation we were at that

moment. That night, rather than celebrate 's birthday, we sat

at his parents' house in shock. It was almost impossible to believe

that after so many months of asking 'Could it be

> cancer?', and being fobbed off, we had now been told that

would die. started chemotherapy at London's Royal Marsden

Hospital almost immediately. Throughout, he never lost hope that he

would beat the cancer. He tried everything, from chemotherapy and

biological treatments such as Interferon, to surgery to remove

infected lymph nodes and new trial drugs. He tried herbal remedies,

drank two litres of water a day and we all stuck to a healthy diet,

eating mainly organic fruit and vegetables and staying off red meat

and fizzy drinks. Incredibly, despite the prognosis, there were

periods when 's health seemed to improve. At times, he was even

able to work and he was determined to support us for as long as

possible. To help us channel our anger, 's mother suggested

we contact Harman, a lawyer well known for dealing with cases

of medical negligence. She enlisted five independent experts to

comment on 's case, each of whom stated that ruling

> out cancer had not been the correct way to proceed. From his

bed, wrote letters to the Medway NHS Trust, describing the

treatment he'd received and demanding an explanation. It helped him

to feel he was doing something. Harman also got hold of a

letter that the consultant, Palmer, had sent our GP on the day

of 's diagnosis. Incredibly it said: 'Ironically, my obsession

with trying to keep young patients with two kidneys has proven to be

mistaken.' It seemed bizarre to me that a doctor could speak so

lightly about a personal 'obsession' when it was costing a man his

life. In August 2004, we heard that the cancer had spread to his

stomach lining and become even more aggressive. His weight quickly

dropped from 13st to 10st and fluids began to build up on his

stomach. In December 2004, the Mars-den told us nothing more could

be done and suggested hospice care. It was then that for the first

time I saw , who had been so strong and positive

> throughout, break down. I watched, holding back my own tears, as

he told the hospice nurse he was frightened and wanted to see his

children grow up. Desperate, we turned to an alternative health

guru who prescribed a regime in Indian herbs. Again, for a short

while, 's condition seemed to improve. By March 2005, he was

well enough to go and watch Chelsea play football and we even went

on a family holiday. Around the same time, just days before we

were due to attend court, the hospital settled out of court,

accepting that mistakes had in general been made. It seemed unfair

to me that the consultant should get off, but it was a relief that

at least some of the distress they'd caused us was acknowledged and

we could focus all our energies on getting well. But last

September, he found a lump in his right side and he returned to the

care of the local hospice. Although we had a lovely Christmas

together, by January was so unwell he had to give up work.

> Fluids again started to build up in his stomach, he became very

bloated and was put on morphine. He died on February 28 after

suffering a seizure. After 's death, I was determined to

fight on again. Medway Maritime Hospital issued the following

statement, but it has come as little comfort to me. 'Medway NHS

Trust would again like to express its heartfelt and sincere

condolences and regrets to the family of Mr Cura. Mistakes were made

and nothing that the Trust can say will alleviate the suffering and

loss experienced by this family. However, lessons have been learned

from this tragic case.' The hospital maintains that 's cancer

was so aggressive he would have died even if it had been diagnosed a

year earlier. But I don't believe that is the case and I'm not

satisfied at all. I would also still like to see 's consultant

held personally accountable. I have asked the Department of Health

to hold an independent inquiry and look into the whole management

> of the case. saw lots of doctors and there was no co-

ordination that would have revealed his cancer. I'm waiting to hear

what will happen next. To a certain degree, fighting for justice

for is helping keeping me going. But the procedure is long and

drawn-out, and on many days, were it not for the children, I'm not

sure I'd be able to get out of bed. It seems hard to believe that

in this day and age you can go to a hospital that many times, have

so many scans, X-rays and blood tests, have a doctor look you in the

eye and tell you there is nothing to worry about, only then to

discover you are, in fact, terminally ill. Like so many people in

this country, and I put all our trust in the medical

establishment. Sadly, by the time we discovered they'd got it wrong,

it was too late.

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