A young woman who was removed as a patient from her doctor's surgery due to repeated complaints about severe abdominal pain discovered she has terminal cancer.
Stephanie Thomas had first reported experiencing unusual pain back in 2021/22 and shared the concerns with her local GP, who deduced that she was struggling with a flare up of an existing health condition called Fowler's Syndrome.
The 28-year-old was prescribed strong painkillers, however, the medication was unable to stop the increasing pain as her condition advanced.
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Stephanie would go on to make repeated pleas for pain relief at her local practice, which subsequently removed her as a patient in January this year.
The young woman would have to begin the process all over again with a new GP practice before finally getting a second opinion in October 2024 after a third visit to the Countess of Chester Hospital A&E.
"Her new GP tried lots of different treatments to try and treat Steph's symptoms until September when things were so bad she attended A&E, to yet again be discharged and told it was her condition," Stephanie's mother Stacey explained in an interview with Liverpool Echo.
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After undergoing a series of scans and biopsies, Stephanie would receive the devastating news that she had aggressive stage four cancer.
The cancer is so advanced that doctors are unable to determine the primary location as tumours have been found in her stomach, spleen, pelvis, ovaries, and small bowel. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment to manage the condition and prevent further spread.
"If Stephanie had been listened to may be her cancer would have been detected sooner with a better outcome," Stacey added.
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This sentiment was echoed by Stephanie's friend Leah Woods, who added: "We don't know how long she has. Because the primary source of the cancer is unknown, they can't give a life expectancy.
"I think if Stephanie was listened to two to three years ago, it could have been a different outcome. I feel like young people especially are brushed under the carpet when they go to the doctors with any kind of symptoms. I feel like young people need to be listened to more."
Leah has since set up a fundraiser to help raise money to support Stephanie once she is discharged from a hospital care, which can be found here.
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Hope Farm Medical Centre, Stacey's original GP practice, declined to comment when approached by the Echo due to patient confidentiality. However, a letter supplied to the outlet by Stephanie, dated May 2023, revealed the health centre had warned her that she would be removed from the practice due to repeated requests for painkillers.
"This is an action which is taken when there have been repeated early requests for medication. We are also going to be aiming to reduce your morphine by 5ml every two weeks with the eventual aim to stop this completely," the letter read.
"If you continue to request prescriptions early after this letter this will result in your removal from the GP practice list due to a breakdown in GP/patient relationship."
Brenna Cooper