Medics said that mum’s cancer was menopause
A MOTHER-of-three has slammed doctors who for three years mistook her bowel cancer for the menopause.
Jennifer Chambers, 48, was suffering fatigue and sharp stomach pains when she first went to her GP.
He said it was early stages of the menopause and sent her home.
Jennifer saw four more doctors who gave the same diagnosis until a menopause specialist tested for cancer.
She finally had a colonoscopy last September which revealed a golf ball-size tumour in her bowel.
The cancer had spread to both sides of her liver, making it inoperable.
Jennifer, of Hilton, Derbyshire, is now undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and has been given just a seven per cent chance of surviving five years.
The IT worker, who is married to Keith, 50, a
detective inspector, is now urging others to seek second opinions.
She said: “I thought at my age it could well be the menopause starting so I trusted what the doctors were telling me.”
But last year Jennifer was “sitting on the sofa and my whole body hurt. I knew something wasn’t right and it couldn’t just be the menopause.”
Jennifer was referred to a menopause doctor in September who said she did not have menopause symptoms.
She added: “It was absolutely devastating to find out I had advanced stage-four cancer.”
Jennifer hopes to boost awareness of bowel cancer symptoms while raising cash for the Macmillan charity.
She said it has been hard for her children and husband, and “upsetting for my mum and siblings who I haven’t been able to see”. Jennifer may take legal action against a hospital in Derbyshire.