‘Now I won’t see my daughters grow up’
LIFE could hardly have been much better for primary school teacher Jennifer Eldridge in March.
She and her husband Jonathan had just bought their first home, he had been promoted in his Civil Service job, and their elder daughter was settling into her Reception class.
Then at Easter the active, healthy-living 40-year-old began experiencing back pain.
It was impossible to get a faceto-face appointment at the local surgery, and it took a month even to secure an online consultation. She was prescribed painkillers.
Four months later, concerns raised by a blood test she eventually had finally saw Mrs Eldridge referred for a colonoscopy – and a consultant said he had seen what seemed to be a tumour.
Specialists told her she had stage 4 colorectal cancer which appeared to have spread to her lungs, and she was left coming to terms with a terminal diagnosis. She believes that had it not been for the pandemic, she could have been diagnosed sooner – boosting her chances of seeing daughters Lina, five, and Jasmine, two, at least reach their teens.
Mrs Eldridge, of Bristol, said: ‘I’ve been told my cancer has likely spread to my lungs, meaning it is incurable and I could have just two years to live.
‘If I could have seen my GP earlier, if those supposedly “nonurgent” tests had been carried out... the cancer might not have had the chance to spread. To suddenly have your future as a family ripped from your hands is the worst part. I won’t be there with Jonathan to guide Lina and Jasmine through their childhoods.’
The couple have launched an appeal to help pay for treatments not covered by the NHS.