By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – A 43 – year – old woman is claiming that she was diagnosed as having fatty deposits in her breasts by the Cancer Institute of Guyana, when she in fact had cancer.
The woman’s family is distraught, claiming that had the woman not sought a second opinion overseas the ‘wrong diagnosis’ could have been detrimental.
Relatives of the woman told iNews that in December 2013, Camille Nurse told her daughter that she found a lump in her breast and was going to get it checked out at the Cancer Institute.
The daughter said, “I was a little nervous but given that we had no family history or that she wasn’t showing any signs I wasn’t too worried.”
She related that her mother saw a doctor who examined her and took samples to run test. After a week Nurse returned for the results of her test when the doctor told her ‘not to worry about it, it was probably fatty deposits’.
“They told her that she can leave it or take it out, it’s up to her, no big deal… to say the least we were both relieved, it was nothing, life went on,” the daughter said.
She said her grandmother told her mother however; that she should travel to the United States of America and get a second opinion as soon as possible since she had a bad feeling about the diagnosis the doctor in Guyana gave.
Nurse subsequently traveled to Atlanta for a vacation in February 2014 where she went to see a doctor who also examined her and conducted a biopsy.
Her results came back on Thursday, February 27 and diagnosed her with cancer. The woman’s daughter said her mother has documentation showing the stage and grade of her cancer.
“There is no way she developed it in less than 2 months,” she opined. Nurse was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Nottingham Grade 2.
“It still haunts me to this day that those ‘bastards’ in Guyana could’ve killed my mom. It bothers me every day how so easily things could’ve been way different… if my mom didn’t get that second opinion she would’ve went about life and probably gotten sick and it might’ve been too late,” the woman’s daughter said, adding that “I know doctors have a hard job but there has to be some sort of accountability, they’re playing God with people’s lives… if this was the States or Canada I’d sue them for malpractice.”
The woman’s daughter is fearful of another innocent and unsuspecting woman having to go about her life and fall into a similar fate her mom barely escaped.
“I went from hearing about someone I know of might have cancer, to my mom having breast cancer, the seriousness doesn’t hit until it hit home.”
“It could be someone you know, someone you love, and someone you care about. People need to know that doctors are not all wise healing men they are human and they make mistakes, it could cost you your life. People should have a fighting chance, having cancer is hard enough but finding out too late is deadly,” she told iNews.
