JOANNE Parkinson says there is no way to know if her prognosis could have been different had a doctor taken her bowel cancer symptoms more seriously sooner.
But having to wait about seven weeks from diagnosis to receive chemotherapy had compounded her concerns and fears, she said.
"I understand why there is a waiting list for chemo," she said. "The waiting room is completely full, the staff are absolutely run off their feet, and you just have to sit there and wait for someone to finish. There are so many patients."
Ms Parkinson's story comes as patients report waiting between four and nine weeks to start chemotherapy in Newcastle.
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Ms Parkinson, 38, first attended the John Hunter Hospital's emergency department suffering stomach pain and bleeding from the rectum in August, 2018, when doctors initially suspected colitis.
On her second visit, in September, she said another doctor thought it was irritable bowel syndrome.
On her third visit, in October, she said they suspected endometriosis. But a laproscopy at Belmont Hospital in December found no signs of it. Ms Parkinson said she then faced a two-month wait for a colonoscopy at the John Hunter Hospital.
"I went to Charlestown Medical Centre with pain on my right side," she said.
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An ultrasound and a chest X-ray revealed multiple tumours on her liver.
"I went back up to the emergency department on the 29th of January. When I finally saw a doctor he said, 'Why do you believe you have this problem? Why do you believe there is something wrong with you?'
"I felt like I was being treated like a drug addict trying to get my hands on heavy medication... They were going to discharge me."
Ms Parkinson said her partner got angry, and was asked to leave. She said it wasn't until a surgeon visiting another patient "popped behind the curtain" that she was taken seriously.
"The next morning they sent me for a colonoscopy. Two hours later they came in and told me I had stage four terminal bowel cancer that had metastasised to the liver. They said I'd be lucky to live 12 months, but if you do chemotherapy, you could possibly get 24 months."
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Her oncologist at the Calvary Mater recommended Ms Parkinson "urgently" begin first-line, palliative chemotherapy to gain some disease control once a "portacath" - a venous access device - was fitted at the John Hunter Hospital.
Ms Parkinson said it was a combination of waiting for an oncology appointment, waiting for - and recovering from - a portacath insertion, and waiting to start chemo that had led to an almost eight week delay in her treatment.
"Being a terminal patient, you want to start as soon as possible so you can live longer," she said. "There is no chemo that can fix me, it is just maintenance chemo to keep the tumours from spreading or growing. But my numbers have gone up again, so now they don't think the chemo is working anymore."
They had complained to the Heath Care Complaints Commission.
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The Hunter and Central Coast branch of Cancer Council NSW refused to comment on the region's waiting times for chemotherapy, but a statement from Annie Miller - the director of Cancer Information and Support Services division - said delays in cancer treatment or extended wait times could add a "huge amount of stress" and uncertainty for any cancer patient and their families. She referred patients to their support service hotline - 13 11 20.
A Hunter New England Local Health District spokesperson said patients requiring urgent, life-saving treatment were always seen "immediately".
All appointments were reviewed daily and moved forward "wherever possible". Most patients in the region received cancer and chemotherapy treatment at the Calvary Mater Newcastle.
"[It's] medical oncology department is one of the largest and busiest in NSW. Its day treatment centre provides chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment to 53 patients a day."
About 1800 people had received chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy at Calvary Mater Newcastle during the past year. As of October 21, 2019, 71 patients who had been reviewed by an oncologist were waiting to start treatment at the hospital.
"Our staff work incredibly hard to treat as many patients as possible each day, as we appreciate this can be a very distressing time for them and their families."
Do you know more? Email anita.beaumont@newcastleherald.com.au.
