For those who may not have seen it, I wanted to highlight the story in the news about now banned breast surgeon Ian Paterson who carried out hundreds of operations that went against medical guidelines. Very scary that someone could get away with doing to do this. Operations are not carried out in isolation, why didn’t anyone raise the alarm sooner? Whilst I understand that surgeons want to give a good cosmetic result, it shouldn’t be at the risk of women’s lives.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8933459/Breast-cancer-scandal-hundreds-of-women-who-had-surgery-will-be-recalled-in-case-operations-were-botched.html
I am one of the many patients Mr Paterson has seen who has had uneccesary surgery! Apparently after a lumpectomy, plus 9 years of screening including ultrasounds and mammograms and slice tissue mammograms, there was nothing wrong with me and I just had fibrous tissue. No need for any treatment or follow up/yearly exposure to radiation.
Found out after attending a review at a private hospital
OMG Danne 9 years of thinking you had cancer when all the time you had a benign condition. That must have been horrendous … mind you I would love it if someone told me that my tumour was just fibrous tissue.
All the best for the future.
My surgeon was Mr Paterson and I am still being treated at the NHS hospital in Solihull where he was based. I know of lots of ladies who have had unnecessary treatment and also not enough tissue removed which has resulted in them having to have more surgery some years after and in some cases losing their reconstructed breasts as it was felt they need to have the complete breast removed again. These ladies are obviously distraught and my heart goes out to them. I think I was lucky in that my actual Mx was undertaken by another surgeon as Mr Paterson was away and they wanted to treat me quickly so I got clear margins after my Mx (I did initially have a WLE) and have been told that the other surgeon did not carry out the clevage spearing surgery that Mr Paterson did. So I am fine in that respect. I do wonder though how it happened as I know that every case is discussed in a MDT conference and treatment is agreed and planned with the whole team which inlcudes surgeons, breast care nurses, Oncologists etc etc. However I have found Mr Paterson to be very professional in his dealings and in fact when I had a ‘secondary diagnosis’ of the bones which was given to me by an Oncologist - It was Mr Paterson who ordered more scans, looked at my records and scan results in detail and was very through and finally gave me the good news that in fact I did not have bone cancer but ‘hot spots’ due to arthritis. This was just over 2 years ago and he was suspended shortly after this consultation so have had no dealings with him at all but have watched with interest as this case continues. There is an investigation at the hosptial (NHS) - He is also being investigated for work he did at some local private hosptials where it is alleged he did unnecessary surgery. It seems odd that for NHS patients he did not take enough tissue away - yet for Private patients it appears he did unnecessary surgery.
I am also a patient of his, STILL waiting to get the tissue taken out that he left in following what should have been a full. Mastectomy in 2009.
I am also a patient of his, STILL waiting to get the tissue taken out that he left in following what should have been a full. Mastectomy in 2009.