I wake up every day with a debilitating fear because my cancer was misdiagnosed at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Local school teacher Karen Kennerley, from Lytham, was initially told her tumour was benign but months later a follow up endoscopy discovered that it was malignant.

She has spoken of her ‘anger’ towards the hospital for ‘screwing up’ her diagnosis ‘so badly’ that it delayed her treatment and allowed the tumour to spread.

Karen - who has taught children with special educational needs at Red Rose School in St Annes for 20 years - said she refuses to give up hope of a miracle as her family fundraise for ‘radical remission’ treatment not available on the NHS.

Her children Jade and Jordan have set up a GoFundMe to help raise the £20,000 they need to try and save their mum’s life. They are nearly halfway towards their target after receiving 223 donations - raising £7,800 since April.

You can visit Karen’s GoFundMe page here.

Misdiagnosis due to ‘sampling error’

Karen said she is struggling to overcome the anger she feels towards Blackpool Victoria Hospital following her misdiagnosis.

After the initial discovery of a benign colon tumor in January 2023, Karen was ‘left on ice’ for 4 months whilst the hospital sourced a suitably experienced endoscopist to remove the tumour - ‘robbing’ her and her family of ‘precious time together’.

Karen was due to have the tumour removed in May that year but the endoscopist halted the surgery as he considered the tumour ‘suspicious’.

Aggressive biopsies were then taken which came back malignant and the benign diagnosis was blamed on a sampling error.

In June 2023, Karen had a major surgery to remove the tumour and part of her large intestine. Blackpool Victoria Hospital then transferred her care to The Christie Hospital in Manchester where she has underwent eight gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.

But Karen's battle has since taken another devastating turn with the discovery of fast-growing bilateral ovarian tumors and peritoneal deposits.

‘I’m angry that the hospital screwed so badly’

She said: “My cancer diagnosis has been really difficult to deal with and I definitely find myself trying to disperse the anger I feel, as I know it's not going to help me.

“Anger at my local hospital for screwing up my initial diagnosis so badly that it had chance to develop. Anger at the debilitating fear I feel every single morning when I wake up. Anger at the potential of cancer to rob me and my family of precious time together.

“Anger at it being me who got cancer when I'm a good person and don't deserve it! (who does though?). Anger at my financial situation meaning I have to ask for donations to give me the best chance because the NHS won't fund it.

“The list of things I'm angry about goes on and on, including being angry for being angry....go figure that one!

“But I refuse to be a statistic and I'm doing really well. But, I still really need your help. The expenses of integrative therapy are huge as anyone who has been on this journey will know. It does help, it's not woo woo hippy rubbish!

“I really hate having to ask for this help as it's difficult for so many, but if you can help, no matter how much, it will be so so appreciated.”

GoFundMe

While the NHS can provide standard care, the additional treatments Karen seeks in her fight against cancer come at a significant financial cost.

In their efforts to raise funds, Karen and her family are appealing to the community for support, urging donations and assistance in spreading the word about their fundraising campaign.

In a heartbreaking Facebook post, she said: “I really hate to ask this, but my pride has to take a hit to save my life,” said Karen.

“I have stage 4 colon cancer which spread after misdiagnosis at our lovely local hospital. I'm fighting as hard as I can but the truth is, our NHS cannot fund supportive treatment that is given as standard of care in other countries like America and Germany.

“My children set up a GoFundMe page a couple of months ago to raise funds to support this treatment, and people have been so kind, but to raise what I need, I have to spread the page much further.

“All help and support is so appreciated. Thank you so much.”

You can visit Karen’s GoFundMe page here.

Blackpool Victoria Hospital was approached for comment.