Woman prescribed 21 painkillers a day by GP for ‘muscular pain’ is actually battling terminal CANCER
Tina Hammonds, 45, first visited her GP in 2011 complaining about of an ache in her neck and shoulder - but she wasn't diagnosed until two years later
DOCTORS prescribed a woman 21 painkillers a day for "muscular pain" - but it turned out she actually has terminal CANCER.
Tina Hammonds first visited her GP in 2011 and despite several appointments it took another two years before medics spotted the disease in her bones and breast.
The 45-year-old, from Coalville, Leics, was initially given anti-flammatories after complaining about a pain in her neck and shoulders.
In March 2013 the pain had moved to her back but medics said it was a muscular issue which should resolve itself in a fortnight.
But her symptom only worsened and after moving house in June 2013 she contacted her new doctor.
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Over the next six months, she had numerous telephone consultations with several GPs at her practice, which has not been named but is in the North West of Leicestershire, and four physiotherapy sessions.
Ms Hammonds said: "The surgery kept upping my dosage of pain relief medication, but I felt I was getting nowhere.
"At one point I was taking 21 tablets a day to alleviate the pain, but they still didn't help.
"The surgery believed my symptoms to be muscular and as a result had prescribed physiotherapy.
"When attending the sessions, it felt like my bones were going to break and I knew something was seriously wrong.
"I asked for an MRI scan, but was told I didn't need one."
In October 2013, Ms Hammonds asked to be referred privately for a specialist opinion.
Eventually an MRI scan revealed she had terminal cancer, which had spread to her spine and bones from her breast.
It also showed she was hours away from being paralysed.
Seven days after the scan, on December 28, 2013, she had a six-hour operation to insert a cage and pins around her spine for support and to prevent paralysis.
Days later she had to have a metal rod put into her right arm to stop it fracturing.
She was told this treatment could have been avoided if earlier warning signs had been picked up by her GPs.
Ms Hammonds said she felt "utterly failed" by her doctor's surgery and has now won compensation in an out-of-court settlement for clinical negligence.
Ms Hammonds said: "I have always been reasonably fit and healthy and rarely visited my doctor during my previous working years, so I would have thought my symptoms would have indicated something was very wrong."
Danielle Young, from Nelsons Solicitors, said a report looking into the case showed a severe red flag should have prompted quicker action from Ms Hammonds' doctors after the results of a blood test in June 2013 showed raised alkaline phosphate levels, which with her other symptoms should have prompted action.
Ms Young said the cancer would not have been curable, even with an earlier diagnosis.
But she added: "This is a case in which basic warning signs were missed which could have resulted in an earlier diagnosis.
"This could have saved Ms Hammonds from life-threatening surgery and shortened the considerable pain she was in for more than six months."
The surgery paid Ms Hammonds the five-figure sum on the basis they did not accept liability.
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