When a woman’s persistent cough wouldn’t go away for over three months, she finally gathered the courage to visit a doctor, but sadly, she was denied access by the receptionist who advised her to visit the pharmacy instead.
Sibylle Schwarz, a mom of two from Germany who resides in the city of Leyland, Lancashire, UK, believed her coughing was a result of allergies. However, as the annoying cough was still present after over three months, she started suspecting that something more serious could be going on.
Sadly, Schwarz only learned that she had cancer after she had been turned away by the GP several times.
When she finally received her diagnosis, she was told she only had six months to a year to live.
The first time she tried to book an appointment with the doctor, the receptionist refused to do it and told her to grab some pills from the pharmacy instead, despite Schwartz’s explanation that she had a hard time swallowing food.
A month later, she returned to the doctor’s again.
“I went back to the GP in June and there was a different receptionist. But she also said to go to the pharmacy. I told her I really, really needed to see a doctor and she booked me in for an appointment. The GP talked to me a little bit and then agreed to send me to have an endoscopy, just to be sure,” she explained.
“She put me down on a waiting list and I got a call from that department two months later because I wasn’t listed as urgent.”
During the four months she was waiting for an appointment, Schwartz lost 25 kilos.
When she told the doctor she couldn’t swallow food, they didn’t believe her and only put her down for an endoscopy because of the weight she had lost.
Unfortunately, the results showed she had oesophageal cancer that was already in an advanced stage.
According to her, the doctor was sorry for being presumptuous and told her she only had months to live.
Schwartz received treatment right away. Besides the chemo, doctors were also able to remove a mass from her throat.
Today, two years after the devastating diagnosis of cancer and the dull prognosis that she only had six months to live, Schwartz is adjusting to life and says she feels fine.
She started eating again, although only small portions, and isn’t using a feeding tube any longer. She is trying to raise awareness about oesophageal cancer, urging people to “push a bit more.”
“You always have to be the bad patient and you always have to push. I was never that person. I always waited my turn. Of course, you have to be polite, but you have to push and advocate for yourself. And if I would have known that, then that might have led to me being diagnosed faster.
“I am very grateful to my surgeon. Even though she was pessimistic and not convinced that she could help, she did listen to me at the end and more importantly her skills and determination saved my life. I will never stop thanking her for that.”
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