Patient case study: Monteena Fitzpatrick
In 2014 Monteena Fitzpatrick, a civil servant from Salisbury, was enjoying a short holiday in Scotland to celebrate her birthday with husband Jim but was bothered by ongoing symptoms that had worsened during the trip.
“I had to find a loo every time I ate anything and suffered with severe facial flushing that was so painful any time I had even a sip of alcohol,” she said.
When she returned home she immediately booked an appointment with her GP who referred her to the local hospital in Salisbury for further investigation.
After a series of tests including CT and MRI scans, a colonoscopy, endoscopy, ultrasound and a liver biopsy, she was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer with the primary tumour in the bowel and secondary tumours in the liver.
“I was diagnosed in November 2014 and it came as a bit of a shock as I was initially being investigated for gallstones and then a potential liver problem,” recalls Ms Fitzpatrick.
“The doctors said I probably had the illness for a long time, maybe even years, before the symptoms presented themselves and began to worsen.
“They also said that if it was any other type of cancer I would probably only have weeks or months left to live, but neuroendocrine was relatively slow growing and there was an amazing team in Southampton who specialised in this type of cancer and so they hoped my outcome would be good.”
The referral process was very quick and Monteena had her first appointment with the Wessex NET team in Southampton in December 2014.
That was when I met the wonderful Emma Ramsey and equally wonderful Tom Armstrong,” she said. “Emma explained the first year would involve a lot of scans and treatment and she was so right.
Over the last seven years Ms Fitzpatrick has had a total of six embolisations – a surgical treatment to block the blood supply to tumours to prevent them from growing – and four peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) treatments, a type of internal radiotherapy for a NET that can’t be removed or that has spread to other parts of the body.
Her last three embolisations and subsequent scans have all been in the last six months, the last one being in January this year.
The most amazing thing is I still have the same team caring for me since first meeting them in 2014,” said Ms Fitzpatrick. “I can only feel extremely grateful for my continuing care by the same team in Southampton – I know not all patients are that lucky – and it makes such a difference as you develop such strong bonds, we all know each other so well and they really feel like a second family to me. “Whenever I speak to Emma she always asks after my husband Jim, which is a lovely reminder of how important they treat your family in the overall care they give.
Seven years after diagnosis, Monteena, now aged 65 and retired, is doing well and enjoying life with husband Jim. She has regular check-ups and will continue to need ongoing treatment but her NETs remain stable for now.
Living in the middle of Salisbury Plain she enjoys the great outdoors being surrounded by trees and fields, as well as reading and cooking for friends and trips away with husband Jim when they can.
“Jim is a member of our local bowls club and a male voice choir, so all the social events around these have enhanced friendships abound – we are very lucky and I have a great support network around me,” she said.
“As for the PLANETS charity we have made some wonderful friends among the other patients and look forward to seeing them all again soon, we hope.”
She added: “Although I live some distance from the hospital, I wouldn't mind how far away it was for I would not care to be looked after anywhere else in the world – they are absolutely amazing and I can see why they are a centre of excellence and feel extremely fortunate to be treated there.”