A daughter is left furious as she believes her family have been robbed of spending their final days with her Dad, Leslie, thanks to a diagnosis unnoticed by doctors for seven years
After seven years of visiting doctors about his symptoms, a dad has finally been given a diagnosis – a brain tumour that doctors say means he has just two months to live.
Leslie Davis, 79, began to experience initial symptoms such as severe headaches, blurred vision and dizziness all the way back in 2018, although his family claim medics were quick to dismiss it as vertigo. They further claim that not once was he offered a scan during any of his hospital visits or trips to the GP.
That was until his face dropped in July this year, which finally led Forth Valley Hospital to discover his tumour. As a result, his daughter Jessica Money, 46, is completely outraged and has slammed the NHS for their handling of his case.
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She feels as though she has been robbed of precious time spent making memories with her father in his final days, along with other loved ones. Instead, they are watching his rapidly deteriorate in front of their eyes.
Jessica said: “My dad has had symptoms of this tumour for seven years. He has been constantly back and forth to the hospital and doctors with excruciating pain in his head and problems with his eyesight, while feeling dizzy and weak.
“Every time he went to either of them, he was fobbed off and told it was just vertigo. He was never offered a scan. He kept saying something doesn’t feel right, but nobody would believe him.”
She added: “You want to believe the doctors and have faith that they know what they are talking about, so we didn’t let our minds go to that dark place that something much worse could be going on.”
When Leslie’s face drooped, Jessica said he went into hospital “for a suspected stroke”, and the family “were told to go home as they were keeping him in overnight while waiting for the results”. Jessica said: “We came back the next morning and found him in a room alone, sobbing, with his head in his hands.
“They had told him he had a brain tumour, and the prognosis wasn’t good. He was crying his heart out and terrified. At this point I wasn’t even upset. I was blinded by anger at how my dad had been treated.”
Leslie is now being cared for by nurses every day whilst he lives with his wife, Jane Davis, 69, in Alloa Clackmannanshire. His daughter Jessica has also moved back in to help with his care in his final days.
The heartbroken daughter continued: “He has gone dramatically downhill and is a shadow of the bubbly man he used to be. He is in constant pain, and he can’t walk anymore. He spends his days in bed and can no longer look after himself. There are just glimmers of my dad left.”
A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley said: “We always aim to provide high-quality care and ensure information is shared with patients in a compassionate and sensitive way. Our Patient Relations Team is looking into the hospital-related issues raised by the family and will contact them directly to update them on the outcome and any learning or improvements identified.”
A spokesperson for Leslie’s GP surgery, Hallpark Medical Practice, told The Daily Record: “We take all complaints very seriously and have already looked into the issues raised by the family and responded directly. We would encourage the family to get in touch with the medical practice if they have any further questions or concerns.”