Charlene said she was not told about her condition until it was almost too late
Charlene Mooney has spoken about her experience
A Derry woman has told how she was “left in the dark for weeks” about a life-threatening diagnosis after doctors discovered she had a complete molar pregnancy and did not tell her.
Charlene Mooney became pregnant last year and had gone in for her six week scan in June where some concerns were raised and one week later she was told she had sadly had a non-viable pregnancy and would require a surgical procedure to remove some of the miscarriage in a few days.
After the surgery took place, her tissue was sent off for testing, however no blood work was carried out and Charlene was discharged to go on with her life not thinking she should have any worries about her health.
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However, 10ten days later she began bleeding and thought it was just her period at first with this continuing for a week. Then two weeks later she woke up in a lot of pain and contacted her doctor who told her that her notes showed she had a suspected molar pregnancy, something she had not been told previously.
A complete molar pregnancy is where abnormal cells grow in the womb after conception and there’s no sign of a baby, which can in some cases lead to the development of cancer.
Charlene was told to come to hospital immediately where she says she waited five and a half hours to be seen by a doctor and have an ultrasound take place. This showed that her cervix was “covered in tumours” and it was suspected that this could be a possibility when she had her surgery in July.
Following this it was quickly arranged for Charlene to be airlifted to Charing Cross Hospital in London where she met with a specialist doctor and had urgent treatment for a week before returning home for further chemotherapy. She says that she was told there was a possibility she could have died if the tumours in her cervix had ruptured.
Charlene Mooney on her way to Charing Cross
Alongside her cancer treatment, she has to undergo constant blood monitoring due to her molar pregnancy. Her body had been left in a state where it still believed that it was pregnant and her HCG levels were over 100,000 when they should have been below five. This took months of work to reduce to a normal level.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Charlene said she felt that she had been let down by healthcare staff at Altnagelvin Hospital who should have told her and senior doctors about her molar pregnancy as soon as possible instead of keeping her in the dark about it and the serious issues that could arise.
She said: “The past year has been very difficult and thankfully I am now in remission, but I feel that if I wasn’t kept in the dark about the molar pregnancy initially, a lot of this could have been avoided. I had no idea about a molar pregnancy until I was being told that I would have to go to London, never mind the complications that can arise from a complete one.
“If I was told sooner I may not have ended up with the cancer developing so rapidly.
“While I am very grateful for my consultant and the health professionals for the work they have been doing over the past year, a lot of my experiences throughout this have been very difficult and it seems that not alot of people are aware of molar pregnancies and what you have to go through. I got fed up with people telling me that I had a rare condition that not many people know about.
“My treatment had to take place in the early pregnancy ward so every week I would see new mums coming in and they would see me and think I was there for the same reason as them, which is very hard to go through. This is also the place where I feel like I was let down initially following my surgery so it has not been an easy thing to do.
Charlene ringing the bell this year after going into remission
“When you become pregnant the last thing that you think of is that you are going to develop cancer, so I hope that by raising awareness about molar pregnancies and the potential harm they can do I can maybe help someone else who was in my position get the help that they need.”
A Spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust said: “Due to confidentiality reasons we are unable to comment on individuals’ treatment or care.
“We apologise to the patient if any of the communications to explain findings/treatment was not clear and we would be happy to arrange a further follow up meeting should the patient feel this beneficial.”
The Spokesperson continued: “It is important to note that all and/or suspected molar pregnancies within Northern Ireland are referred to Charing Cross Hospital in London for a treatment management plan. The majority of cases can be managed locally, however a proportion do require transfer to Charing Cross for individualised treatment.
“If patients or their families do have a complaint, this can be raised through the Trust’s comments and complaints system by contacting on (028) 7161 1226. The Trust takes all complaints seriously and welcomes and values feedback from patients and service users about their experience of our services.”
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