{"id":1030834,"date":"2026-08-29T11:28:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T11:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1030834\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T11:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T11:28:25","slug":"mom-diagnosed-with-stage-3-bowel-cancer-denied-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1030834\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer denied surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SWNS\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

A woman who was diagnosed with bowel cancer<\/a> after struggling to go to the toilet for two weeks has been denied surgery.<\/p>\n

Vicky Mcloughlin, 66, was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer<\/a> in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Her daughter, Chloe, 33, started noticing that Vicky \u201cwasn\u2019t herself\u201d and she later found out she\u2019d been struggling to go to the toilet for two weeks.<\/p>\n

Vicky Mcloughlin, 66, was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer in November 2024. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Vicky is pictured in the hospital. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

When she started suffering from bleeding, Vicky had an endoscopy that didn\u2019t initially pick up on anything.<\/p>\n

Chloe took her mom to A&E, where they scanned her and felt a mass in her cervical area<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A biopsy confirmed it was cancer, and they were told the tumor had started in her bowels and progressed to her cervical area.<\/p>\n

To complicate matters further, when the tumor spread, it created a hole in her bowel and cervical area \u2013 meaning she needed a stoma bag and a tube inserted in her kidneys to drain urine.<\/p>\n

This also resulted in regular infections and a build-up of fluid that needed to be drained.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Because of this, Vicky was denied chemotherapy due to infections and had two lots of radiotherapy instead.<\/p>\n

Chloe pleaded with doctors at Solihull Hospital and St Mark\u2019s Hospital in London to operate and remove the tumor, but both refused, saying the operation came with too much risk, could result in Vicky losing her leg and leave her with a worse quality of life.<\/p>\n

In a letter sent to Vicky, doctors said they had \u201csignificant concerns\u201d about how she would cope with the surgery.<\/p>\n

It went on to say that the \u201ccombination of her overall fitness and the magnitude of the disease with the likelihood of a positive resection margin means that we think progressing to an attempted major pelvic resection would not be in her best interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Vicky\u2019s family disagree with the decision, saying her quality of life is already severely affected as she has to go to hospital every two weeks.<\/p>\n

Vicky was denied chemotherapy due to infections and had radiotherapy instead. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Chloe, who owns a dog walking business from Tamworth, said: \u201cIt was a lot to process when she was diagnosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never would have thought where we are now and be in the situation we are now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to cure her is through surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hospital in London, and one in Solihull both refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said it was too major and she could lose her leg and they said with her age they don\u2019t know if she\u2019d survive the surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said she\u2019d have a better quality of life without the surgery \u2013 but to me that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s constant \u2013 every other week she\u2019s back in hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does nothing \u2013 it\u2019s just torture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a living nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a living nightmare,\u201d said Vicky\u2019s daughter, Chloe. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hysteroscopy didn\u2019t initially notice the tumor because of how large it was.<\/p>\n

Chloe told Sell Us Your Story: \u201cThey were just going past it as it looked like part of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully for Vicky, the tumor has so far been contained to the bladder, bowel and cervical area and it hasn\u2019t spread anywhere else yet.<\/p>\n

But the infections that Vicky gets can cause her to develop sepsis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chloe said: \u201cWhen the tumor broke through it caused a hole in the bowels and cervical area. So infections were caused.<\/p>\n

The infections that Vicky gets can cause her to develop sepsis. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had multiple drains to drain out the fluid collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s had four in the last two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had to have surgery for a stoma bag too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the collection of fluid with the last drain didn\u2019t drain out as it was too thick.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey eventually managed to remove it as it was putting pressure on her kidneys.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe urine was going back towards her kidneys, so she had surgery for two tubes to go into her back through her kidneys and they drain out her urine.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now she doesn\u2019t go to the toilet at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was in such a strong position but now I don\u2019t know how she\u2019s alive today.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was in such a strong position but now I don\u2019t know how she\u2019s alive today,\u201d Chloe said. Courtesy of Chloe Mcloughlin \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has sepsis all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vicky has had sepsis five times in the last two years.<\/p>\n

Vicky\u2019s condition means that she cannot have any more treatment.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Birmingham said: \u201cWe have great sympathy for Mrs. Mcloughlin and her family at what is clearly a difficult and distressing time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions about radical cancer surgery are very complex and are never taken lightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny advice given is based on a careful assessment of the potential benefits and risks, and are coordinated by a multi-disciplinary team, with the clinical team\u2019s overriding priority being what is safest, and in the patient\u2019s best interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

A London North West University Healthcare trust spokesperson said: \u201cThe trust can\u2019t comment on individual patients\u2019 circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman who was diagnosed with bowel cancer after struggling to go to the toilet for two weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1030835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[235,14206,210,47641,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1030834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer","tag-doctors","tag-health","tag-surgery","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117178565332810227","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1030835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}