The Christie Charity
After a routine blood test at his GP in February 2020, Kelvin aged 80 at the time, was found to be suffering from anaemia. His GP referred him for further investigations, but these went on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kelvin visited his local hospital for these further investigations in May 2020. In June 2020, the local hospital told him he had bowel cancer.
On top of the bowel cancer diagnosis, Kelvin’s local hospital told him they would not attempt to operate or treat him due to scar tissue from previous cancer surgery in 2003. He was sent home as a palliative care patient.
Kelvin and his family were obviously distraught with this news. They pushed to get a referral to The Christie by his GP after being refused a second opinion by the local hospital.
Thankfully, Kelvin’s GP referred him to the Colorectal and Peritoneal Oncology Centre (CPOC) at The Christie. CPOC has an international reputation for treating advanced and early colorectal cancer, appendix tumours, peritoneal tumours, anal cancer and tumours within the pelvis.
In July 2020, Kelvin was seen by Mr Hamish Clouston (consultant colorectal, general and peritoneal surgeon) at The Christie. Mr Clouston said would carry out surgery to remove Kelvin’s bowel tumour. However, the operation was high risk – not just in terms of the tumour removal but also the chance of abdominal wall failure.
Kelvin was prepared to take the risks of the surgery – he was just relieved to have a way forward. He was assigned a specialist nurse, Rachel Connolly. Alongside Mr Clouston and his team, Rachel created a care plan for Kelvin for the months ahead.
Mr Clouston successfully carried out the operation to remove the tumour and reconstruct Kelvin’s abdominal wall using a strattice mesh in August 2020. And after just a week, Mr Clouston said Kelvin’s recovery was so exceptional, he discharged him home.
A year on from his surgery, Kelvin is fit and well. He is back to doing his daily walks to keep fit and is grateful for his treatment in CPOC at The Christie.
