It all started in May last year when the doctors in Karlstad discovered a cyst in Jenny’s brain. It was considered harmless, but she would go for regular check-ups.
In September of this year, she began to feel a strong pressure in her head, the pain became unbearable and finally she could barely move. The doctors then determined that it was a tumor – and in early October 2024, she was sent to the Academic Hospital in Uppsala for surgery.
The doctor’s message: You have cancer
The test results from the tumor were sent from Uppsala to Karlstad, and two weeks later Jenny and her mother were called to a meeting at Central Hospital in Karlstad. Jenny felt that the doctor was vague and evasive in his wording. Finally, she asked straight out if she had cancer.
– The doctor answered yes. Mom and I knew that if we looked at each other we would break up. I saw that she had tears in her eyes, and I had tears in my eyes.
At the end of the conversation, Jenny asked if she should tell her father that she had cancer.
– The doctor replied: “Then unfortunately you will have to say yes to him”.
New message
The family was told the hospital needed two to three weeks to take more samples. The weeks, which became a month, were filled with worry and sadness.
– For me, it’s mostly been psychological, I’ve almost been lying there waiting for me to die.
In her journal with the doctor’s notes, it was written “malignant tumor of unclear nature” under diagnosis, which means malignant tumor, i.e. cancer.
Then everything turned around again. After a month, the hospital called with a new message: it was a benign tumor.
– I asked: Okay, so it’s not cancer or what does that mean? And then she said that no, it never was.
Still concerned
Now Jenny criticizes the hospital’s handling of her diagnosis and hopes that it won’t happen again. She believes that the doctor could have been clear that they were not sure from the beginning, instead of giving what Jenny perceived as a sure cancer message. She has been in contact with the patient committee and made a complaint via 1177.
Clas Lundgren, chief physician in Region Värmland, does not want to comment on individual cases, but says that they work for transparency towards patients and believes that it is important to be able to give preliminary information. He highlights that it should be clearly stated that this is an uncertain statement that can be changed when the test results come.
– It is very valuable to be able to explain to the patient on the spot what a preliminary answer means, instead of the patient only reading it himself in his journal online. Sometimes this is perceived incorrectly and sometimes it is not optimal and I can only regret that, says Clas Lundgren.
That it was a preliminary announcement was not clear in this case, however, according to Jenny, who describes how she and her mother repeatedly asked if she had cancer and received the answer yes.
– I still walk around wondering if she has been wrong again, that I actually have cancer and that the new information is also not true. You wonder if you can trust the diagnoses you receive from healthcare. It is unpleasant.