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Doctors misdiagnose two cancer tumours in Stuart Hutchinson

  • Stuart Hutchinson, now 19, started suffering from headaches in 2011
  • Doctors repeatedly failed to notice he had brain cancer
  • He was just 24 hours from death when medics discovered a giant growth
  • It took two operations and 33 session of radiation to get rid of the tumour
  • Recently Stuart discovered another growth but was told it was a cyst
  • After seeking more advice he was told it was another tumour
  • Radiation meant his face had to be wrapped in bandages for protection

By
Chris Pleasance


PUBLISHED:

11:53 EST, 9 March 2014

|
UPDATED:

12:26 EST, 9 March 2014

This incredible image shows a teenager looking like an Egyptian mummy during life-saving cancer treatment after doctors failed to spot brain tumours twice in two years.

Stuart Hutchison, 19, had his entire head wrapped in white bandages in order to shield his face from radiation during aggressive cancer treatment.

He then had the growth removed in a four-hour procedure last week, leaving a huge zip-like scar on the back of his head and he is now waiting to find out if he needs further treatment.

It was the second time Stuart has undergone brain surgery since 2011, both times after an initiallly bungled diagnosis.

Stuart Hutchinson, 19, had to have bandages wrapped around his face during cancer treatment in order to protect him from radiation after doctors misdiagnosed a tumour

He first fell ill in 2011 but GPs blamed his headaches and dizziness on an ear infection and he was just 24 hours from death when his first tumour was successfully removed.

His second scare came earlier this year when he found a lump and was told by different medics it was a cyst – even though it was actually another brain tumour.

Stuart has now lodged an official complaint against his local health board over the blunders.

He said: ‘It’s shocking. I feel let down by the doctors. I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.

‘The GPs and doctors should have done better – 100 per cent. I think some of them should be fired on the spot.’

Stuart, a former construction student from Clackmannan, Scotland, began suffering severe headaches and dizzy spells in May 2011.

He went to Clackmannanshire Community Healthcare Centre in Alloa five times in a month.

Doctors told him his condition was down to stress, viruses and even blamed labyrinthitis, an inner ear infection that affects balance.

But his condition continued to deteriorate and by July that year he was barely able to walk, had slurred speech and couldn’t use his right arm.

Stuart was left just 24 hours from death in 2011 after doctors repeatedly failed to notice he had brain cancer. This year another doctor misdiagnosed Stuart again, before eventually sending him for treatment

Mum Fiona, 46, said: ‘He was complaining that he had a sore head for a few weeks. Then one morning he got up and his speech was really bad.

‘All that time we were taking him back and forward to the GP, who kept putting it down to something else.

‘By July 2011, his speech was almost gone and the sickness and headaches were still there.

‘He was unable to use his right arm. It was sort of clasped to his chest. Then one day he couldn’t get out his bed.’

A GP was called to visit him at home but the doctor never arrived so worried Fiona and dad George took him to the accident and emergency unit at Stirling Royal Infirmary.

A scan revealed Stuart had a massive brain tumour which could have killed him.

Fiona said: ‘They discovered there was a huge mass on the back of Stuart’s brain.

‘The doctors said that if he hadn’t come back that morning and been dealt with there and then he would’ve died in his sleep.

‘The pressure on his brain was so massive it would have happened within a day or so.’

After two life-saving operations on the cancerous tumour, 33 sessions of radiotherapy and months of being fed through a tube, Stuart was on the road to recovery.

But in January he faced more agony when he discovered a fresh lump near his brain surgery scar.

Despite explaining his illness and treatment, an AE doctor at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert told Stuart that the two-inch growth was ‘just a cyst’.

Fiona said ‘The doctor just wrote it off immediately and told him not to worry.

Stuart, who is still waiting to see if he needs further treatment, has complained to NHS Forth Valley in Scotland who say they have launched an investigation

‘He also said to Stuart, “Do you realise you are missing a part of your skull at the back of your head?”

‘Stuart said, “Yes, I know that.” He has a surgical scar right down the back of his head so it’s not like you can miss it.

‘I asked him how he could tell that it was just a cyst. He said, “Oh, it’s just that it’s moving in a certain way.”

‘There is no way he could tell it was a cyst from just looking at it. Stuart wasn’t convinced either.’

He sought a second opinion from surgeons at Edinburgh’s Western General which confirmed his suspicions.

He is furious at the way his illness was handled by GPs and the Forth Valley doctor’s failure to correctly identify the second tumour.

He has made an official complaint to NHS Forth Valley who are responsible for the hospital and the healthcare centre.

NHS Forth Valley confirmed they had launched a probe into Stuart’s case.

A spokeswoman said: ‘We have begun a full investigation into the concerns raised and have been in contact with the family to offer to meet with them and give them any support they may require.’

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Comments (33)

what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

Jo,

Kent,

6 hours ago

At least it was discovered!

ionlyspeakthetruth,

Romford, Essex,

6 hours ago

Doctors are not super humans!!!! They are normal folk who work bloody hard to help people, enough with the doctors/nurse/midwife/general healthcare bashing daily mail!!!!

It is very sad and I wish this guy well all the same

koko,

New York, United States,

6 hours ago

makes me be thankful for the life i have and appreciate life more..

angrydoc,

london,

6 hours ago

Why would you take a lump in a scar to AE? He shouldn’t have been there – mainly because the sort of doctor he needed wouldn’t be in AE.

dontvotelabour,

landofthedoomed,

6 hours ago

Name and shame the incompetent doctors maybe they’ll do a proper job in future.

CLM,

Hampshire, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

Poor lad ought to have been scanned dar earlier (especially the 2nd time around). He is lucky to be here, the statistics for brain tumours are not good. Wishing him a fast and straight forward recovery

Rosy,

USA, United States,

6 hours ago

As advanced as medicine is today, these oversights are still part of our reality.

earwig- O,

Leeds, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

The poor young man. I feel really sorry for him. I hope he recovers fully and goes on to enjoy a long and life. I hope too that I never need to enter hospital and have to put myself at the mercy of incompetent medical people. Two instances today … This chap’s and Ms Saville’s earlier which occurred at my local hospital!.

hmg66,

Ossett, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

There again, love, you could be dead. At least it was diagnosed eventually. Unlike my grandfather’s pancreatic cancer….

sue,

wales,

6 hours ago

Wish you all the best. You have been treated very badly and let’s hope they pull out all the stops now to help you recover fully

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