A woman who lived with her cancer diagnosis for two years and even froze her eggs after immunotherapy was left in “total shock” when doctors told her she had been misdiagnosed.
Theater make-up artist Megan Royle, 33, underwent nine rounds of treatment after being told she had skin cancer, surgery and treatment which did not affect her fertility.
She received compensation from the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the pathology service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, after both misinterpreted her results, leading to a misdiagnosis in 2019. The error was only discovered when she moved north in 2021 and her details were checked by another trust.
Ms Royle, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, said she was struggling to understand what had happened and was “completely shocked”.
She said: “You just can’t believe something like this could happen and to this day I still have no explanation as to how or why it happened.” Then they told me that there was no cancer at all.
In 2019, her GP referred her to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for a dermatological examination when she reported that a mole on her shoulder had become larger, itchy and crusty.
A biopsy was performed and evaluated. Ms Royle, then 29, was told she had been diagnosed with melanoma – a form of skin cancer. She was then referred to the specialist cancer unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital. Her biopsy was checked and she was again told it was confirmed melanoma. To remove the “cancer,” she underwent a procedure to remove 2 cm of tissue.
She was told that the immunotherapy she was receiving could affect her fertility, so she underwent egg conservation. Having completed nine rounds of treatment by May 2021 and being told she had no signs of illness, she moved north as lockdown prevented her from working in the theatre. When the new hospital reviewed her records and scans, an error in her diagnosis was discovered.
Ms Royle said: “When the doctors sat me down and told me it would take time to cope. You’d think the first feeling would be relief, and in some ways it was, but I’d say the bigger feeling is disappointment. and anger.
“When I was first told I had cancer and would need surgery to remove the cancer and treatment that could affect my fertility, my approach was simple: ‘Yes, let’s do what we have to do.’
“I wasn’t thinking about having children at the time, but I always wanted to have children later in life, so saving eggs was something I did without hesitation. In general, no matter how difficult it was, I managed it pretty quickly.
“But when I was told two years later, after going through treatment and living with anxiety, it was hard for me to hear that I never had cancer. To be honest, I haven’t been in my place for a long time, no matter how strange it may sound.
She contacted medical negligence specialist Hudgell Solicitors, who reached an out-of-court settlement with the two trusts.
Defense lawyer Matthew Gascoigne said: “This was clearly a rather unusual case in that Meghan was misdiagnosed with skin cancer, which obviously had a significant psychological impact on her given her young age.” she said the only treatment she could get could affect her fertility.
“During her treatment she became ill, so it was a difficult time for her. Finally, the psychological impact was even greater when she received the news that she did not have cancer at all. All of this could have been completely avoided.
“This only came to light when her post-treatment care was transferred to another trust. If she hadn’t moved, she still might have found herself in a situation where she thought she was in remission and the cancer might come back.”
A spokesman for the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would like to sincerely apologize to Megan Royle for the distress her experience has caused our trust and we are pleased that an agreement has been reached.”
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has also been contacted for comment.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.