A dad-of-two who spent around 200 hours in A&E has died after his 'stomach ulcer' turned out to be terminal cancer.
Danny Johnston sadly passed away on February 17, just one month after he received the heartbreaking diagnosis, the Mirror reports. The 47-year-old attended Countess of Chester Hospital on several occasions after suffering from symptoms including vomiting blood from August, 2022.
During this period, he was also rapidly losing weight, going from 13.5 stone to less than 10 stone. His grieving wife Charlene, from Hoole in Chester, said she was only told that Danny had cancer by an agency nurse in A&E after he fell ill following a scan on January 14.
The 31-year-old said she was left shocked to hear that cancer was apparently listed on Danny's medical records back in November 2022 - but nobody had told the family. To add to her devastation, Charlene couldn't tell Danny that he had cancer and had to wait for doctors to break the news to him the following day.
She said: "He went in for a scan on January 14 and then as he was coming out he collapsed and at that point was really unwell. We went over to A&E as Danny said he wanted to go on a drip and get anti-sickness medication and go home. That was the plan.
"A nurse said 'don't let him go' and when I asked why she said 'do you not know?' and she asked me what I thought it was and I answered that it was an ulcer in his duodenum and that he was waiting for a procedure or op and her eyes started to well up. She said 'you need to know something. He's got cancer'.
"She said she had had a look at his records and he had a scan in November and they suspected he had cancer, with a biopsy confirming this and the scan he was in for that day was a staging scan. No one had told us any of this.
"The nurse then said 'you need to know as you need to make plans'."
Charlene said she "felt sick" at knowing about her husband's diagnosis, but not being able to tell him. After confirming biopsy results, medics informed Danny he had cancer the following day, but couldn't say what stage it was.
Charlene said: "They just said it was stomach cancer. We had to wait two or three weeks to find out exactly what it was. The scan wasn't read off in time for the weekly multi-disciplinary team meeting and so we had to wait another week.
"They explained it was cancer and quite advanced. He was meant to go to the Christie for chemo but we didn't get there because by this point he was just so unwell. He passed away on 17 February."
The family found out the Danny's cancer - Linitis Plastica - was terminal on January 24. By this point, it had spread to his peritoneum and blocked his duodenum.
Charlene said Danny first fell ill in April 2022 and made an appointment with his GP in May, at which point he was given indigestion tablets. He was then diagnosed with a perforated stomach, which was thought to be an ulcer, and attended A&E every single week with various symptoms.
On November 30, 2022, Danny attended an endoscopy appointment which found no evidence of cancer. Initially, the couple were relieved and celebrated the news.
Now, Charlene wants answers from the hospital, including why Danny's cancer went undetected at the beginning. She also fears that Danny experienced delays because his consultant went on leave and was then off sick for the entirety of December, with seemingly no one else asked to take over Danny's care.
Charlene, who is an operations manager for a pharmaceutical company, said: "Danny was treated for a gastric ulcer when it was cancer. By January he had lost about 3.5-4 stone which worked out about a stone a month. He was just skin and bone as he'd lost so much weight.
"We knew something wasn't right but they just kept saying it was an ulcer in his duodenum and this was the reason he kept vomiting and losing weight. At one point I rang his consultant to say I was concerned that Danny was projectile vomiting blood and should I bring him in. They said it was absolutely fine and nothing to worry about.
"The cancer he had was hard to detect but he actually never had any procedures so would have died of malnutrition anyway, even if the cancer was not detected. He was in the Countess for around 10 to 12 weeks.
"They could have done any test they wanted but they left him to suffer. He was failing to thrive and still received no treatment.
"If he had been well and able to eat and digest food then we probably wouldn't have found out he had cancer until February 14. It was only that nurse in A&E who went out of her way to tell us and she was an agency nurse."
Danny, who was put on a syringe driver to alleviate his pain towards the end of his life, was transferred to the Hospice of the Good Shepherd for what he thought was symptom control on February 16. Tragically, he contracted aspiration pneumonia and passed away the following day.
He leaves behind Charlene, his wife of 19 years, and his two sons, Kyle, 25, from a former relationship and Harley, 16, who he shared with Charlene.
Speaking of her heartbreak, Charlene said: "It's just such a shock. You don't expect this at the age of 37. It's hard to deal with.
"I suppose it's still sinking in. He was only told he had cancer on January 15 and he passed away a month later on February 17. We are so glad that our family are being so supportive."
She continued: "I don't think he accepted that it was terminal. He thought that he would have at least another 10 years. He wanted his chance at chemo. If he'd had the chance to have it and it hadn't worked then I think he would have processed it.
"I looked up about this particular cancer and knew the prognosis wasn't good. For him, it was really important to clear the blockage so he could eat and then be able to attend his chemo appointment. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.
"Even on the day before he died he was asking me to ring up about it and to put it in for that Monday. We'd gone private to and had got an appointment at Christie's on the Monday.
"He couldn't make the first appointment as he was too ill so we rescheduled it for the following week. I know he was too unwell but in his head that's what he was aiming for.
Charlene said Danny was well known in Chester, with friends and family knowing him as "the life and soul of the party".
"We were opposites. I'm really quiet and don't want attention whereas he would crave it," she added. "He was a real family man and would always help others and get involved in things in the community."
Danny's funeral will take place at Chester Crematorium on March 9.
A spokesperson for the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "We know that the patient’s family have concerns about the care we provided and our communication with them. We are sorry that this has been their experience and that our services have not lived up to the high standards that we set for ourselves.
"We are actively investigating their complaint and we will remain in contact with the family so that we can address their concerns directly with them."
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