A mother who has called her doctor 200 times for an appointment has talked about her shock cancer diagnosis – which she only got by swapping surgery.
Jolene Segrave said she took about two months to be seen at The Ridge Medical Center, Bradford.
The 32-year-old first started experiencing troublesome symptoms in October, complaining of extreme fatigue and itching all over her body before losing weight and experiencing night sweats.
After a night of drinking alcohol that same month, the mother of three felt pain in her shoulder and arm and thought she was having a heart attack.
She was finally diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma in February.
Mrs Segrave only found out she had the aggressive form of blood cancer when she decided to move her entire family to another GP practice, who then referred her to specialists.
Jolene Segrave said she took about two months to be seen at The Ridge Medical Center
It wasn’t until February that Ms Segrave was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma, after trying ‘hundreds of times’ to see a local doctor
The mother of three first developed symptoms of extreme fatigue and itching all over her body in October, then started losing weight and started experiencing night sweats
She said, “I called 200 times to get through.
‘[On one] certain phone call, when I finally got through, they cut me off before I even got into the queue.
“I took my whole family out of there [The Ridge Medical Centre].’
Mrs Segrave, who has children aged ten, five and one, added: ‘I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It’s not something you expect when you’re 32.
“I would like to tell people that if you have lumps, get them out right away.
“You may even have to change doctors, like I did.”
Ms Segrave said she started feeling very unwell about six months ago, with a range of disturbing symptoms.
But she claims screenshots from her phone prove she’s made hundreds of failed calls to her surgery, once being on hold for over 53 minutes only to be cut off.
In December, she enrolled her family in Bradford Student Health Services, where she got an appointment and medics found two lumps on her neck.
She was then referred through the Two Week Wait scheme – what requests an emergency appointment with a specialist for people with complaints that may indicate cancer.
Mrs. Segrave was seen by a specialist at Bradford Royal Infirmary and then sent for an ultrasound-guided biopsy.
In February, Ms Segrave received the devastating news that she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a rare cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.
Hodgkin lymphoma starts in the white blood cells.
It is named after Thomas Hodgkin, an English physician who first discovered the disease in 1832.
It affects about 2,000 people each year in the UK and 8,500 a year in the US.
Ms Segrave has since started chemotherapy for the disease – which was found in her neck, armpit, abdomen and bones – and has shaved off all her hair after it fell out after a nap.
She said: ‘This type of cancer is very aggressive. There are six escalation cycles. I’m fine, but the chemotherapy is making you pretty tired.
Ms Segrave said she took her whole family out of The Ridge Medical Practice (pictured) and taken them to another GP practice
Ms Segrave has since started chemotherapy for the disease – which was found in her neck, armpit, abdomen and bones – and has shaved off all her hair after it fell out after a nap
“One day I fell asleep on the couch and woke up with hair on the pillows. I knew then it was time to cut it all off. I wanted to take control.’
A spokesperson for The Ridge Medical Practice wished Ms Segrave the best for her treatment, but declined to confirm whether she was a previous patient with them.
They told the Telegraph and Argus“We are very sorry to hear that this lady has been diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, that must have been very shocking to her and her family, and we hope her treatment goes well and has positive outcomes for her.
“As we respect and take our obligations around confidentiality and information management very seriously, we cannot confirm or deny whether this lady has ever been on our patient list and cannot comment specifically on the issues raised to us in this story. posed.
“We always encourage patients to let us know as soon as they experience any issues with our services, as we can usually help them right away and advise on ways to get the best out of our practice whenever they need us.
‘Our complaints procedures are clearly displayed on our website and in our practices and include advice on how to get help from an advocacy team to ensure patients have fair access to provide feedback about our practice.
“We are constantly reviewing access to our services and looking for ways to improve it.”
MailOnline has reached out to The Ridge for comment.