My sister lived in London and had really bad headaches, went to the doctors repeatedly and was given pain killers but no scans or tests. This repeats over the course of a year until her behavior is changing. She isn’t answering messages, she left her phone at work which she almost never lets out of her hand, much less her sight. My mom called my sisters friend to go to her and see if she is alright. She was wandering the street towards the supermarket to call an ambulance, got to the hospital and they released her with stronger painkiller and no blood tests or scans. Three days later upon insistence from her social worker (she fostered teens so has a social worker) they finally did a blood test, then a scan and found a giant tumor in her brain. She was dead a few weeks later.

If they hadn’t just brushed off her increasing pain levels for a whole year of doctors appointments maybe they could have given her a few months to live and people could have said goodbye.