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Diagnosis too late for cancer mum Diagnosis too late for cancer mum
(about 12 hours later)
A young mother has been given months to live after a hospital failed to diagnose that she had skin cancer.A young mother has been given months to live after a hospital failed to diagnose that she had skin cancer.
Tara Jones, 26, of Treorchy in the Rhondda, was given the all-clear by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant after having a mole removed in 2005.Tara Jones, 26, of Treorchy in the Rhondda, was given the all-clear by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant after having a mole removed in 2005.
But new tests showed it was malignant and the cancer had spread. She said it was now too late for treatment.But new tests showed it was malignant and the cancer had spread. She said it was now too late for treatment.
Cwm Taf NHS Trust confirmed it was involved in a claim relating to a delay in diagnosing cancer.Cwm Taf NHS Trust confirmed it was involved in a claim relating to a delay in diagnosing cancer.
Ms Jones said she was hoping to live long enough to see her two children - Tyler, six, and Lowis, three, - open their Christmas presents this year. Ms Jones said she was hoping to live long enough to see her two children - Tyler, six, and Lowis, three - open their Christmas presents this year.
"I will never see them grow up, their first day at comprehensive school, their first boyfriends and girlfriends," she said."I will never see them grow up, their first day at comprehensive school, their first boyfriends and girlfriends," she said.
"I am going to miss it all. It's just too unbearable to think about." "I am going to miss it all. It's just too unbearable to think about.
Ms Jones said the mole had been sent away for tests and a week later she was told it was harmless. The mole I'd had removed in 2005 had been cancerous all along Tara Jones "Well it's heartbreaking really isn't it? I don't know how long I have got left to live through somebody else's mistake - I hope for years - but when I ask they just tell me to take my life each month as it comes.
"But how did you explain that - worst of all how do you explain that to the kids really, how do you tell the kids that?"
Ms Jones said the mole had been sent away for tests and a week later she was told it was harmless.
I started screaming for Chris - in a way I knew, I knew that it was off the mole in my back Tara Jones
But a friend whose mother died of cancer recognised some of her symptoms and insisted she had a second opinion.But a friend whose mother died of cancer recognised some of her symptoms and insisted she had a second opinion.
She said a doctor from the hospital visited her at home to tell her about the error. She said she was becoming unwell and was losing weight.
"He told me there had been a terrible mistake. The mole I'd had removed in 2005 had been cancerous all along," she said. "I had a big lump under my arm the size of a golf ball which they actually decided to send me for tests then in January this year and it appeared to be a melanoma.
"They couldn't understand where it came from and they (the doctor) turned up then on the 6th of August.
"There was a lady from the NHS and a doctor and a Macmillan nurse (who) came to the house and said the mole they had removed after the 12th of May was actually a melanoma in the first place," she said.
Doctor's visit
Ms Jones added: "He (the doctor) told me there had been a terrible mistake. The mole I'd had removed in 2005 had been cancerous all along," she said.
"I started screaming for Chris (her partner) - in a way I knew, I knew that it was off the mole in my back that the cancer had spread because I had been complaining about it from the time they told me.
"So they confirmed the fears I already had I think - that I had had it for such a long time and the damage it has done in that amount of time."
She has now appointed a solicitor to fight a case of medical negligence.She has now appointed a solicitor to fight a case of medical negligence.
A statement from Cwm Taf NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "We are able to confirm the trust's involvement in a claim in the delay of diagnosis of cancer.A statement from Cwm Taf NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "We are able to confirm the trust's involvement in a claim in the delay of diagnosis of cancer.
"But unfortunately the trust is bound by constraints of confidentiality and cannot comment further at this time.""But unfortunately the trust is bound by constraints of confidentiality and cannot comment further at this time."
A spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government said: "We deeply regret hearing of cases like this and the minister would expect the trust to undertake an urgent inquiry into the matter."A spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government said: "We deeply regret hearing of cases like this and the minister would expect the trust to undertake an urgent inquiry into the matter."