A mother of five who was misdiagnosed with constipation multiple times and given laxatives to take home passed away of cervical cancer at the young age of 34.
Louise Gray went to see her doctor in November 2021, complaining of discomfort and digestive problems.
The single mother was given laxatives to take at home in April of that year despite receiving treatment for cervical cancer.
For months, the call center worker begged doctors to do cancer screenings on her, but according to her family, no exams were carried out.
Louise passed unconscious at her home in the British village of Peterlee in late September, forcing Louise’s mother to call 911.
After being moved to the hospital, she had two blood transfusions there.
According to testing, she had cervical cancer that had spread to her liver, colon, pelvis, and lymph nodes.
On November 3, just a few weeks after receiving her formal diagnosis, Louise passed suddenly.
Her distraught family is now asking questions and seeking explanations after learning that cancer runs in their family.
According to her aunt Judith Spence, 51, “she suffered sepsis after her first procedure and started to get infection after infection.”
Louise returned to the doctors and informed them that she thought she might have bowel cancer because her digestive problems had continued.
The doctor gave her laxatives and informed her that she had piles and was acting stupidly.
When her digestive problems persisted, she was prescribed even stronger laxatives.
“We thought she was going to die,” Judith added.
“This situation has been awful in every way.”
“It changed so quickly from one thing to another.”
After receiving her initial cervical cancer diagnosis, Louise underwent surgery to have a part of her uterus removed.
Louise’s colon was punctured by the surgeons during the procedure, which led to sepsis.
After the surgery, her health deteriorated, and according to her family, she constantly visited her doctor.
But after twice contracting sepsis, she was frightened to go back and worried that they might make things worse.
“I’m disappointed that the laxative diagnosis and treatment were initiated too late. Her whole family is upset.”
“She had a cervical malignancy, which we knew. Our family has a history of cancer and carries a gene for the disease.”
“The fact that we have a history of cancer was simply ignored by the doctors.”
The kids Louise left behind included twin sons Cole and Caleb, 3, Hayden, 16, Morgan, 13 and Jay, 5.
“Her two older children are pretty devastated,” Judith remarked.
They noticed how swiftly their mother was going. The ache of the weight leaving her was severe.
Judith says she wants to raise awareness because she “hates for this to happen to someone else.”
“You need to keep pressing if the doctors aren’t listening to you,” she advised.
The affectionate aunt characterized her niece as “bubbly, fun-loving, intelligent.”
She loved making her “diamond artwork with family photographs” by adhering hundreds of glittering resin “stones” to a surface, such as canvas, Judith said.
She attempted to complete a photograph of all the children together, but she was unable to do it.
Her mother is committed to seeing this project through to completion.
