Cancer stricken Wakefield doctor’s dignified response to ‘hurtful’ blog post

Dr Kate Granger continues to work as a hospital consultant in Wakefield despite being diagnosed with an aggressive tumour known as DSRCT in 2011 when she was aged 29

A post on Dr Granger’s blog was made in the early hours yesterday by someone called Bradley, which read: “I don’t want to sound like a horrible person but I cannot fathom how people see her as a sort of hero.

“She basically gave up on her life (after) the first rounds of chemotherapy. Yeah she wrote a book, but haven’t other 538,491 other people that have faced adversity.

“I hope this year treats you well Kate, because I understand 100 per cent your pain, but telling people, especially others with this cancer, that it is a death sentence is not the most heroic thing someone can do. Especially from a doctor who is supposed to give people hope and help them as most as they can.

Dr Granger, who was made an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours, is campaigning to encourage health workers in hospitals to introduce themselves to patients and has raised almost £150,000 for the Yorkshire Cancer Centre at St James’ Hospital, Leeds.

Dr Granger replied to the blog and tweeted the original post and her response, writing: “Do you have any idea how hurtful it is to read a message like that Bradley, especially as I am about to embark on chemo part three?

“You don’t know me. I made a hugely difficult decision to stop beating my body up in 2011 when I knew that in the presence of metastatic disease I would not be cured.

“To say I gave up on my life is so far off the mark. I did not go to the DSRCT community and say follow me. It was a very personal individual decision that was completely right for me and allowed me to work and enjoy a full and active life for 18 months. “When the time has come again twice I have listened carefully to my oncologist and chosen to embark on further treatment, but for the least amount of time possible to get me well again.

“I am a medicine for older people physician so yes it is true that we try to get people well again after acute illness and are hopeful that we can achieve that.

“But in my patient population patients do die – 10 to 15 per cent of them in fact. Not addressing that fact honestly I think would be to do those people and their loved ones a huge disservice.

“I am therefore just as realistic with my own illness. I’ve never desired praise from others; I just wanted to share my journey, primarily to get healthcare professionals to think about how their behaviour influences their patients.

“I’m so sorry to read about your own pain but please do not offload your own anger on to me. Best wishes, Kate.”

Bradley later made a further post. He wrote: “I apologise for sounding insensitive. My intention was not to hurt you.

“I know chemotherapy is horrible, but it is the only option there is to survive. My intentions were to say rather that never giving up and doing all that’s possible is what should be done. I hope chemotherapy is not as bad this time to you. Again I did not want to hurt you because I feel your pain. But all I wanted to say is that at least for me giving up will never be an option.”

The initial post and Dr Granger’s response prompted a string of reactions on Twitter. John Honeyman tweeted: “A superbly dignified response to a thoughtless insensitive post.”

Kim Stuart tweeted: “A very measured response composed with great dignity.”

- The #hellomynameis Twitter campaign launched by Dr Kate Granger to encourage health professionals to introduce themselves to patients has been a major success.

She launched the campaign after a number of staff caring for her didn’t tell her their name before giving her treatment.

It gathered support across the world including from Prime Minister David Cameron.

#Hellomynameis was founded on the idea that a friendly introduction is much more than common courtesy. It is about making a human connection, beginning a therapeutic relationship and building trust.