Family demand answers after 'beautiful' mum-of-three dies following misdiagnosis
A family want answers after the death of their "caring and beautiful" mum-of-three.
Laura Barlow, 33, from Sibsey, Lincolnshire, was misdiagnosed with endometriosis by doctors and died just weeks after being told she actually had liver and bowel cancer. She leaves behind her husband Mike, three young daughters aged one, two and nine, as well as the rest of her family and friends.
She began having severe stomach pains in October 2023 and had blood in her stool. Mike says that Stickney Surgery, Laura's local practice, diagnosed her with endometriosis, prescribed her some medication and booked her in for a doctor's appointment. Laura received a letter in December stating that she would not be seen until February, despite still being in lots of pain.
After Christmas, Laura fell ill and Mike took her to the local surgery who then advised them to go straight to urgent care. Mike then drove his wife to Pilgrim Hospital in Boston where he says they waited for four hours. Meanwhile, Laura was given morphine to help with the pain. After seeing a doctor, Mike says they were told that nothing could be done to help because Laura's old doctor was already dealing with it as endometriosis - so they returned home.
Laura was taken to A&E on New Year's Eve and this time her sister Lisa pushed for more tests to be done. After an ultrasound and CT scan on January 2, lesions were found on her liver and she was put on a two-week pathway. Still in severe pain weeks later, and facing delays in waiting for an endoscopy, Laura was taken back to A&E. On Friday, February 2, Mike says they were then told Laura had cancer in her bowel with 95 per cent coverage of the liver.
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Laura and Mike with their three young daughters aged one, two and nineThe family had one last holiday together at Center Parcs before Laura died peacefully at home in Mike's arms on Monday, February 5. They are now determined to find out why Laura's cancer wasn't picked up earlier and are questioning whether something could have been done to save her if it was.
Mike is keen to raise awareness in Laura's name so that nobody else can suffer what they have gone through, and he is pushing to make face-to-face diagnoses mandatory as opposed to over-the-phone. He wants to meet with United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) chief executive, Andrew Morgan, to discuss it.
Mike told LincolnshireLive : "There are failings in multiple areas. If bloods were taken earlier, things might have shown up. It's not going to bring Laura back but something needs to be done for other people. They've got to stop over-the-phone diagnoses. I will keep fighting this until it is sorted. I want to do it for the kids in their mum's name."
Laura's family are demanding answers"I hope raising awareness of what happened to Laura can save someone's life. She was struggling in pain and everyone down the line could've helped her. And now I've got to bury her. We've explained to the children that their mum is with the angels in the sky."
A fundraiser was set up to help the family get through this difficult time and give Laura a perfect send off, which has raised almost £8,000. A raffle was also organised which raised £2,000 in just 24 hours. Speaking about his wife, Mike said: "She would help anyone. Her focus was her kids and everyone has been messaging me saying they're going to miss that smile. She was a kind and warm person. Someone has got to pay for their mistakes. They took my wife and the kids' mum away. Things need to change."
In a joint statement, a spokesperson for ULHT and Stickney Surgery said: "We would like to offer our deepest condolences to Laura's family at this difficult time. We are unable to comment on individual cases, however, we are in touch with the family to hear and respond to their concerns and we will do that directly with them as is appropriate."
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