"Cancer care and treatment"

Earlier on this year, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I had developed a large swelling and went to A&E at the Princess Royal University Hospital (formerly South London Healthcare) to get it checked out. Although there was initially a misdiagnosis - at first it was thought that it could be a torsion and then it was diagnosed as an infection; however the radiology team were brilliant and scheduled me in for a number of ultrasound appointments, which subsequently showed the mass was growing and identified this as likely to be cancerous.

I was then operated on within 2 days of my last ultrasound (the consultant Dr Ahmed even came in on his day off) and despite a lack of beds, they found me somewhere on a different ward and I was looked after well. It was through this quick diagnosis and joined up work between departments that I was operated on 4 weeks after the initial swelling and meant that the cancer was caught early.

After the tests confirmed it was a cancerous growth, I was swiftly transferred to the care of Guy's & St. Thomas' (fantastic to know there are great links between different trusts), whose care and attention to detail has been first class, even though they have so many patients.

I am truly grateful for the care of both NHS organisations and for the help they have given me in overcoming this and dealing with some complications that arose.

I work for a leading Healthcare leadership organisation and to see best practice being exercised (despite the blip in being diagnosed) is inspirational. The people who work at these trusts deserve all the credit possible rather than the negative news stories appearing in the national press. I am on my way to recovery, whilst being closely monitored for any signs of recurrence.