Ann was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in December 2008 after doctors said they had found malignant tumours on her liver.
“I started getting shooting pains in my arm when I was on holiday in Egypt for two weeks,” Ann told the UK’s Express.
“I just thought it was joint pain so I booked an appointment with my GP when we got home.”
Ann said shortly after she was referred for a scan and three weeks later her doctor told informed her she had cancer on her liver.
“His words hit me like a ton of bricks; the next few minutes were a blur.”
The shocking diagnosis came just five years after the former receptionist had fought breast cancer and had a mastectomy.
“I started to wonder if I’d get to see my grandchildren grow up and get married,” Ann said.
“I asked the doctor how long I had. He wouldn’t answer but I could tell he didn’t think I had long,” she said.
Ann, from Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, opted for six rounds of gruelling chemo to give her longer with her children and grandchildren.
After her first session Ann’s body was already feeling the heavy side effects of the cancer treatment. She was rushed to intensive care when her heart struggled to cope, she suffered hair loss, vomiting and fatigue but mother-of-four was determined to keep going.
Throughout her ordeal Ann and her husband Graeme, 50, a crane operator, were reportedly told by doctors that there was nothing they could do stop the cancer from eventually killing her and with that in mind the couple started to make funeral plans.
But in 2009, one year after her initial terminal diagnosis, Ann was called to the hospital and told she was cancer-free, but the good news was quickly quashed when doctors said the ‘tumours’ found on her liver were not cancer, but harmless lesions.
“When the doctor told me I was clear of cancer, I felt so happy,” Ann told the Express.
“Then she broke the news that the ‘tumours’ they found were just harmless lesions and not cancerous, my happiness was replaced with anger.
“The pain my family have been put through, they thought I was going to die – we will never be able to get over this.”
Six years after her ordeal Ann now walks with a stick after suffering permanent muscle damage, an alleged side effect from the gruelling treatment.
“It’s aged me 20 years,” said Ann.
“I used to be so full of energy but now I struggle to walk a few metres without getting tired. It’s ruined my life.”
Ann has reportedly agreed a six-figure compensation pay out from the NHS Grampian but says the organisation have failed to apologise.
The Express reports that when the NHS Grampian was contacted for a comment a spokeswoman from the company said: “We can now confirm this matter has concluded.”
