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Man Given 6 Months to Live Discovers His Tumor is an Abscess

telegraph.co.uk — Phil Collins, 61, quit his job, planned his own funeral and blew £18,000 from a pension pay-out after being told he had inoperable gallbladder and liver cancer. But when the six month deadline passed he went back to hospital - where further checks revealed the growth on his liver was in fact an abscess.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 17, 2009

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  • smacksaw, on 07/17/2009, -7/+174I can feel it, coming in my liver tonight...oh lord, oh lord.

    Well I remember, I remember don't worry
    How could I ever forget
    It's the first time, the last time we ever met
    But I know the reason why you keep this silence up
    No you don't fool me
    The tumour doesn't show, but the lump still grows
    It's no cancer to you and me
  • Brizzyce, on 07/17/2009, -2/+107At least he's still got his music career to fall back on.
  • threepio, on 07/17/2009, -7/+94Su-su-su-sue-them-now.
  • HallenbeckJoe, on 07/17/2009, -10/+94It's funny because the man's name is Phil Collins.
  • zombiecarlin, on 07/17/2009, -2/+77An abscess on the Liver is incredibly difficult to distinguish from cancer, my mom had one and it took a number of months and biopsies to confirm it wasn't cancer. The Docs obviously weren't thorough enough but I understand how the mistake can be made. The dude needs to take comfort in the realization that he's still alive. Granted this being in the Telegraph means that it could be all made up.
  • jpallan, on 07/17/2009, -3/+67"Then, in April last year it was Phil's 60th birthday; that came and went. The doctors said, 'You should not be here, I cannot understand this'."

    ...

    Well, yes. You should seek a second opinion and perhaps a repeat of the tests when you're given a terminal diagnosis. No, you should not be there, yes, the NHS guy probably made an honest mistake, sorry that you were frightened to death, no, the NHS is not responsible for the £18,000 you blew on your own pension paying out.
  • apothekari, on 07/17/2009, -4/+51BA_DOOM!
    BA_DOOM!
    BA_DOOM!
    BA_DOOM!
    BOOM-BOOM!
  • serif69, on 07/17/2009, -1/+39What are you talking about? He can't dance; he can't sing. He just stands there selling everything.
  • IKORKYI, on 07/17/2009, -3/+40because there are only misdiagnosis' in socialized medicine
  • Subduction, on 07/17/2009, -1/+35http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Servi ...

    I can understand you not looking it up, you probably don't have Internet service where you are.
  • BigTuna99, on 07/17/2009, -1/+29That's the best part of the song. Mike Tyson agrees.
  • DarthVolta, on 07/17/2009, -2/+29logic fail.
  • Tenareth, on 07/17/2009, -0/+24Doctors that have had enough experience to get it wrong once...

    My friend has a story about a doctor that gave someone 6 months to live, and every day on that anniversary he sent the doctor a card... for over 15 years. That doctor no longer gives out dates...

  • jggr, on 07/17/2009, -2/+22No, it's a mistake. These things happen. Dude *really* should've got a second opinion.
    /Socialized medicine is a good thing. Profiteering off death and disease just seems morally questionable.
  • antoniuk, on 07/17/2009, -2/+21Yes but with ours, he would have been dropped from his insuarence, denied half the costs, fired by his employers, and would be bankrupt due to interest on the $100,000+ in medical over charges. What is worse is they would be suing him for not dieing.

    Tell me which is worse? I have the "best" coverage money can buy but can't see a doctor due to the deductible charged every visit by Anthem and the upfront cost of fees that never seem to get reinbursed.
  • toonworld, on 07/17/2009, -2/+21Phil: So what you're telling me is that I DON'T have cancer? I won't die?

    Doc: Yeah. We made a mistake... a happy one since you get to live.

    Phil. Well wtf man? That's it!! I'm suing the ***** out of you!!

    Doc: What!? So you're pissed off that you're NOT dying?
    *pulls out gun*.... BANG!!!

    Problem solved
  • publiclurker, on 07/17/2009, -0/+18It would seem to be common sense to me that a terminal diagnosis would rate a second opinion. It's not like someone just told you that your oil needed to be changed.
  • t0x2c, on 07/17/2009, -1/+18Uh, nope. Wilson did though.
  • Cepster, on 07/17/2009, -3/+20I sued Delta airlines 'cause they sold me a ticket to New Jersey.....I went there.....and it sucked!
  • Fleagleman, on 07/17/2009, -2/+18We all know why we came here. Let's just admit it. Phil Collins jokes.
  • inactive, on 07/17/2009, -0/+15Buried for "digged"
  • DarthVolta, on 07/17/2009, -0/+14it's like joe vs. the volcano!
  • FelixDrylock, on 07/17/2009, -0/+13what do witchdoctors have to do with dandruff shampoo?
  • Blydchyld, on 07/17/2009, -0/+12In the UK you have the RIGHT to a second opinion. No fee no hassle, any Doctor will agree a second opinion is normally a good idea for such a impacting issue.
  • lex0429, on 07/17/2009, -1/+13Doctors will always tell you that you have less time to live than you do. It's win/win for them. You die early and hey they called it, you live longer and hey they did a great job keeping you alive longer than you should have been.
    They didn't spend 14 years in college and med school for nothing ya know
  • inactive, on 07/17/2009, -0/+12My bad.
  • greeniemeani, on 07/17/2009, -3/+15Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke...
  • mizike, on 07/17/2009, -0/+11Best line in the movie: "So you didn't get a second opinion on something called a brain cloud?"
  • omgTHEPATRIOTS, on 07/17/2009, -2/+12There must be some misunderstanding....
    There must be some kind of mistake....
  • Blydchyld, on 07/17/2009, -0/+10No i think any medical practioner faced with a terminally ill patent (assumed) given the chance of performing a biopsy on a growing lump, which would require open surgery thus more chance of a fatility, would likely accept that it wouldnt be in the patents intrest.

    In hindsight they would likely disagree with their original statement.
  • roflmcwaffles, on 07/17/2009, -1/+11Wow, what about all the tests he may or may not have gotten - liver biopsies, blood tests, CT scans - that would have 100% confirmed that he had cancer? Somebody really dropped the ball here. He is going to get a lot of money.
  • somnus, on 07/17/2009, -1/+10Yes, you are able to get a second opinion. Did you read the page you just posted? Jesus, reading comprehension FTL.

    We have a similar system in Canada, ie you have no legal right to a second opinion, but it'd be all over the news if anyone was ever turned down. The doctors don't give a flying ***** so long as A) The office/hospital gets paid, and B) You don't take priority over anyone's first visit/emergency.

    You guys are out of your ***** minds when it comes to the *possibility* of a non-American system having *any* merit whatsoever, *****!
  • bmobsta, on 07/17/2009, -1/+10£18,000? That's nothin' for Phil Collins.
  • OLTP, on 07/17/2009, -1/+10I wouldn't exactly call a liver abscess "harmless".
  • lilmentor3, on 07/17/2009, -0/+9from my experience with my aunt dieing of cancer, doctors never ever give you a certain time of life to live. they always word it so that it is not set in stone.
  • inactive, on 07/17/2009, -0/+9I know if a doctor told me I have 6 months & inoperable about anything, I would make sure and check with someone else before I quit my job and spend my life savings.
  • ithejosh, on 07/17/2009, -1/+101. Docters should have been more thorough diagnosing a terminal illness.

    2. Patient should have gotten a second opinion, its your life I mean. C'mon.
  • siszam, on 07/17/2009, -2/+11I'm in the U.S. My neighbors two year old went to the E.R. with trouble breathing and they told the mother he had a cold and sent him home. She took him to Mexico where a doctor rushed him into surgery to clear his lung and do some other stuff I'm not privy to. This childs mother is uninsured. If she had insurance they would have done lung x-rays or something other than prescribe baby Tylenol.

    You're an idiot if think Americans don't die from our failed system of care rationing every day.
  • weasel61782, on 07/17/2009, -0/+9FTA Phil Collins, 61....
  • disappointment, on 07/17/2009, -0/+8It's likely that doctors just quote statistics... people that are diagnosed with a level of an illness generally will die in (x) months without treatment, (x) months with failed treatment, etc
  • ghostofpanty, on 07/17/2009, -0/+8Phil Collins: I told those fudge-packers I liked Phil Collin's music.
  • Paranor01, on 07/17/2009, -0/+8No, a Doctor, who is a human being, dropped the ball. Nothing about government or the type of health care. It was all 1 person.

    stop trying to spin with *****
  • rlbond86, on 07/17/2009, -4/+12Wait, so you thought you were going to die, and now you're not? That's terrible, you should sue them!
  • santiago1, on 07/17/2009, -2/+10 Screw you, two of my friends died from brain clouds!
  • lex0429, on 07/17/2009, -5/+13Thanks captain obvious
  • danwallace, on 07/17/2009, -3/+10PEANUT BUTTER AND JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM
  • Maxamegalon2000, on 07/17/2009, -1/+8Might want to try a bit harder next time.
  • gwaggy12, on 07/17/2009, -0/+6It's not cancer.
  • JWin, on 07/17/2009, -4/+10Why wait until someone tells you that you are going to die to live your life to the fullest?
  • scriptcoder, on 07/17/2009, -1/+7Government run healthcare works a-okay up here in canada.
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