Comment by dsego

We were blindsided, her cancer was completely removed, but even though they suspected a metastatic cancer, histopathology determined grade 4 glial tumor, idh-1 negative, p16, GFAP positive, Ki-67 20-30%. She then developed oral thrush and had a cough, she was also feeling tired and sleepy, and had swollen ankles. Looking back, these were fairly obvious signs. But the surgeons never warned us about any of it, we attributed the swelling to dexametasone, coughing to her smoking habits, her frequent allergies and sinus problems. She was waiting for the molecular analysis of her tumor before starting treatment. Her state would at times improve completely, and her primary care physician dismissed her after seeing her throat, and the blood work was only done a few days later. By then her CRP was already through the roof. Only then was she admitted to the pulmonology department, and she never recovered, went into septic shock and died a week later. I would say that the first symptoms started maybe a few days before going to the doctor, and I suspect had we gone to the main ER in the next biggest city (where she did the operation), she would've gotten a throat swab and blood drawn at least. It's so sad, because it took only a week or two from diagnosis to her tumor being removed completely by skilled surgeons and she never got a chance to fight it. Croatian healthcare is also such that it's better to drive to the big city emergency hospital directly than to rely on your doctor or small local emergency, usually they are understaffed and just plain uninterested.