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'I had excellent cancer care during the coronavirus pandemic'

Published on 19 May 2020

A patient who had cancer surgery during the coronavirus outbreak has praised staff for looking after her and keeping her safe.

Nan White, 73, was treated by consultants Andy Nordin and Rema Iyer for vulval cancer, with her operation taking place at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital on Monday, 4 May.

She had to stay on St Lawrence Ward for two nights and said the care was excellent.

Mrs White, from Hythe, said: “I was dealt with extraordinarily quickly.

“It only took a couple of weeks from the first examination and biopsy with Miss Iyer to the operation, and in that time I had a CT scan, MRI scan and PET scan.

“Although my husband couldn’t come with me to any of the scans or biopsies it felt very safe and they kept me as separate as possible.”

Mrs White was tested for COVID-19 before having her operation, which was only able to proceed once the results were known.

Cancer operations have been taking place at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital throughout the pandemic, with staff on St Lawrence ward adapting to look after recovering patients rather than their usual orthopaedic cases.

She said: “I was looked after very well. I could tell it wasn’t usually a cancer ward as they had a lot of literature about hip and knee replacements but they were fantastic.

“They were all gowned up so I felt very safe. We have been looked after ever so well throughout.”