LATOYA Willis and her father Uston have been left shocked at his recent cancer diagnosis — malignant cells in his pelvic area.

They cannot fathom why the diagnosis was not made earlier during his frequent visits, since 2020, to Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), where he was being treated for penile-related issues.

The KPH has since launched an investigation.

“I will arrange for a meeting with myself, the managing consultant and the family regarding the matter to see how best we can resolve,” the hospital’s Senior Medical Officer Dr Natalie Whylie told the Jamaica Observer, Wednesday.

For now, the family is struggling to come to grips with their new reality.

“It really hurt me to know that he has been going there for so long and it is just a few weeks ago dem find out that is cancer him have,” Willis said. “Each time him go, dem… say him must go home go take Panadol and they prescribe some painkillers. They thought it was penis problems and that is what they were treating him for.”

She said her father, who lives in Mavis Bank, St Andrew, had been scheduled for surgery at KPH. The procedure, she said he was told, would fix his penile problems. After many postponements the surgery was finally scheduled for September of this year, but was postponed.

“From in 2020 daddy was suppose to do a operation and dem keep on a push it back, say because of COVID dem can’t do it. Every time him go, dem give him another date and all now them don’t do the surgery. So him just keep on a go and complain for pain until the other day them run some more test and find the cancer,” said Willis.

The doctors, she said, were unable to say what type of cancer it is.

“It spread in his pelvic area and the prostate is enlarged, but it is not cancerous; so the cancer is coming from somewhere else and they can’t tell yet because is a rare cancer the doctor say. Them also detect two small things in him liver but it is too early to tell what those are,” Willis explained.

“Me just can’t understand how somebody keep on a come for severe pain all the time and them don’t take the time out to examine him properly. Lymph nodes grow on him two groin side, on his rectum and other areas and all of that nobody never take time out to examine him properly. What about doing a CT scan, MRI and stuff like that to see why my dad was in so much pain?” she questioned.

She said her father has not been taking the diagnosis well.

“My father is fretting because him under pain and him get so skinny because him not eating. Because all he can think about is that he has been going to the hospital for so long. He thought [that] would be the best place and they treat him like that,” she said.

“One of the doctor now a tell me that they feel bad because he has been coming there for so long and they didn’t know that was happening to him. But is them responsible for my father condition right now because they could have deal with him better,” she added.

Finances for treatment and future medical bills now pose a challenge for the concerned daughter who is already struggling to stay afloat.

“When it comes to him getting treatment I don’t know what is gonna happen because I barely making any money and daddy sick so him lose him work for a while now, so it rough. All me can do now is pray and continue to ask God for guidance, because it is not easy,” she told the Observer.