‘This is my darkest day’: Two-time breast cancer survivor ‘completely let down’ by ‘botched’ NHS reconstruction surgery

Warning: This article contains details and images some readers may find distressing.

A two-time breast cancer survivor “completely let down” by a “botched” NHS reconstruction surgery has said she cries every day and feels “every ounce of confidence” has been knocked out of her.

Catherine Jewers, 51, from Norwich, was first diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 2010 – and she underwent cancer treatment, had a mastectomy and was given the all-clear, before she received reconstruction surgery on her breast in 2011, which she said was “fantastic”.

More than a decade later, in 2023, the mother-of-five noticed a lump in her left breast and was diagnosed with cancer again, starting chemotherapy treatment in the subsequent months and having several surgeries to try and remove the cancerous cells.

When the cancer could not be eliminated entirely, Catherine, a former healthcare assistant, said she was advised to have a mastectomy and reconstruction surgery on her left breast at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) – the location of her previous operations.

Catherine went under the knife in February 2024 – but she was “horrified” when she awoke as she claims her surgeons “basically ignored (their) consultation” and completed a different operation that she did not consent to.

She claims she has been left with “no resemblance at all to a breast”, which she describes as “absolutely horrendous”, and her leg, where muscle and tissue were removed to reconstruct her breast, is “a completely different shape and size to the other”.

Now feeling “embarrassed” and “ashamed” of her body, Catherine has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for corrective surgery privately as she does not want the surgeons to touch her “ever again”.

Dr Bernard Brett, NNUH medical director, said they have “apologised to Ms Jewers for her experience on the ward while she was recovering from surgery” and they recognise that there was a lack of communication and reassurance regarding certain aspects of her care and treatment.

“People don’t realise that when you have breast cancer, the only silver lining for most people is having your reconstruction… and this has been my darkest day,” Catherine told PA Real Life.

“I cry every single day, it’s completely botched and it has knocked every ounce of confidence out of me.

“I’m usually a very happy-go-lucky person and, whatever life has thrown at me over the years, I’ve picked myself back up – but with this, I feel so completely let down.”

Catherine was first diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 2010 after she noticed a “dimple” in her skin.

She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, as well as a single mastectomy, at NNUH.

After receiving the all-clear, Catherine had a reconstruction operation on her right breast at the hospital in 2011, where skin and muscle were taken from her stomach, and which she described as “fantastic”.

In 2023, however, Catherine noticed she started to feel “tired all the time” and she soon discovered a lump in her left breast.

She visited her GP, who subsequently referred her for an ultrasound scan, and Catherine said she “instantly saw a big, black mass on the screen”.

After having a lumpectomy, the removal of cancerous tissue, Catherine was diagnosed with metaplastic, triple-negative, osteoclast giant cell carcinoma with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) – a rare and aggressive cancer.

“I thought, ‘here we go again’, but when I got the diagnosis I wondered if I was going to get through it this time,” she said.

Catherine said she received further lumpectomy surgeries, but doctors struggled to remove the cancer cells entirely.

After having a four-month course of chemotherapy treatment, it was advised she undergo another mastectomy and reconstruction operation, this time on her left breast and with different surgeons at NNUH.

Prior to the operation, Catherine said she had a consultation, where it was decided she would have a bilateral PAP flap operation – which involves taking skin and muscle from both the upper, inner thighs to reconstruct the breast.

“They would do a mastectomy and then take these two bits of skin and muscle, one from each leg, and stitch them together to make a new breast,” she explained, adding that some procedures were off the table for her due to her previous cancer treatments and operations.

“It would have looked very similar to the other side – same shape, same sort of scar line – and I was like, ‘brilliant, let’s go’.”

Catherine went under the knife in an eight-hour operation on February 28 2024 – but she said she awoke from the surgery “in horror”.

“The skin from my breast was still there, a mastectomy had not been fully completed and they basically ignored our whole consultation,” she said.

“They had done a unilateral PAP flap operation, where they’d taken a giant lump of skin from one leg instead of both.

“They’d cut open (my breast), scooped out the inside, left the tissue, and then where my nipple was, there is this lump of skin which has come from my leg.

“I just completely freaked out. I have no resemblance at all to a breast whatsoever, it’s absolutely horrendous.”

Catherine said she then spent eight days in the hospital, where she claims her surgeons did not visit her to discuss the results of the operation – adding that they had a consultation six weeks post-surgery instead.

After recovering and healing, Catherine said she now has to wear “baggy clothes” and “everything just hurts”.

She also said her leg is “a completely different shape and size to the other”.

“The scar should have been in the crease of my leg and under my bum but it’s a good inch-and-a-half away – so even that has not been done in the right place,” she said.

Overall, Catherine said the surgery has impacted her mental health “horrendously”.

“I feel embarrassed and ashamed of something that wasn’t my fault,” she said.

“This has ruined my life in so many ways, not just physically, but also the mental and emotional damage this has done.”

She said her “life is on hold until this is sorted”, but claims other doctors and plastic surgeons have told her it could take numerous operations to rectify the situation.

Catherine has launched a GoFundMe page with the aim of fundraising for a corrective surgery privately.

“I don’t want my surgeons to touch me ever again,” she said.

“I’m hoping someone else can rectify what they’ve done wrong so I can move forward with my life.”

Dr Brett said: “Ms Jewers has clearly been through a very difficult time and we apologise for our contribution to this.

“We have carried out a full and thorough review of her care and treatment and we wish to repeat our apologies for the delay in responding to her formal complaint – we fully recognise that we took longer than we should.

“Our records and review show that the high complexity of the procedure was explained at the time and the options for planned reconstruction surgery – despite this we realise that ensuring that we provide sufficient information in the right format for patients is difficult to always get right.

“This is a complex and difficult procedure – carried out by three consultant surgeons – to undertake a mastectomy and reconstruction on a patient who has previously had breast cancer and to avoid any risk to patient, there was a need to revise the plan and stop the surgery after eight hours in theatre.

“Patient safety is our top priority and any further surgical time would have been a risk to the patient.

“The breast reconstruction is incomplete and it is the opinion of our expert team that the offer of lipofilling (surgical fat transfer) will be far less complicated than a second flap procedure to complete the reconstruction.

“However, we also respect Ms Jewers’ wishes if she wants to seek a further opinion or treatment elsewhere which we would support.

“We have apologised to Ms Jewers for her experience on the ward while she was recovering from surgery and we recognise that there was a lack of communication and reassurance regarding certain aspects of her care and treatment – I would like to reiterate that apology.”

Catherine’s GoFundMe page can be found here: gofundme.com/f/surgery-for-botched-nhs-surgery.