"Waiting for a diagnosis was too much to bear"

I had paid for a private scan due to having ongoing pain in my abdomen.  I was advised by the sonographer that I had what looked like an angiomyolipoma - a benign tumour on my kidney that was quite large. The sonographer stated that they couldn't obviously say with 100% certainty but felt I had nothing to worry about.  They advised me to take their report to my G.P. for follow up.  I was referred to Urology at Monklands and I was seen very quickly by the consultant.  From the moment I entered the room I could tell that they were rushing through my consultation.  They accessed a letter from my G.P. on the computer and right there in front of me was the header 'possible renal cancer'. I was in a state of shock from that point onwards.  I was given an overview of my 'worst case scenario' - removal of my kidney, etc.  

I pointed out that the sonographer who found it had said they were pretty sure it was an angiomyolipoma and told me not to worry.  The consultant dismissed this out of hand and said they were ordering a CT scan for me.  I had attended the appointment on my own and I left there utterly devastated! I left the hospital in tears and was too upset to drive or return to my job.  My family pooled together to get me a private CT scan as waiting 2 weeks for my potential death sentence was too much to bear. 

I attended Rosshall BMI yesterday.  I have an angiomyolipoma, not malignant and exactly what the sonographer said it was.  I felt absolutely in hell waiting for a diagnosis.  I felt dismissed, trivialised and treated as less than human by the consultant in Monklands.  Where is the compassion, the humanity and the empathy?  I was really disappointed, upset and most of all, guilty, about using a private hospital when there are thousands of people, every day, experiencing the lack of care that I did and feeling that it's normal and acceptable.  Maybe the NHS is under funded and staff are overworked but humanity costs nothing, respect and care for others costs nothing.