He decided to spend his remaining time in style: Cancer misdiagnosis

John Brandrick, 62, was told two years ago that he had terminal pancreatic cancer. He decided to spend his remaining time in style, quitting his job and spending his savings on hotels, restaurants and holidays.

A year later, doctors in southwest England revised their diagnosis: John was suffering from pancreatitis, a non-fatal ailment.

"My life has been turned upside down by this," he said. "I was told I had limited time to live. I got rid of everything — my car, my clothes, everything."

He said he did not want to take the hospital to court, "but if they have made the wrong decision they should pay me something back."

The hospital said there was "no clear evidence of negligence" on its part, adding, "Whilst we do sympathize with Mr. Brandrick's position, clinical review of his case has not revealed that any different diagnosis would have been made at the time based on the same evidence," the hospital said in a statement.

Advice to people receiving a dread diagnosis: Get a fully independent second opinion. Live your life to the fullest extent you can.

Read another of our cancer misdiagnosis stories, or the Houston Chronicle’s source story on May 7.