[Sundae]

My Nan suffered from back pain for quite a long time.
She kept going back to the doctor and they kept telling her it was old age and just giving her painkillers. Tch, silly old woman.
It wasn't until she was on the train one day and realised she'd lost the use of her arm completely, that she was taken into hospital.

From then, until she was allowed home to die was a matter of weeks.
Cancer.
Too widespread to treat - as she was a heavy smoker throughout her life they suggested it might have been lung cancer, but it was no longer possible to tell.

Mum's friend Breda - over TEN years later - at the same surgery, had a similar result. Her pain was generally accepted as muscular, since she had a big dog that pulled her along every time she went for a walk.

Nope, it was cancer.
Found too late for any treatment to be effective.
Non smoker, just to be balanced.

Mum beat herself up for not recognising the signs.
I told her that if she called "Cancer!" every time someone had an ache or pain, she probably wouldn't have any friends left.

You pay directly, you pay through taxes, you pay via insurance... no system in the world is foolproof.
Keep shouting, keep complaining. Being a nuisance is a hell of a lot better than dying in the knowledge that you didn't need to.