Monica’s husband was not examined; diagnosed with cancer after two years

Joakim Almqvist from Lidköping died on June 16 after several years of illness, in severe pain and countless visits to the doctor.

His wife Monica Almqvist and the two teenage sons stay home together. Joakim’s two oldest sons also mourn their father.

– Maybe he would have lived today if his prostate had been examined from the beginning. I cry every day, says Monica Almqvist.

The husband first sought medical attention in fall 2016 for problems with swelling and pain in the abdomen.

But it would be two years before a doctor would examine the prostate, perform PSA tests and tissue tests, says Monica Almqvist.

The cancer had spread

– Then it became speed. It had very high values ​​and an X-ray revealed metastases in the skeleton. They were all over the back, he says.

The cancer had spread widely, and Joakim Almqvist himself contacted Löf, the county council’s mutual insurance company that insures care providers funded by the regions.

Löf has stated that there was a late diagnosis of prostate cancer since 2016 and that “prostate palpation and PSA tests should have already been performed.”

When Monica’s husband contacted Löf in 2019, he also requested his medical history and the couple could read that in 2016 there were suspicions of cancer.

Monica reads in the chart: “However, the patient should probably be re-evaluated at the reception to check that no malignant changes are suspected.”

But Joakim had never received more inquiries, explains Monica, who also told her husband’s fate about Nya Lidköpings-Tidningen.

“We were shocked when we read the newspaper”

– We were shocked when we read this. It was terrible, she says.

She says that earlier this year one of Joakim’s back metastases ruptured and he was paralyzed from the waist down. In May, he suffered from cold sores and had both legs amputated.

– It was horrible to see him suffer. I’m overwhelmed that it had to be this way, she says.

Now Skaraborg Hospital has denounced Ivo, the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate.

– I do not get answers from the attention, why it turned out as it did. Then IVO must step in and do a thorough investigation and get to the bottom of what happened. I don’t want any other man to suffer the same suffering as Joakim, says Monica.

“I must not see the children grow up”

She tells about the natural man Joakim who was happy and positive despite illness, who loved being on his boat, who fished, and liked to go out with the dog.

– You have been deprived of the opportunity to continue living, to see your children grow up. I’m so sorry, she says.

Skaraborg Hospital refrains from commenting on the Joakim Almqvist case:

– Unfortunately, we find it difficult to comment on individual patient matters due to patient confidentiality. Of course, we want feedback when you think the care has not done what you expected. These are extremely important issues that we take very seriously. It is not for lack of interest that we cannot comment, says Michael Malmborg, communications manager at Skaraborg Hospital.