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ok as some may know I have had a nackered spine since June last year and have 2-3 discs that need to be removed from my neck. I was told this needs to be done and they hoped to get me in for December, but they decided to try spine injections in Dec and was told they would not delay surgery, I had them, they did not work so in a follow up in Jan they said they would proceed with surgery. I have heard nothing, so chased them... They said June! wtf the national max is 18 weeks, sounds like I have been screwed with a technicality as they are taking the date from my last review of the injections and not the original diagnosis date (8 weeks difference). Not happy, to make this worse my lower back is now as bad as my neck and has been for 3 months, pretty sure my lower spine needs work. Anyhow what are my options as I have little faith in my surgeon, so do I
Chase my surgeon direct (I have his email addy)
Chase my GP as the lower back is in addition to the neck
Change Hopital
If I go by their date of June it would be a full year of this, I have been advised that after 6 months you have a high proability of perm nerve damage, not to mention the 24 hr pain, dwindling muscles and not being able to do anything.
Any advice appreciated
Contact the hospital and try to find out if they have a surgical 18 week co-ordinator. This is the person who can arrange the surgeon's workload. Make the point that you are disputing that they start the clock from the last attempted treatment and believe it should start from the original diagnosis and that you feel thet the spinal injections could be interpreted as their delaying on-going treatment to meet the 18 week target, not to
I had something similar, but with a life threatening heart condition that took a year to get fully treated. When I had the first operation in May of last year, they were within the 18 week time limit. This operation failed, I was told (rightly or wrongly) that because they'd tried a treatment within their 18 week guideline, the clock got reset at the date of the consultation after the failed operation. It took them until the end of August (about 16 further weeks) to get me in for a 2nd operation.
It sounds like they've reset the clock after the injections you had.
I can sympathise with your situation, and I remember how frustrated I was with the whole system at the time. Good luck with it all.
CHeers guys, Hope your fully sorted Dan. Im not far off being bed ridden, my wife wants to hire me a wheel chair! I have emailed Patient Advice service to see if they can help and look into the dates. My surgeon was very speific and said the injections would not delay surgery! obv a fob off. God I just want this done
1. Take a deep breath and try to relax; yes, it's frustrating, but no-one gets up in the morning and thinks 'right, I'm going to mess up someones treatment/day/week whatever' sometimes things work more slowly than you would like.
2. Get the telephone number for the surgeons secretary, and contact her, POLITELY, and explain the problem and ask to see the surgeon again as soon as it is possible to do so.
3. Depending on the answer you get, then suggest that you will contact the 18 week person, again POLITELY, and see if this helps.
4. I know you are in a situation where it appears that your only option is surgery, but please recognise that even this might not provide the result that you want; delaying it, by injections, by any means, is not a bad thing, and helps to narrow down the best choice of treatment for you.
Yes, it's jeffing frustrating, it feels like you are being pissed about and that no-one understands your need to get this sorted out, but stick with it, don't get too stressed and follow things up in a considered and POLITE way.
I keep emphasising politeness because I've been on the recieving end of peoples frustration and it really doesn't help things along...