Asd closure update

[gandrdixon]

Seen specialist 4 July to be told 5 month max wait for open heart operation, seen surgeon 1 November and he said another 5 month wait. we going on holiday for 20th anniversary early April, surgeon said operation would be completed by mid-Jan but waiting list at hospital said looking like May time .More stress and lack for energy

[mauschen]

Oh dear, what a worry for you. Do you have a cardiac nurse with whom you can share your concerns? It seems such a long waiting time for this potentially life changing surgery. No wonder you are tired! However, you have a very positive attitude, planning holidays and looking towards the future and it’s this attitude that will see you through the surgery.

I hope you get an earlier date so that you have time to recover before your holiday. Can someone in your family take up the gauntlet and contact the surgeon’s secretary directly?

[gandrdixon in reply to mauschen]

My wife has rang up secratary and can guarentee before my holiday.surgeon did say mid jan but feeling like being fobbed off

[mauschen in reply to gandrdixon]

That’s good news.

Ask your wife to build up a relationship with the secretary by phoning again at the end of the first week in January to ask if the schedules have been made up yet and if your name is on the list. Surgeons are really busy and their secretaries are overworked and stressed too, so keep it friendly. The secretary will understand how anxious the waiting time is, I am sure she (he) will help you.

Good luck!

[MKB38]

Presumably you have offered to go in 'last minute' if a cancellation arises. I had even said I'd be prepared to go in over Christmas. Shortly after this conversation I got a call, out of the blue, asking if I would go in the following day. Of course I agreed and now I'm 3 weeks post op. So do keep in touch with the operation booking people. However it will also depend on the complexity of your procedure, mine was a straight forward AVR. Good luck.

[Twobells]

You can request to go to another hospital that has a shorter waiting time see your GP and ask. Also discuss that you are fed up being pushed further down the list. And the impact on your quality of life. Sometimes it just is a numbers game and often the medical professions forget that we are people not a number, I needed a new hip and my local hospital had an 18+ months waiting so I asked to go to another hospital and 3 moths later had my hip done. It's worth a try

Good luck