Worried

[Pam79]

Hi my husband has had 2 stents already 7 years ago and suffered a heart attack again 4 weeks ago. He has had an angiogram and told he will need surgery. The wait is worrying us both. I’ve been told he will receive an urgent referral which can take 3-4 weeks to see and discuss his options. Has anyone else experienced this

[bantam12]

Crikey yes and we have been waiting months for an appt, my husband has already been turned down by 2 hospitals, it's now 7 months since this started and still no end in sight 🙁

Cardiology departments are struggling to cope with the volume of patients so it's a waiting game.

[Pam79 in reply to bantam12]

Thanks for the reply. We have a family wedding /holiday booked for 3 weeks in Spain and just don’t know what to do. The hospital today told me it would be 3-4 weeks for them to send an appointment date to discuss what’s next. Unsure what to do now

[bantam12 in reply to Pam79]

It's difficult isn't it, we have several things on hold until we have an appt date although we aren't expecting anything positive coming from it, bit of a last resort.

[jimmyq in reply to Pam79]

Discuss it with your doctor.

[Janma123 in reply to Pam79]

My husband was in a similar situation last year - stent in 2007 following HA, second HA last March. Fortunately he was given the option to ‘stay in and we will operate in the next two weeks’ as opposed to being put on a waiting list for 3 months. In the time he was waiting in hospital his condition deteriorated and his surgery was brought forward. He had a quadruple bypass and although his recovery has been slow due to other factors, he has recovered well. He is now 70.

Speak to your doctors regarding his fitness to travel and your insurance company as you would not want to find yourselves abroad with no medical insurance. We recently had to miss a family wedding as it was too far to drive- frustrating but hubby ‘s health came first.

Hope everything goes well for you.

[PaulEgypt in reply to bantam12]

I am a UK citizen born and raised..I just experienced an instant death Cardiac arrest..heart was stopped 7 minutes before i reached A& E further complicated by total heart block. Over the next 2 hours my heart stopped 7 times until finally they bound a beat..I was put into a coma for 5 days as all my organs needed to stabilise after going into shut down.. I was then fitted with an ICD for future preventative measures..Why am i telling my story.. because my life had ended.. I received unbelievable care and attention in a country that was not my home.. or birth place .. in this instance Egypt.

Many hospitals overseas are recognising the concerns of the NHS and are offering medical solutions to those who do not want to wait. Lithuania is the latest to start advertising medical services in the UK.

Believe me.. I am proof that the hospitals and professionals overseas are as good.. if not better and your life is not on hold with an NHS system that leaves many dead before they have a solution..

[Skertchly in reply to PaulEgypt]

Same problem in New Zealand where it often takes over an hour to get to hospital. Perhaps we should use Egyptian systems.

[bantam12 in reply to PaulEgypt]

All well and good if you have the funds and ability to travel, I'm glad it worked out for you but unfortunately it's not an option for us.

[Prada47 in reply to bantam12]

Hi bantam

Just wondering why your husband has been turned down by 2 Hospitals was it for by pass surgery or some other heart related procedure ? If this is prying please disregard the question, just very curious as to why he would be turned down.

Regards

[bantam12 in reply to Prada47]

He is a very complex case, needs mitral valve surgery but there is to much calcification to attach anything to plus he has other life limiting health issues which complicate things, he has been put forward for trials but his other problems mean he is not accepted, so at the moment there is no suitable procedure and to date surgeons are unable to help.

[Prada47 in reply to bantam12]

Thank You that makes it much clearer, I do hope you can get it resolved in the near future.

Best Regards