Author Topic: Still Waiting!  (Read 3242 times)

Slogger

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Still Waiting!
« on: 15:18:26, 04/02/20 »
My last long distance walk was last August/September along the Offa's Dyke Path, and my last walk was a 30 miler in October. After that the pain in my hip became substantially worse. Following an injection in there, I was referred by the first consultant to another for a possible Athroscopy despite being outside of the guidelines for such a procedure. The Waiting for NHS is something else, would have been sorted by now had I gone private.1. 2 years of groin discomfort, so had physio then Osteopath treatment, no difference so paid for a private MRI scan which showed no Arthritis but possible labral tear.2. July 9th, 2019, Gp referred to consultant.3. July 23rd, 2019, Consultant appointment, made arrandemnets for Corisone injection.4. October 15th, 2019, Hip injection.5. November 26th, 2019, injection follow up with consultant who decides to refer me on to another consultant for possible Arthroscopy, after offering me a    complete hip replacement, which completely threw me.
6. February 1st, 2020, received a phone call from 2nd consultants secretary saying they received the referral letter two week ago!? and to expect a letter in a couple of weeks for the first appointment with him. I told her that due to the amouint of pain I am experiencing which worsens week by week I wish I'd taken up the offer a hip replacement back in November, with the first consultant instead. She told that I could do that, but would have to start all over agian by going back to my GP for a referral!Seems to me you are ok if you can afford private treatment if not you are stuffed!


sussamb

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #1 on: 15:25:23, 04/02/20 »
Sorry to hear that Dave. My wife had an operation on her shoulder to remove excess growth that was causing pain and was dealt with very quickly, she was very happy,  seems you had the opposite experience  :(
Where there's a will ...

gunwharfman

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #2 on: 15:45:51, 04/02/20 »
Wading through the various levels of professionals can be very annoying, are you confident that you are getting good advice from them? If you have kept an accurate record of all of the people that you have seen you might next time when you go in ask politely for a copy of their official complaints procedure. That's the type of work that I do on their behalf, not so much now of course because I am semi-retired now. Making a formal complaint can often 'speed' things up but it doesn't always work, a lot depends on the system's ability and wish to close ranks on itself. Your experience doesn't surprise me one bit, the NHS has been changing for the worse generally (my view) over the last few years. A lot will also depend on where you live and on the efficiency of the staff that manage their appointment and time systems.

Don't be too confident in the private sector, the ability to pay in my experience is not a true guarantee you will do any better, as much sloppy practice as everywhere else. At least in the NHS, if you can get it, everything and everyone that matters to you is at hand, not necessarily so when going private. The other problem to watch out for in the private sector is, if your 'acute' problem becomes 'chronic' they will soon discard you, they are there to make a profit and 'chronic' is not a money-spinner.

My wife has had one hip done on the NHS and I'm sure will soon have to have new knees. Her GP keeps pushing her to go down that path but she hasn't decided yet. I'm sorry that you have had such a bad time.


Slogger

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #3 on: 16:06:25, 04/02/20 »
Yeah, I have many customers in different areas and it does seem to be a postcode lottery. Many who have had a hip replacement when discribing their symptoms prior to the operation, are not describing the amount of pain that i am having. I am 24/7 on Highest Ibuprofen and Co-dydramomol tablets that help but the pain relief is minimal. At weekends if I try and do without, I can't function at all and and soon give in. I suspect the problem I seem to have, a Labral tear, often produces no symptoms, so they may be viewing it as something and nothing, and of course I can't tell them diferrent until I get to see them. When I described it to the first consultant, he was scratching his head, saying that my x ray looked quite good and then soon passed me off, by referring me on. When I do get to see this new guy, I will tell him in no uncertain way exactly what I am feeling.Thanks for your best wishes.

April

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #4 on: 18:41:54, 04/02/20 »
Sorry to hear you are still waiting for treatment Slogger. I hope you get sorted out soon.
Hate will never win

jimbob

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #5 on: 20:25:39, 04/02/20 »
Following my recent experiences I have nothing but the highest praise for my experience of the NHS

New heart valves, internally fitted loop recorder that auto informs the hospital of my cardiac rhythms and now a monitoring reactive pacemaker.

All done speedily.

The bit I am not happy about is my own body not getting back to any great level of fitness overnight, Nowt the  NHS could do about that.

If we had private care they would have upped the premiums after the first instance, according to my US mates, to such a degree that I probably would have had to sell the house to pay for the follow ons.

Too little, too late, too bad......

Slogger

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #6 on: 17:12:10, 13/02/20 »
At last my appointment has come through for Wednesday 19th February. Pain got so bad last few days, could hardly move and somehow put my back into spasm too, so now on a course of Diazapam along with other meds. I hate taking pain killers and have always done my best to keep off them, but have been taking them like Smartees for a few months now. Here's hoping I don't get fobbed off!On the same day my appointment came through so did one for my wife - a Parkinsons test, End of May, she's been waiting for her appointment since October last year.

pdstsp

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #7 on: 18:53:18, 13/02/20 »
Sorry to hear that you are suffering Slogger - I know what you mean about taking painkillers but sometimes needs must - I wish you all the best for your appointment, and to Mrs Slogger too.  Fingers crossed for you both.


Paul

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #8 on: 19:34:44, 13/02/20 »
I know what you mean about painkillers. I can usually tolerate quite a bit of pain without popping pills, but sometimes the back spasms can be so bad there is no alternative. It can definitely reach a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.


Joint and back pain can have a massive impact on actually being able to walk at all, but also in denting confidence later on. There is always the worry it might come back at an inconvenient moment - e.g. 6 miles from the road at the top of a mountain. The trouble with back spasms and sciatica is not just the pain, but that it can affect the ability to control your leg, which is not good news in the hills.


I hope your pain subsides soon and you can get back walking.

April

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #9 on: 20:30:37, 13/02/20 »
Good luck with your hospital appointment Slogger. And also to Mrs Slogger. What a shockingly long wait you have both had.

I have been taking pain killers for over twenty years for my degenerative spinal problems. If I didn't take them I wouldn't be able to cope with the pain. It is a no brainer for me regards taking them; I am having problems with my hips and knees now too so I will continue taking the pills and keep active as long as I can.
Hate will never win

Jac

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #10 on: 09:26:52, 14/02/20 »
Good luck Mr & Mrs Slogger - hope both appointments produce useful results.
So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

vghikers

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #11 on: 12:48:00, 14/02/20 »
I wish you all the best for your treatments Slogger x 2.
I have the same view of painkillers but sometimes they're the least of the evils, even with long term usage that can have its own hazards.

tonyk

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #12 on: 13:53:27, 14/02/20 »
Good luck with your appointment,Dave.I used to think going private was the answer but due to a neighbour's experience with a private hospital last week I am not too sure.She went for a routine cataract operation due to having slightly poor vision in the eye.The NHS said the eye wasn't bad enough yet so she forked out £3000 for a private operation only to end up not being able to see out of the eye at all.It seems they botched the operation and destroyed the "bag" that holds the lens in place.Repairing it was beyond their ability so they sent her back to the NHS and she has got an appointment in June.

Slogger

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #13 on: 16:06:36, 22/02/20 »
Appointment went well and including yet another X - Ray, I was only there 1.5 hours.Mr Mohammed, one of the top consultants in UK, came to waiting room himself to meet me.In his consulting room he had my X - Ray lit up on the screen. I briefly glanced at it, and straight away noticed it was different from my other including my MRI scan.
He went through my things like my work, age, and my walking. Then asked me how I was hoping to benefit from anything that he was able to do foe me. Similar question asked by the previous consultant, Mr Goel, who referred me on to him. I told him that I told Mr Goel, that I like to walked 100 mile non stop and that he offered to give me a hip replacement. I said that, that had thrown me, because what was going through my mind at the time, was, why do I need a new hip when there is very little if anything in the way of athritis (previous x - rays and scan results, just months earlier). He immediately pointed to the screen and told me that my hip was severly arthritic, 80% in fact. Looking at the screen closer, I was gobsmacked, what showed as a nice round Femoral head on my previous X - rays and scan, was now rougher than a Course Alluminium File with what looked like chunks missing, but obviously broken up and still inside the Capsule.I asked him how it had deteriorated so quickly. As he hadn't seen the previous results, he couldn't answer.
He then gave me three options, I could do nothing, have another injection , or a hip replacement, saying that an arthroscopy would achieve nothing.I straight away opted for a replacement, which will take place in around 5 months time. Asking him about better pain relief, he mentioned Tramadol but didn't recommend it. Iv'e tried that before and it just spaced me out.So that's it, at least it was was a huge relief to know that I'm at last on the ladder. For some time I have been wondering why the pain has increased week by week since my Cortisone injection, when prior to that I only had a discomffort. The pain is so bad now, I'm hardly getting any sleep, limping badly and am planning on trying a walking pole but am even having to drive round to the local shop, just 300 metres away. My thinking has me now convinced that the fast degeneration is due to that injection.After searching online, I found there were warnings about results from Cortisone Injections in a nummber of patients, not all of course, and that much more research is suggested. I did find this quote, which in my case I can identify with. " The most common problem was accelerated progression of osteoarthritis (26 people), indicated by reduced joint space between the bones because of cartilage loss"
« Last Edit: 16:12:22, 22/02/20 by Slogger »

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Still Waiting!
« Reply #14 on: 18:41:54, 22/02/20 »
That sounds very painful and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, I hope your operation goes well and you can get back to walking. One of my neighbours had a hip replacement a few years ago and suffered very little pain afterwards. He turned down painkillers and was soon walking around the village. NB he was an ex Royal Marine, so perhaps his pain threshold is higher than an average person’s.  Did the surgeon give you hope that you would be able to do 100 mile walks again after recovering from the operation?

 

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