to think it's ludicrous to get offered christmas eve as a date for a grommet operation

[emkana]

apparently ds would be "fine" for Christmas Day

yabu
the waiting list are very long and it is only a minor op

Message withdrawn

oh, do take your point re: Christas eve, emkana, had forgotten that (despite being married to a German, and having a major celebration on that date ourselves )

i think you need to weigh up the pros and cons. One quieter christmas will not wreck christmas forever for your dds (or your ds), and your ds does need this op.

it will be fine ds was fit and rearing to go within a few hours of his op

I (well not me, my client) has a final residence (custody) hearing on Xmas Eve.

Luckily she's gonna win it

At least their mind would be on xmas rather than the op!

It is inconvenient yes, but there are many out there that don't celebrate xmas, so to them, xmas eve is any other day.

that said, I would do all in my power to not have that date unless it was really obvious that it would be worse to wait.

That is a shame, Emkana. I know that the 24th is a big celebration day.

I guess you can only make Xmas day even more special.

She'll be fine. Dd was done at two and home at five and when dh got home at six he said he'd never have guessed it wasn't a normal day for her if he hadn't known (except that she could hear)

I work in a hospital and have just spent this morning booking people into outpatient clinic for 24th December. It's a working day and if we cancel that clinic it will have a knock on effect down the line as far as March or April next year.

My DD was booked in for a grommet op on the 23rd December a few years ago. As it happenend she didn't end up having it done then as she had a cold and I must admit I was quite relieved!

Emkana - I know, it's a bit more complicated because of the big Christmas Eve German tradition - but THERE WILL BE NO COMPLICATIONS TO THE GA! Short, simple GAs for tiny ops like grommets are just that. If it is a morning procedure in day surgery, he will be enjoying celebrations by the evening.
If your experience is anything like the other MN-ers hose children have had grommet ops.

My DD was referred to Great Ormond Street between Christmas and New Year - the place was deserted. Not the wards with long-term patients, of course, but we were whisked from registration, to X-ray, to theatre in minutes. Each place we got to, the staff were ready and waiting for us. Apparently, all the routine, elective stuff is cleared at this time, so it's a good time to pick for an emergency!

But I love Christmas Eve (stamps foot)

(and am still spoilt by the German health system)

he'll be fine the next day. My dd1 had her operation in the afternoon, and she was fine by the evening. It is such a short operation and light aneasthetic.

I remember my cousin telling me of the look on her daughter's face when she woke from her grommets operation and realised she could hear properly.

I'd have thought that would be a wonderful extra christmas present.

Talking of which . . . isn't Christmas in hospital supposed to be really made special for children?

Blimey poor NHS just cant win can they - if you had to wait everyone would be on here moaning about how shite the NHS is and all the docs off enjoying the holidays
So.....to clarify you dont want to wait, but you want it done at your convenience at a day that suits you !
Bet the hospital staff just love working xmas eve instaed of being off doing lovely things with their DC

Well for a start it might help if they ahd more staff so that the op couldn't only be done on a Wednesday...

in Germany they manage to do it without having routine ops on Christmas Eve.

(But really I know that you are right.)

He probably would be fine for Christmas Day...

My two DSs have had the op for bilateral grommets, and they were back to normal the evening of the op (after having it done in the pm).

YABU.

Should mention too, that we paid for the privelege for both of them, so the fact that you've been offered it presumably for free on the NHS, in less than two months time, and you're complaining, is CU.

It will be the consultants theatre list on a Wednesday, emkana. Nothing to do with staff levels. Each consultant has their own theatre day, out patients day etc. It is just your luck you where given a consultant who operates on a Wednesday, and xmas eve falls on a Wednesday this year.

Christmas Eve is not a bank holiday in the UK. It would be a waste of nhs resources not to utilise theatres etc. A waste of tax payers money.

Might I suggest you go private or have the op in Germany if you think the nhs is that crap.

Last year my son had an operation on his ear. Christmas eve. It was either that or wait until March.

He had it done, come home lunchtime christmas day, I was cooking dinner, an he came home to lots of pampering.

He got tons of pressies at the hospital christmas morning too. He loved it.

The appointment was too important to miss. I was 3 days off my due date for having DD1 too, which added to all the fun

Emkana, I don't think the 'wednesdays only' thing is about 'more staff'. In our hospital the theatres are given over to particular specialisms on particular days, so that the surgeons are in theate on certain regular days and running their clinics on others. You wouldn't want DS to have his grommets put in by a gynaecologist who always has the theatre do do his / her list on a Monday, just because Monday suit you better, would you?