Delay in surgery for daughter

[anxiousddhmum]

I guess this is just more of a venting thread than anything. My 2yr old daughter was diagnosed with developmental dysplasia of hip in January and due to various other health issues had been moved to oxford children's hospital rather than our local one for het surgery. She had her pre op in june and we are still waiting for a date for her operation. I'm trying really hard to not overthink and end up in a downward cycle with my mental health but I just keep thinking why do the pre op if they didn't have a surgery date ready, how much of an impact will the delay have on the ossification of her bones and therefore impact on the surgery's outcome. Speaking to the team at the hospital apparently the reason we don't have a date is because of holidays, cancellations and strikes.

a friend had a pre-op 3 times before her hysterectomy was finally done. what a waste of resources and she is not the only one.

lh

No advice, just sympathy. My teen DD had to wait a year recently on the NHS for major spinal surgery to correct her scoliosis. I can honestly say that the waiting and not knowing when ‘the call’ would finally come was the worst part of the whole ordeal by far for both of us. Surgery and recovery were a breeze compared to the months of stress and worry not knowing when things were finally going to be fixed. It felt like life for that entire period of time was on pause. I even started to look into going privately and remortgaging the house in order to fund the £45,000 it would take to pay for it. She was in so much pain and so self conscious of her back due to things deteriorating further that she began to really struggle mentally. She couldn’t attend school, lost touch with close friends and thus 18 months post-op is still playing catch up on the year of her life that was completely ruined by waiting lists.

I told myself I would never see my own daughter needlessly suffer like that again so I have invested in the best health insurance that I could get for her. It is nearly £60 per month that I would much rather have in my bank account but I just do not feel safe to rely on the NHS anymore after what we have experienced.

Phone again. Phone regularly, (not too much obviously!). The fact you phone gets logged on your case and then at least it's recorded.

@Oblomov23 thank you. She has had the surgery now. We got a cancellation in september. I agree the waiting was the worst part.

that is awful - i did not realise the delays were so serious and so long especially for children. this has affected her life for a long time. it beggars belief in society like ours that you are having to spend £60 per month on health insurance when you are already paying your taxes and insurances.

yesterday on the news they say the waiting lists are even longer - people are dying because of the
long waits and in pain and discomfort - just awful that the country has got into this situation. lh