What non-essential medical appointments have you had cancelled?

[TwistyHair]

I’ve had my daughter prosthetic leg appointment cancelled until further notice. I understand that there are more urgent appointments but I’m still really still really upset that her leg is now hurting and she won’t be able to walk soon.

All my blood tests for my severe aplastic anemia. I feel depleted, fatigue is ruling my life and badly depressed. Also I have bruises all over my body due to low level platelets.

I'm surprised that my non-urgent NHS dermatology appointment is going ahead (albeit over the phone) tomorrow. I've been on the wait list for 6 months now so very grateful.

2 dentist appts, one orthodontist appt, and I was in a long wasting list for a non urgent operation, I doubt very much I will ever get it after this.

There’s some really sad stories on here.

This seems so minor & insignificant compared to what some are facing. I was due to go for allergy testing which has been cancelled & I’ve subsequently had a letter saying they’ve now decided allergy testing is unnecessary so I’ve been discharged. It was the ENT hospital consultant who requested it in the first place so not sure what’s changed but suspect it’s down to funding in the wake of this crisis. I fully accept that I’m going to have to wait until this is all over & then revisit with my GP and probably get it done privately. I am lucky to be able to do this.

A fairly urgent MRI. It's been referred back to my doctor.

My daughter has a cleft palate. She's 4 months old. Her palate repair surgery was supposed to be at 6m but has been cancelled and any support ie feeding and weaning has been stopped. I had 107 stitches during her birth and my reconstructive surgery has been cancelled. I'm in pain every time I use the toilet or sit down. My daughters 12w vaccinations have been cancelled. My tooth extraction and root canal has been cancelled and I have a dental infection. Also I'm suffering severe pnd and ptsd after her birth in December and I can't get any support. I'm also newly diabetic after having gd and haven't had any support for this so my sugars are all over the place I'm in a right pickle tbh

Also smear test results I've been waiting 8 weeks for with no idea of when I'll hear back. I had abnormal results last time in 2015 and missed my last one in April 2019 because I'd just had ivf treatment and was 5 weeks pregnant. So I have the constant worry of that

Completely unimportant: I'm meant to be having my gallbladder removed but obviously won't be happening. Presumably I'll get a letter at some point when things return to normal.

Less unimportant: 1) autistic DS2 has had his group mental health therapy cancelled indefinitely. The therapy is about managing anxiety and building resilience. Hopefully they will restart the course from the beginning at some point. In the meantime I'm just doing my best to absorb his frequent rage episodes and trying to head the meltdowns off at the pass.
2) DS2 is also being investigated for possible absence seizure epilepsy, appointment to discuss recent EEG results was due this week - I phoned to check and we're to expect a letter of cancellation (no sign of that though). I haven't noticed him go absent lately, but they can be very brief and are easily missed.

Fortunately there's nothing life threatening being postponed, so we're figuratively sitting in The Winchester with a nice cold pint, waiting for it all to blow over.

Oops, forgot about poor DP and his cancelled physiotherapy. He's got back trouble but says the stretches the physio asked him to do are helping with his pain and he's standing up straight again which is brilliant.

Oh yeah also forgot about the GP nurse calling me to tell me off for missing a smear (because I have severe diskaryosis and loop excision in my medical history) - but that was a day before the surgery sent a text message saying all face to face appointments were cancelled. So now my cervix is in limbo too.

Not cancelled because I hadn't got around to booking them yet but I was due to have some follow-up dental work and my smear test is overdue. I would have also booked an eye test probably this month (also well overdue). Can't really imagine being able to book any of these for months now.

@Evasmummy2019
Are you part of any online support groups or not? There might be one on Facebook that you can join for some support including ideas and tips. It is worth a shot anyway. I think there are some for cleft palate kids too, have a look to see.
My girl has a trach which was placed a week prior to lock-down. She is 3 months old now. I got a email from one of her specialists on her team last week saying that the respiratory department had cancelled all appointments.
I may go private and see if I can find a consultant willing to treat anyway. She was also supposed to have a appointment to try out a speaking value next month, but that appointment also was cancelled.

These are all terrible how worrying

Some of these stories are heartbreaking.

My DS' private SALT which he had weekly has been cancelled but that's it.

@Evasmummy2019 that must be such a strain for you. I know online isn’t the same but is there anyway you can get some online emotional support at least? Although I’m sure what you really want is the surgery that you and your daughter need. 107 stitches sounds a lot.

There are some heartbreaking stories here. Ours are not as urgent.

My daughter’s appointment with her gastro consultant won’t happen in May. She’s coeliac and last year her numbers were improving but not normal. She is hitting puberty hard and there were some things we wanted to check.
I had an initial appointment to check my hands and feet due to possible arthritis cancelled. Have a history of autoimmune conditions in my family and have buried my head in the sand for some time now.

I had a scan showing some abnormalities with the liver and gaullBladder and had been referred to general surgeons. Appointment cancelled and gp has spoken to the hospital to see how long things can safely he left. All they can offer is painkillers to treat the symptoms and to be told to go to hospital if things become acute. My gP is worried that hospital's ability to hope with cOvId will he affected by all the conditions which could have been easily treated but become an emergency.

Worst I've had cancelled is my annual retinopathy screening.

Well, my phone appointment was supposed to be today and no one called... Looks like it's back to the waiting list again! Tempted to pay private once this is over.

I had a letter from the Royal Free this morning booking me in for my Pre Op in mid June!

I’m a little nervous but so excited if it may go ahead.

I was originally booked in for end of March but it was cancelled.
I’d been waiting 2 years

Eye appointment for ds (5). Not too worried about that. His last test was fine but because of family history they didn't discharge. So far he doesn't seem to have any issues.

Contraception appointment. Probably not an issue as I'm 42 and hate my husband at the moment. I got 3 hours sleep last night, am bouncing between absolute rage and despair and can't cope with physical contact when my mental health is this shit.

Pyschiatrist appointments for me. Slightly more concerning because being trapped at home with my children is my worst nightmare due to pstd and attachment problems. Made worse by the fact that GP won't prescribe anything because I'm under the Adult mental health team and they won't prescribe anything because my pyschiatrist has been redeployed.

Daughter's hernia appointment. Will probably look at going private for that in the future.

None of it is particularly serious. for all of you dealing with things which sound urgent/horrendous/painful.

Dh has had podiatry, blood test and information day for his diabetes cancelled. Dc4 has had his eye appointment cancelled. Dc5 was meant to have OT yesterday and I'm gutted as it really helped him last time. Dc5 was also meant to have an operation to correct his squint in September which I'm assuming will be postponed now. Dc3 and dc4 have both lost a grommet each this week and I imagine it's going to be a very long wait to get them replaced. Dc5's autism assessment is also on hold which is worrying as in our county they won't assess older children and he is getting closer to the cut off point.

I do wonder what all the staff that would normally carry out these routine appointments are doing now. Surely they can't all be working covid cases?

Covering staff shortages by the sounds of it

@Evasmummy2019 the cleft lip and palate association facebook page is really good for support. My little boy was born with a cleft lip and palate although thankfully not due to have any operations at the moment. He is meant to have an appointment to talk about his bone graft operation later in the year but I don't know if that's going to go ahead or not.