"Paediatric Polydactyly Removal"

Our beautiful baby boy was born with postaxial polydactyly and was referred for plastic surgery. The unusual part of it all was there was no bone in either of them, basically just hanging off each hand like a bauble. 4 months in and we noticed the one on the right hand was getting larger, red and seriously inflamed. After phone consultations, emailing photos and a face-to-face doctors appointment we were told to visit Crosshouse Hospital immediately at the end of November, as it looked like an infection. We were fully aware how long the waiting list was for plastic surgery but extremely grateful Crosshouse got in touch with Royal Hospital for Children to arrange an emergency appointment for the following morning. 

We arrived the next morning to be greeted by the friendliest nurses and staff in ward 1A who made our visit so welcoming! (Will go into more detail further down) Unfortunately our son's surgery was cancelled, after waiting 5 hours, due to another emergency which took priority. We were aware there was a risk of this happening when the plastic surgeons had a consultation with us in the morning, which obviously can't be helped. 

The next day we came back to the Royal Hospital for Children in the hope our son could get his surgery, after being previously cancelled. Fortunately in the afternoon he got his operation and we were reunited with him 45 minutes later in recovery. We were discharged a couple of hours later once he'd came round from the surgery and when the nurses were happy to send us home. 

We met an abundance of members of staff during our visits to RHC and we can't thank them all enough! A special mention to Louise and Shannon who went above and beyond to make our visit on both days as comfortable and informative as possible!

It was so lovely when we came back the following day they remembered us straight away. Considering how many patients they must see on a daily basis, it was so kind of them to remember us! They were both so attentive and caring, taking the time to check in with us and even noticed how long we were waiting at times to go chase for an update. We were there that long we built up a lovely repor with them both! They are an asset to your team and deserve all the recognition they can get!

A special thanks to Laura and Madison who were also very caring and helpful to us during our visit on surgery day. A huge thank you to the plastic surgery team, and everyone involved with the operation, for doing an amazing job on our sons hands. Thank you for allowing the procedure to take place, considering how incredibly busy they were - we truly appreciate it! 

We will be forever thankful as we have noticed a massive difference in regards to our son's development with the use of his hands post-surgery! He was always a cheerful, happy little baby (as the nurses in the ward would know as he loved all the attention) but now he's happier than ever! You have incredible staff in RHC and are an asset to the NHS. Keep up the amazing work!