"Waiting for surgery"

Having gone to my GP with severe stomach pains and difficulties lifting things, getting in and out of the car etc was diagnosed with umbilical hernia back in February 2023. Almost 15 months of wandering around with a hernia, I have had multiple scans, pre-op blood tests, screenings etc and an op that has been cancelled or postponed 4 times, including the most recent fun experience at Lincoln County Hospital.

Having made the almost one hour journey from where I live, I arrived at the prescribed 07.00am for my re-booked for the 4th time surgery.

I spent 8.5 hours in one waiting room and did as I was told, not eating anything since the night before and only sipping water. 

After filling in many forms and being told by the surgeons and anaethestist what they were going to do, at 3.30pm I was told that my surgery was cancelled and to go away, in the nicest possible way.

I am sure I will be offered an alternative date now and also equally sure that this too will be cancelled or postponed, hopefully before the day itself this time, as I have no intention of being off work and spending another full day in a waiting room before I am given the sad word again.

15 months on, the hernia is much larger, more pronounced and more painful than it was and I am sure I will just have to live with it until it goes really wrong at some point and I end up in A&E. Hopefully it does so during office hours so that I can go to Grantham instead of the long trek to Lincoln again.

I know that my experience is nothing unusual in the UK in 2024 and that I am just a number and a nuisance to all involved and I am also sure that my writing this will most likely not be read and will make no difference whatsoever but it has been slightly cathartic to write it down.