"Wait for eye surgery"

I was diagnosed with a retinal tear in June 2023. I waited until August 2023 to see a specialist trainee doctor at the eye clinic in Aberdeen and a retinal tear repair was suggested. I was told at the time that the waiting list was longer than the Scottish waiting list standard, but this was due to covid backlog. 

I began planning to accommodate my visual disturbance and get on with life whilst awaiting the surgery. I made adjustments  to my workstation with large monitors and increased font sizes at work as I spend long days at a computer and found I have eye strain, due to the visual distortion in one eye.

I also find driving challenging due to visual distortion, so I had to adjust my working day to drive only in daylight over the winter months. I do not do much other driving and have postponed visits to elderly relatives until after my surgery. 

I have not planned any holidays or time away from home as I stated that I would be available at short notice if a surgery slot became available.

It is now May 2024 and I am still struggling at work and basically putting my life on hold.

I did receive notification in February that my surgery was planned for a Monday. I put measures in place to take time off for the surgery and recuperation, which is not insignificant, having been told I would need to lie face down pretty much 24 hours a day for a week post op. I was called late on the Friday before my Monday surgery, to be told the department had experienced a high level of emergency admissions so my surgery on the Monday would be postponed.

I then received a shocking letter on the following Tuesday to say as I had cancelled 2 appointments (not true, the hospital cancelled 1) I would go back to the bottom of the waiting list. After clearing this error up with  the poor ward clerk and getting silence from an email I sent via the ward clerk to the SCN of the ward, expressing how this letter had affected me, I called the ward clerk a month later to see if there was any news on a new surgery date. It was during this telephone call which I made that I was told that the surgeon doing my surgery was currently not undertaking operations but that a locum surgeon may be appointed soon.

I again called the ward clerk, to be told that my surgeon remains at work, but not operating, no locum has been found and that there is no-one else able to do my surgery, as only emergency cases were being sent to Glasgow for surgery. 

I have now been living with poor eyesight, significantly compromising my ability to be fully functional and productive at work or plan any life for 10 months. 

Whilst I appreciate that there is probably a very good reason why my surgeon is not operating, I am very angry about the level of communication with me from the department about the wait and the reasons for ongoing delay.

I appreciate that there is possibly not much that can be done about the only retinal surgeon in Aberdeen not operating. But I have not been given any information. I would also be prepared to travel anywhere in the UK to undergo this surgery, but nothing has been offered. As  no-one has been in touch, leaving me with concerns and doubts about what is going on.