"Three month wait for results is too long!"

I went to my doctors with two lumps on my head who said I could have them possibly removed and I would be referred to a day care unit for this, and they would do it fairly quickly. When I received my referral letter I could choose which hospital I wanted to attend and choose a date. I chose Stepping Hill as I could choose a date and time convenient to me. I was never told or given any idea that this first appointment was only for the doctor to assess my lumps. I had taken time off work and arranged child care. I had the assessment and was told I’d have to wait for another letter and appointment. I was so disappointed that the surgery wasn’t carried out at the time- as I’d have to arrange another day off work and child care again! I think if there had been better communication from the hospital to myself then this confusion wouldn’t have occurred, and I would have a clearer understanding of what was happening. When I eventually got my appointment for surgery, the ward was full and I had to wait 3 hours to be seen. I was the last patient but with swine flu rife there were no magazines to browse through. Sitting there for three hours with nothing to do was very frustrating. When I finally had surgery the doctors and nurses were great and talked me through the whole procedure. I was left in a lot of pain on my head and had to take the day off work, but was told I’d be fine. I feel like I wasn’t and I was told to take a painkiller for the pain. I did this but never thought for one moment that the pain would be so bad. I hope I don’t have to go through this again and the whole experience was very confusing and nerve racking. The staff on the ward and the surgeons were very good which I think is the only positive about my experience. When the lumps were removed I was told they were probably cysts but will get sent to the lab anyway. I have never received official results from the lab or my doctor and hope to goodness that the results are not serious as I wouldn’t have a clue. I feel really disappointed that I have to chase this matter up myself and feel really let down. This again I believe is another huge lack of communication, and I hope no-one else has ever been through this waiting for results, a three month wait is too long!