"I write to you following the operation..."

What I liked

I write to you following the operation that you performed on my son Samuel Barton in March of this year 2010. I am pleased to inform you that Sam continues to be pain free and is now slowly adjusting to a normal life as a young 23 year old with a future ahead of him.

It is difficult to articulate what this has meant to Sam and to us, his family. For 12 years Sam has endured severe neuropathic pain secondary to a Congenital Vascular Malformation. The impact of this on Sam cannot be understated, his young life disabled by constant untreatable pain.

The opportunity for pioneering surgery you offered earlier this year was a ray of hope. Subsequently I wish to personally thank you for the outcome as Sam is now pain free for the first time in 12 years. He now requires no analgesia and is thus free of the side effects of prolonged medication.

The service that we received from your team was first class – and I copy this letter to the Chief Executives of your Trust requesting that this letter be sent to Ward Staff and Specialist Nurses. The Trust should be deservedly proud of its staff and their international expertise. All staff, Nurses, Specialist Pain Nurses, Doctors and Administrative staff were highly professional, approachable, kind and helpful. The visitor’s accommodation that we accessed at the Hammersmith was comfortable and enabled my wife and I to be close by Sam during this anxious time despite the fact that we live in Swansea. Your Secretary was outstanding, and her assistance made the entire process an easy one.

We are now adjusting to having Sam as an able-bodied son, as opposed to a disabled son – and for that my wife and I are grateful to all those who have supported Sam for the last decade, to all the Staff at Charing Cross, and we are particularly forever in your in your debt.

Dr. David Barton