"Something wrong with their communication..."

Loads of tests and appointments it was agreed that surgery was the way forward.

After a 90 minutes journey then a 5 hour wait in a room with the most uncomfortable chairs on the planet before a surgeon arrived to declare that in her opinion surgery might not be needed and it could be that the diagnosis was of FHH. To add to the frustration felt at this time the surgeon suggested that after more tests it might be that she would have to perform this exact procedure (actual words were “somewhere down the line we may be in this same position”). From the conversation, following my husband’s direct questions. It transpired mere minutes before the conversation was the first time the surgeon had looked at the notes and when asked “should the registrars, at some point, advised her of the case and the previous test results” she did not hesitate in throwing the registrars under the bus. I realise this might have just been because she was the one in front of us at that time, and she was being held responsible for the 5 hour ordeal of knowing there was a possibility of side effects and complications from this surgery, knowing there was going to be an ugly scar but all the time remembering the anecdotal evidence that others with Hyper Parathyroids who had the operation said it was like someone turned of a switch and many symptoms went straight away and others reduced over mere weeks. Then to get the bombshell that the surgeon “Did not WANT to do the procedure”. Heart breaking is close to the emotion at that precise moment, then frustration at all the time wasted and the effort of getting to all the tests, consults and scans and the many phone calls to get to the point of the operation date. Now it is just pure anger at the system that has allowed this awful set of circumstances to occur which required our time, the two nurses time and the wasted use of the theatre and theatre staff waiting in readiness for this operation to happen. What a waste of NHS money at a time where every penny all because of the surgeon’s opinion that it “MIGHT” be a different disease altogether for which there is no treatment or cure. Or: It might still be Hyper Parathyroid problem and the operation could still be needed “down the line”. This could mean months in between awaiting appointments for each test or scan, then up to a year to get back on a list for surgery.