Stoma Refashioning Surgery Wait Time in the UK

Hi!

I'm still waiting for my stoma to be refashioned. First surgery was December 21 in an emergency for a perforated bowel.
My stoma retracted very early on. The surgeons said I was too ill to try and refashion it and originally said I would have the refashioning in a year. However, that hospital refused and another consultant from another hospital has agreed to refashion my stoma to bring it out to a normal spout so that I hopefully have less leaks and soreness.
I was put on the waiting list for 6-10 weeks in January and have not yet had a date which is fine. But I wondered for anyone that's had to have additional non-emergency surgery on their stoma how far in advance did they get their date?

I'm getting so anxious waiting for the date.

In the UK

Thank you!

Hi Beth,

I'm not in the UK, so not in the same boat... but I had mine recently "refashioned" (you Brits are so polite... love it!) a couple of weeks ago. There was no wait, as we just scheduled a time that was good for my surgeon and myself... but you're right... it's awesome to have a 'normal' stoma now and not worry about leaks and such. Sealing a proper stoma is a piece of cake, and as long as my skin continues to tolerate the adhesives... life is good. So I understand your anxiousness!!

Wishing you the best!!

;O)

Hi Beth. I'm not in the UK so I don't know how different things are in the UK. I've only had one non-emergency surgery that required stoma revision, and it took 6 weeks or so to get scheduled. I had to go through a few rounds of imaging and some testing before I met with the surgeon. Once I actually got to meet with him, I was scheduled within 3 weeks, partly delayed because my dad was dying and we were waiting until after his funeral if possible so I wouldn't have to miss it.

Hello Beth. 

Thank you for your post, which expresses a quite understandable anxiety about waiting for hospital appointments. Unfortunately (for many reasons but exacerbated by political bias towards profit rather than care), the NHS and particularly its staff are struggling at present with patient/work-overload, staff shortages, inadequate remuneration, untenable working conditions and low morale. As a consequence, any operations that are deemed as non-urgent are being delayed and the so-called waiting lists are something of a very bad 'joke', as there seems to be no guarantee as to when the system will get back to 'normal'. 
I am sorry to be the bearer of this rather negative perspective, but I feel sure that if you have been watching the news lately you will also be aware of the situation.

What is needed in these situations is understanding and patience, unless the sufferers have loads of money, in which case they can pay for treatment and get it done much quicker.

This latter strategy appears to be precisely what this Conservative government are angling for, because it undermines the principles of the NHS and supports the profit/greed motive of those who wish to gain from other people's misery. 

Sorry for the rant, but the present situation in the UK is 'TYPICAL' of right-wing politics, and (from my perspective) is a covert form of 'bullying' by using health and wealth as weapons against those that can ill afford to fight back.

I do hope that I am wrong in your case and you get your appointment sooner rather than later. 

Best wishes

Bill   

I'm afraid our NHS has been run into the ground by our UK government. Not stoma-related, but I've been waiting over 12 months for a procedure than surgery. It's worth phoning your consultant's secretary to see what they say. You could get on to PALS, but after the experience I had with them, you won't hear me say anything good about them!

Hi Beth, I went into the hospital with a blockage that I couldn't get to release. So, my doctor recommended I get scoped, and the surgeon took one look and said I needed a revision as my stoma was so restricted with scar tissue due to Crohn's. Two days later, I had surgery.