Re:Surgery

Ashford is possible but will probably take a lot longer to arrange as I cannot book you directly into an operating list there and we will have to wait for the orthopaedic surgeons there to see you first and agree that it needs surgery. The hand surgeon who works in Margate allows me to put people directly on his list and he does one list a week in Canterbury I think - that is probably the nearest we can get if we want it done quickly. JB

hello, yes canterbury hospital would be ok thank you.

OK we will try to arrange that JB

Thank you very much, i will await to hear from you.

hello there, i am waiting to hear from you re: operation, which you said could be about 6weeks at canterbury hospital, although i am waiting to have the injection i wonder whether i could just go ahead with the op only as i dont fancy the injection, and it would mean me taking more time off work. Could you please let me know so i can cancel the injection appt? many thanks.

I don't know what date we will get for surgery yet as I do not directly control hospital appointments in the same way that I do primary care ones. I have to send your details to the waiting list office and we are then at their mercy for finding a vacant surgery slot. I would be inclined to keep the injection appointment pending until either about 3 days in advance or until we know when surgery will be - do we have a date for injection? JB

Yes the injection appt is a week today on the 22nd feb, i just feel surgery is the best option for me and dont really want the injection. Would you please go ahead in organising the surgery date for canterbury hosp please, and let me know if i could cancel the injection? many thanks

hi there, shall i cancel my injection appt as its only nxt week, then they have a slot for another patient, as i feel surgery is the best option for me?

I've done the necessary paperwork to try and get this operated in Canterbury - let's see what date they come up with for surgery. I would say cancel/defer the injection if your symptoms are not getting worse - you could repeat the sverity score on here if you like - your score last time we did was 2.55 for the right hand subjective severity scale. (Higher numbers are worse). JB

hi there, thank you for your reply, i will cancel the injection. I repeated the severity score on my right hand and it was 2.4, my thumb and index fingers are constantly numb, the pain can be bad at night, but not all the time, every now and again, maybe that's why the score is slightly lower. I await to hear from you re: surgery date. Thank you again.

hi there,any news on surgery?

I'm afraid for Canterbury operations we are at the mercy of the booking office. For surgery in primary care I have direct access to choose dates myself but not for the hospital so we have to wait until they offer something - sorry. JB

ok thank you, will you be contacting me on here or by post when you hear?

I believe the orthopaedic waiting list office either telephone or write. I have nothing further to do with it once we pass you on to the orthopaedic department. JB

hi there,
I still havn't heard any news re: op. I guess it can take a while? Also, how long after the op do i need to stay off work?
Many thanks.

It's hard to be sure about expected waiting times for the orthopaedic surgeons. Mr Smith's list should be a matter of 6-8 weeks from referral and we sent the referral on 16.2.12 so one would expect to be hearing something by now. Unfortunately we have no easy way of knowing whether they have lost the referral but we will try to find out. 2 weeks off work would be about average after carpal tunnel surgery except for heavy manual work where it can be longer - more like 4-6 weeks. JB

Oh thank you, it would actually be possible for me to have my op in Whitstable or Herne Bay as you said would be quicker, so if the referral has been lost I don't mind if i have to go to either of these, thank you for your help

My office manager is trying to find out what state the referral is in. She will probably post on here directly if has any luck with it. JB

Ok thank you, i wait to hear.

Hi there, i am still waiting to hear re: surgery date, as you were going to have a word with the office manager to see what happened? thank you

Still can't get anything useful out of them I'm afraid. We'll have a final attempt to see if you are on the list somewhere on Thursday morning when Mr Smith's surgical care practitioner is here. The primary care alternatives at this moment would be Whitstable on 8th May or Herne Bay on 12th May, so about 7 weeks ahead. I'm afraid it is often much slower getting things done via the orthopaedic department, though sometimes one gets lucky with a cancellation. JB

We managed to contact the appropriate office today who could not find any record that they had dealt with it :-( A new copy has been faxed to them this morning and they have promised to give it priority. JB

Thank you very much for finding out, i am glad you have the forum to keep me updated,I hope they will contact me by post, if they let you know then i hopefully will hear from you on here,

They will contact you by phone or mail - they are unlikely to pass any message back to me I'm afraid. Let me know if you have still heard nothing in a week. JB

Hello, i eventually got a phone call re:surgery after hearing nothing for ages. They offered me a cancellation, but was such short notice (4 days)! I told them it wasnt possible as i had just been offered a new job and was unable for surgery. I was told they would take me off the waiting list, but if symptoms still bad (which they have been) i woiuld need to go back to my GP for a referal! Does that mean I would have to start all over again and not be able to contact you? Kind regards.

I can only apologise for the behaviour of the East Kent Hospitals Trust over surgery appointments. From what I can remember of their appointments policy they should not throw you off the waiting list for declining an appointment with less than two weeks warning. You are dealing there with a group of managers and admin staff of course - not directly with the doctors and although the front-line admin staff are generally trying to be patient-friendly the policies they are forced to work to are sometimes rather less so. You don't need to go back to your GP as I can take it up with the surgery office but I have to say that it is markedly easier to use the surgical operating lists which I book directly in Herne Bay and Whitstable. The earliest space available as of today is 30th June in Herne Bay. Have a think about it and let me know whether you want to stick with the East Kent Hospitals approach or move over to surgery in primary care. JB

Hi there, thank you for your quick reply, as i am just starting a new job, i am not able to take any time off just yet in case i lose the job (its a 3 month trial period), i know that i need to have surgery, so once i am over the trial period and can take some holiday off it is good to know i can contact you direct. Thank you again for all your help, i will contact you then. Kind Regards.

If we are deliberately deferring surgery then I would think again about injecting them in the meantime. Even if this proves a temporary solution it might at least stop them deteriorating while we wait for a suitable opportunity for surgery and injection will generally not keep you off work, except for the time taken to go and have it done. JB

Hi there, yes please if you could arange injection for my wrist, i have still got the telephone number from a previous letter, as Sandgate is good for me to get to, or will you have to refer me to them and i await to hear from them? many thanks.

You should be able to give them a call sometime tomorrow (Thursday) - the contact numbers are on the site here too. JB

Hi there, i had my injection in my right wrist 10 days ago, i must say it was more painfall than i could have imagined! out of 10, the pain was 10! The Doctor who carried this out had to try 3 times as i got the most painfall electric shocks through my 3 fingers the first 2 attempts! He apologised and said that it had never happened before, and assured me the third time it wouldnt happen, he said it could of been my wrists were thin! ? I havnt seen much improvement yet but i havnt had any pain in the night for a month anyway, although to be honest i never want the injection again, as it was a shock literally! Just thought i would give you feedback. JC.

Curiously I've been reading some papers relating to pain on steroid injection today and I have just updated the steroid page of the site with some of the information from them. Much of the variability in injection pain remains unexplained however - it seems to be largely random. Given that story of multiple attempts at placing the needle I would quite like to have a look at the nerve with the ultrasound scanner if you can spare the time to drop in to Canterbury - and it is a long time since I have seen you anyway so it would probably be a good idea to repeat the nerve conduction studies too. JB

Hi there, yes it would be a good idea to see you, what days are you in Canterbury, as i dont get much time as i have started a new job and am quite a way away? Although i may get a free day in a few weeks.

Probably the best way to do it would be for you to tell me what would be a good time (or two) for you and I will see what I can do to oblige - though I am in London every Wed and Fri at Kings College. From the point of view of scanning it after injection I would rather do that as soon as possible. JB

Hello, unfortunately my day off in a few weeks is on wednesday, i am unable to take any other time off. So i wont be able to see you asap im afraid.

Are you working Saturdays - we are doing some extra clinics over the next few weekends? JB

I get every other Saturday off, i am working this weekend, off next, etc.

So we should be able to squeeze you in on Saturday 30th June I hope. I'll look into it when we start organising the clinic for that Saturday and let you know if it is feasible on here/by phone so keep an eye on the forum please. JB

Hello, yes please let me know if next Saturday 30th June ok to see you? Thanks.

Yes I'm sure I will be able to manage that as I will be in the office anyway, whether or not we run an extra clinic in the end. I'm usually there dealing with admin between about 10:30 and noon at least so we'll fit it in sometime in that interval. I'll give you a more exact time once I know what else I have to do. JB

Ok thank you, if you could let me know what sort of time.

Come along at 11:30. I'm seeing another patient at 11:00. Don't get put off by the department looking shut - there will probably only be me there. JB

Ok thank you, is it the same place i have seen you before in Canterbury Hospital? Do I sit and wait in the waiting area for you to see me, and how will you know i am there if the department is closed?

Same place as before - ring the reception bell or hammer on the door until I emerge :-) JB

Ok thank you will try and get your attention and see you Saturday morning.

Hi there, just to say thank you for seeing me today, i will let you know how i am doing. J.

Hi there,
Im afraid to say the symptoms are back badly! Waking me up every night with bad pain going right up to my elbow, constant numbness as before, been monortoring for past two weeks, very bad last few days!
How long is the wait for surgery? How long would i need to take off work? JCummins

We can currently get surgery performed in about 1-3 months for patients who are otherwise fit and well. I won't be able to check exact availability until next week as some extra operating lists are being created at present. I don't know exactly how 'hands on' your work is but times to return to work are generally about 2 weeks for non-manual occupations and 4-6 weeks for heavy manual work. It certainly sounds as though we are heading for surgery so I'll let you know what I can arrange as soon as I know what happens with the new operating lists. It would be a good idea however to remind me on here next week - your memory is likely to be more reliable than mine. JB

Hi there, i have just started back caring, the residents have dementia and can be violent so i do have to hold them when doing personal care and they grip my hands alot, it does put strain on my wrist as they are strong, ok i will remind you next week, thank you.

Hello there. just to remind you as requested, to find out a date for surgery, I dont mind if it is carried out at Herne Bay or Whitstable as the wait is quicker isnt it?

Also would a weekend date (Saturday) be possible for surgery and a pre op assessment on the same day as i need to get my husband to take me and he has to take unpaid work off? I would be greatful for an operation date as soon as they can.
Many thanks. Julie.