OMG Walsall Manor stopped operating at wekends???

[Linski]

Just read a post by Quincy informing us that Walsall Manor are not operating at weekends anymore.

I cant bear this, looks like I will be waiting 2 years at this rate. I just dont understand this as Wolverhampton patients are funded and so money is not the problem. Honestly, I feel so sorry for all of those of you who are already on the list and have no true idea of when they will have a date. For those of us who are still waiting for funding or even be accepted on the waiting list it's unbearable. With the pending goverment cutbacks and the ever changing PCT criteria I am in a dilema as to whether to diet - not diet - carry on or give up. I am only 5 1/2 months into my journey and its just all absorbing and has changed my life on a daily basis. I just can not think of anything else.
I was told by WM yesterday that its going to be Jan/ Feb before I will hear about seeing the physchologist, if he give the ok then they apply for funding. If funding is agreed then I am looking at least a 39 week wait for surgery ( from their current performance and fibbing about timescales) by my reckoning its more likely to be April for shrink, Aug for funding approval and 52 weeks waiting. Two years from start to operation God willing. How depressing!!! :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:

Sorry to be negative and sound so sorry for myself and indeed selfish, I just feel so down about my weight and the wait! For so many reasons I need this operation like so many on here and I feel let down by the system.

Love to all post oppers and all desperate pre oppers.

Linski xxx

 

[Craftslinda]

Oh what great news!! NOT taking out a very large loan looks more and more like the best idea. Me and my hubby both have phsyco appointmant on the 29th Oct but if it's looking like a good year after that, then god. I know what you mean about taking over your life and feeling like giving up my hubby ok and fine with waiting but it's driving me insane and not really sure what to do with myself

 

[sugga]

Hi Linski, I know exactly how you are feeling lovey. I thought what I was going through was bad until i read your story. This is why people opt to go private and would rather get into dept and borrow the money or use there life savings.
Im from Sheffield and will have waited about 12/13 months from doctors referral to op date which im hoping will be in December or January. Iv been distraught and so disappointed during this year but for me there was never a doubt that i wouldnt get excepted for funding, as long a i proved to the surgeon that i could lose some weight pre op so he knew the op would be a success.
Ill be thinking of you on your journey, please keep us all posted. You are in the best place for help, advise, and support and to just moan, like i do lol. Good Luck x

 

[sugga]

To all pre oppers who are waiting to here for appointment and surgery dates.........BIG HUGS FROM ME!

 

[mells]

I truly feel for all the patients still waiting for news at such a time of uncertainty.

MY journey was 12 months which at the time felt like hell. But now my husband is on the waiting list roller coaster as well. Good luck to all.

 

[Linski]

Thank you all for your lovely supportive comments. I wish you all luck with your journeys. I think I am so frustrated with myself because I didn't ask for this op years ago. it was pure embarassment and pride why I didn't and I so regret it. I am 55 now and hivered and hovered about seeing my Gp for years. I am your typical yo-yo dieter and have attended every slimming club going, taken every tablet available including spending a fortune on private prescriptions only to lose it and put it all and more back on. When I am focused and particulary with medication I am really focused and drop the weight and nothing with make me stray, then suddenly I go off it for whatever reason the last one was because Reductil was withdrawn and I did fantactic on them. I have now regained it all and my health is suffering. I find since having the courage to ask to be referred I am reluctant to diet because I don't want to miss the BMI targets and with them reducing I am so worried. I just know this operation will be an absolute Godsend and allow mw to live to see my grandchildren ( I am awaitng 2 one Dec and one April) and I also have a disabled daughter and I need to be here and live to the max (years) So why can I not do this dieting stuff on my own??? I have never felt so low about my weight. I think I may have to look at trying to go private but after working almost 40 years the money can be better used for my old age and woudl put a real financial strain on me to borrow. I am however going to explore my options. This is my very first dealings with Walsall Manor and I am not impressed.

Thank you all for reading, this site has become my best friend and I am so glad I have all of you.

Linski xxx

 

[Grace]

I wish I had something I could say to make you all feel better. I just feel for you all so much. If I had the money I'd give it to you like a shot. All I can say is I'm sending big hugs and praying that the providers get their acts together for you.
hugs xxxxxxxx

 

[Linski]

Bless you Charis xx

 

[midnight-star]

Hi Linski

I am also one of many waiting for WM to get their act together, my story also mirrors yours I am also embarrassed about my weight, I wont have my photo taken I don't go out only to work, I hate the way I look and get really depressed I even hate looking in a mirror. Funnily enough we are the same age.
I am also on the point of despair and like you really cannot afford to go private. I guess I am one step in front as I have had all my pre ops and I am only waiting for a date. I did go to my GP and asked for help many many times, but it has taken 3 years of fighting to get referred.
I have been phoning WM almost weekly but get nothing out of them at all, I only get to speak to a snotty woman who just tells me there are no dates and she is sick of people phoning.
Communication is vital but WM do not seem able to do this, I did complain to Wolverhampton PCT after we got the letters from them last week about WM communication but I doubt it will make any difference whatsoever.
Like everyone has said, if I was told it will be Jan, Feb, March then fine I would be able to get on with my life and sit and wait my turn, but it is the not knowing and the fact that no one is willing to tell you what is going on that I find frustrating.
Back in May I received a letter telling me I was on the waiting list and the waiting list was 16 weeks so I was expecting my surgery in Aug but that has come and gone with no further communication.
My own physical health is deteriorating as the time goes on, I have now been referred to the orthopaedic clinic because of my hip, and have to go for blood tests tomorrow to see if I am diabetic. I am sure if I had had the surgery in Aug as I originally believed I would be getting then I would have been in a lot better physical and mental state to have coped with the surgery.
I know I am not the only one waiting and we all have a need for the surgery otherwise we wouldn't have been referred in the first place just wish WM would get their act together and sort this mess out.

Sue

 

[Linski]

Hi Sue, It really is unbelieveable the lack of communication and understanding shown with regards to it. I can relate to everything you say in your post. The funny thing is I decided to ask the op after we redecorated our bedroom in February. The reason that triggered it A MIRROR!! We have ne furniture from Ikea and I had not had a mirror in my bedoon since we move to our new house 4 years ago. Well.... EVERY morning I look in this mirror and say "Oh God I hate myself". It was actually being forced to see myself in the mirror that made me realise just how big I was. I had a fall in Feb also which aggrevated my knee and ankle joints to the point I struggle to walk now. Trying to hold down a full time stressful job is becoming increasingly difficult. I dont know about you but I find it more difficult as you get older and have constantly yo-yo dieted all my life to lose the weight, its so slow. I have an underactive thyroid after having 3/4 removed 14 years and heart attacks and strokes run in my family so why isn't this enough to force me to diet. I bet you are exactly the same in having really, reallythought about this op and feel its your last chance to finally conquer the weight.
Keep in touch Sue and keep ringing them as they told me the wait is currently 39 weeks which is just appalling.

Really nice to hear your story and I will keep my fingers crossed you get a date soon.

Lin xx

 

[midnight-star]

Hi Linski

I am sure we could tell each others stories, yes I have yo - yo dieted for years, my weight problem started after having hysterectomy 20 yrs ago.

I have ha

 

[Linski]

Hi Sue, I too had a hysterectomy which was a result of my thyroid problem and I know all this adds weight on. It's like reading about myself reading your post LOL. xx

 

[midnight-star]

Hi Linski

I thought that as well. We have almost identical stories.

I know it is awful just waiting for WM to sort this mess out, but it does help knowing we have support here on the forum, and no matter how much we moan some one understands, because WM certainly do not understand how we feel

Sue

 

[AnnieT]

Hi Sue and Lin,

I know how frustrating this must be for you and understand all too well what torture this waiting game is, not to mention the moral and ethical implications of forcing patients to demonstrate that they are worthy of life saving surgery by insisting that they lose weight prior to being approved for surgery.

Recognising the inhumanity of the process, perhaps the question to be asked of the PCT and hospital is, have any of the bariatric surgeons left the hospital and if so are there plans to recruit more. I work for the NHS and my experience of weekend surgey lists is that they are only ever run as a temporary measure to either reduce waiting lists, because the PCT want lists progressed or because the trust wants to meet it's quota for surgery. If neither of these reasons apply then the only remaining option is that there has been a reduction in the surgical capacity (usually because staff have left).

If this has been the case then the PALS team at the PCT should be able to make an application to the trust to determine the cause of delays with a view to offering surgery at another hospital if the delays are likely to continue.

Please don't think i'm making excuses for the hospital, only that I am offering a different perspective.

I too have found this journey to be painfully long and have tried to understand why weight management in the longer term eludes me. We all need the lifeline that this surgery offers us and to have it dangled tantilisingly out of reach is unbearable.

Stay strong together, this site is a welcome meeting room for those of us too shy or limited by our size to venture out into a more conventional social scene and I am grateful for each and ever friend I have made here.

Whilst my contributions here are limited, I can honestly say that for me this site is a constant source of strength. I hope it is for you too and that your journey will not be as long as you think. xxx

 

[phatmomma]

Midnight Star why not join in the WM patients who are writing into Molly Cashmore at the Manor (complaints manager) and complaining about the lack of truthful communications from the Manor! So many people are being told different stories when the truth is if people were told the truth although not feeling happier you could at least carry on with your lives. I know your close to getting a date than Linski is but someone needs to put a voice in support of Tranquil, Linski, Aleyne, Beano all of you....

I think the phrase my dad used to use was something like ''the squeaky wheel gets oiled''.... While you're not squeaking you won't get a propre oiling!

Linski, i'm hoping WM will get their act sorted soon, i'm not sure why they've stopped weekend surgeries but am sure they must have a reason for it! What i have no idea, but maybe someone could ask the question when they put in their letter of complaint xx

 

[tranquil_butterfly]

I will be asking when I have my complaint second stage resolution meeting next week. That is if they are prepared to actually discuss those kinds of issues are going to continue to pretend there is no problem!

tranquil