After sustaining a hernia from a botched surgery two years ago, David Stewart thought his luck had finally changed in June.
The 69-year-old from Lossiemouth currently has a hernia about the size of a melon.
This occurred as the result of a botched keyhole surgery for another hernia five years ago when the camera hit one of his main arteries.
The former councillor has endured months of agonizing pain waiting for an operation to fix the problem.
As the new hernia increased in size so did the extent of the pain and his need to go to the toilet with the hernia pressing down on his bowels.
However, just when he thought his long wait was at an end, he was told he would have to wait longer than the 12-week limit after getting his pre-operation checks in June.
Earlier this year, Scottish Tory leader and Moray MP Douglas Ross said Mr Stewart “needs and deserves to be treated urgently”.
The delay has been blamed on operating theatres being out of action and NHS Grampian has apologised for the wait.
‘I can’t plan anything’
In June, Mr Stewart finally thought he was on the brink of getting a life-changing operation, but four months on, he’s in the same position.
He explained: “At the end of June I got my pre-op assessment.
“Two weeks later, I got a letter (saying it was) all good with the assessment and by NHS legal guidelines I’d be offered a date for operation within 12 weeks.
“I thought ‘great’ then 10 weeks later I got a letter they’re unable to stick to the 12-week period because of rising Covid cases and three operating theatres out of action.”
Since then, Mr Stewart still hasn’t received a date for his operation and his GP sent a letter three weeks ago stressing he was struggling to live with this hernia any longer.
He feels his life has been put on hold for a prolonged period of time and he fears he won’t be able to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary next year.
“I thought that letter was a light at the end of the tunnel for us, I thought ‘I’ll be fine for Christmas and New Year coming up.’
“We’re looking at plans to go on holiday in March, it’s our golden anniversary, but I can’t even plan anything because it’s ‘wait and see’ all the time,” he said.
‘NHS saved my wife’s life’
Though he finds the wait “annoying” he stressed that he is still thankful to the NHS after they recently saved his wife Joan’s life.
“The NHS saved my wife’s life two months ago, she had to have three teeth out, she had a bad reaction.
“When we got her to A&E in Elgin, her throat had closed up so much they couldn’t get the tube down, so they put it up her nose and took her right through to Aberdeen.
“She was on a ventilator for four days, but they were excellent with her, she had a dedicated nurse 24 hours a day, it was unbelievable treatment,” he added.
‘Patient safety is our first priority’
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “The needs of everyone awaiting surgery are carefully risk assessed and we apologise to anyone whose wait is longer than expected.
“Patient safety is our first priority and we are making sure procedures take place as quickly as we can.
“”While we cannot comment on individual cases, advice on how to self-manage conditions such as hernias is provided while people wait for surgery.
“We would encourage anyone with concerns about a deterioration in their condition to contact their GP. We would also encourage you to engage with our feedback service.”
Conversation