Hi everyone
Can anyone else give me their experiences of waiting for a delayed DIEP reconstruction at St Andrew’s Centre, Broomfield Hospital? I went for my first consultation in January 2009 and am still waiting for a date for my operation. I was given a date of 29 April 2010 but have just found out this morning that this has been cancelled adn they are unable to give me another date. Has anyone else had a similar experience or a shorter/longer waiting time? Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated. Also, it seems that I am doing all the chasing and no-one ever bothers to contact me.
I was diagnosed in April 2007 and am now getting so emotionally tired of waiting for this to happen.
I look forward to hearing from you, Sarah
Diglett - there is an Essex Girls thread, I would ecpect that lots of ladies on there had their surgery at Broomfield.
I hope you get your date soon
Hi Diglett
Here’s the link to the Essex Girls thread
breastcancercare.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18533&hilit=+Essex+girls&p=403408#p403408
Kind regards,
Jo, Facilitator
Hi there,
I’ve just had a diep op at Broomfield. I think my first consultation was about this time last year so it wasn’t too bad a delay for me. The surgeons secretary rang me and apologised for the delay when she finally booked my date for me. She also asked me if I would prefer to go somewhere different to have to try and get it done a bit more quickly. As I had heard such good reports of the work done at Broomfield I declined and was quite happy to wait. I was very lucky as the op was done on the date I was given with no cancellations or delays. I can only suggest that you keep contacting the secretary to try and get a new date. I was told that if my op was delayed for reasons of emergencies it would only be about two weeks.
I know it must be very frustrating for you, but I can say that all the team at Broomfield were wonderful, from the rather yummy surgeon Dean to all the nurses. So bear with it, it will be worth it in the end.
Good luck
Melanie
Hi Melanie
Thanks for your message. How are you feeling after your op - not too bad I hope. I now have a date now of 29 April which will be 16 months from date of my original consultation. A long wait but I’m sure it will be worth it. I am excited and scared at the same time. I have received my confirmation letter and all my pre-op appointments so it seems as though it’s all systems go. However, they have stressed that if they have an emergency then I will be cancelled - which I completely understand. Take care, Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Glad to hear you’ve got a date, hope it all goes according to plan. I remember the last couple of weeks before the op went really quickly. My recovery has been pretty usual I think, the first couple of weeks I couldn’t do much, but it’s been five weeks today and I’m feeling much better. Not driving yet as the physio told me to definitely wait for six weeks, if I’ve been busy during the day I just get tired in the afternoon and need a rest. Have been told not to go back to work for 8 weeks, which was a surprise to me, but not too much of a disappointment! The one thing I didn’t think of was what I’d wear after the op. It’s alright at home, as I just wore jogging bottoms, but I had nothing to wear on the odd occasion I went out. It may be worth your while planning in advance to make sure you’ve got something that’ll fit over the binder as I found it really annoying, especially as I’d put on weight before the op and all my clothes were too tight anyway!
Take care and if you want to ask anything go ahead.
Best wishes
Melanie
I hope your reconstruction went well! I am waiting at the moment for mine at the Broomfield. The waiting lists remain long and while I have been waiting for a year, they have not been given me any hope that it will be any time soon. My one question is, what processes are in place to deal with the back log? I appreciate that more of us girls are having reconstruction at the time of their first surgery and good luck to them. I had a mastectomy 3 years ago and I’m getting a little bit fed up with the discomfort of a falsie! Oh well! Patience is a virtue and I’ll have to try being a bit more virtuous!