Surgery outside the UK.....anyone had it?
Discussion
So 1 day into our holiday (feb 19th) I have an argument with an Italian Mountain and not unsurprisingly it won....
My knee collapsed completely from under me and the initial diagnosis is that the Medial ligament was broken with possible further damage to the cruciate ligament. I didn't cry with the pain.....that was a piece of grit in my eye...;).
The Italian hospital drained some fluid off,took xrays (no breaks) and put me in an open-kneed cast to allow me to fly home on Feb 25th. The whole leg started to swell up to twice normal proportions so I was back at the hospital within 4 days where they then checked for a DVT. All clear thankfully.
We're now home in the UK and have been out to the local A+E where they did another set of xrays and told me they too will be doing a DVT scan. I'm informed that I'll need an MRI scan on the knee before they can assess what surgery is required but the waiting list for an MRI is 4-6 weeks! It could then be a further 4-6 weeks before surgery and a further 8 weeks before I'm mobile again.
Needless to say this will have a huge impact on my life in 2009 so I'm wondering if taking £5K and heading off to a specialist clinic in Eastern Europe for a month might be a better idea?
Anyone gone down this route or have any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Al
My knee collapsed completely from under me and the initial diagnosis is that the Medial ligament was broken with possible further damage to the cruciate ligament. I didn't cry with the pain.....that was a piece of grit in my eye...;).
The Italian hospital drained some fluid off,took xrays (no breaks) and put me in an open-kneed cast to allow me to fly home on Feb 25th. The whole leg started to swell up to twice normal proportions so I was back at the hospital within 4 days where they then checked for a DVT. All clear thankfully.
We're now home in the UK and have been out to the local A+E where they did another set of xrays and told me they too will be doing a DVT scan. I'm informed that I'll need an MRI scan on the knee before they can assess what surgery is required but the waiting list for an MRI is 4-6 weeks! It could then be a further 4-6 weeks before surgery and a further 8 weeks before I'm mobile again.
Needless to say this will have a huge impact on my life in 2009 so I'm wondering if taking £5K and heading off to a specialist clinic in Eastern Europe for a month might be a better idea?
Anyone gone down this route or have any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Al
audidoody said:
£5k will probably cover the scan, consultant, and arthroscopy fees in the UK.
You think? I had a complete idiots view that we'd be talking a great deal more to go private in the UK. Think I'll give my local private hospital a call this morning. Cheers for that...that's lightened me mood!Stablelad said:
So 1 day into our holiday (feb 19th) I have an argument with an Italian Mountain and not unsurprisingly it won....
My knee collapsed completely from under me and the initial diagnosis is that the Medial ligament was broken with possible further damage to the cruciate ligament. I didn't cry with the pain.....that was a piece of grit in my eye...;).
The Italian hospital drained some fluid off,took xrays (no breaks) and put me in an open-kneed cast to allow me to fly home on Feb 25th. The whole leg started to swell up to twice normal proportions so I was back at the hospital within 4 days where they then checked for a DVT. All clear thankfully.
We're now home in the UK and have been out to the local A+E where they did another set of xrays and told me they too will be doing a DVT scan. I'm informed that I'll need an MRI scan on the knee before they can assess what surgery is required but the waiting list for an MRI is 4-6 weeks! It could then be a further 4-6 weeks before surgery and a further 8 weeks before I'm mobile again.
Needless to say this will have a huge impact on my life in 2009 so I'm wondering if taking £5K and heading off to a specialist clinic in Eastern Europe for a month might be a better idea?
Anyone gone down this route or have any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Al
So a fully working, tax paying adult is put on the chopper because of NHS waiting lists.My knee collapsed completely from under me and the initial diagnosis is that the Medial ligament was broken with possible further damage to the cruciate ligament. I didn't cry with the pain.....that was a piece of grit in my eye...;).
The Italian hospital drained some fluid off,took xrays (no breaks) and put me in an open-kneed cast to allow me to fly home on Feb 25th. The whole leg started to swell up to twice normal proportions so I was back at the hospital within 4 days where they then checked for a DVT. All clear thankfully.
We're now home in the UK and have been out to the local A+E where they did another set of xrays and told me they too will be doing a DVT scan. I'm informed that I'll need an MRI scan on the knee before they can assess what surgery is required but the waiting list for an MRI is 4-6 weeks! It could then be a further 4-6 weeks before surgery and a further 8 weeks before I'm mobile again.
Needless to say this will have a huge impact on my life in 2009 so I'm wondering if taking £5K and heading off to a specialist clinic in Eastern Europe for a month might be a better idea?
Anyone gone down this route or have any recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Al
I injured my shoulder last Nov and since then there are certain aspects of my work that I find impossible to do, but the wait for treatment is months. Would they rather I gave up work and claimed?
A year ago I was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma on my nose ( a cancerous growth which gets bigger but is not malignant ) but had to wait 3 months for the Op.
The Op was originally supposed to be a small cut and a stitch but by the time I had it, it was so much bigger that a lot of skin was taken off and a graft taken from the back of my ear.
A much more complicated procedure and more expensive and longer to recover from. Where is the sense in that.
Sorry rant over
rhinochopig said:
I had a private spinal MRI - cost ~ 180-200 IIRC. and reduced my wait by 6 weeks.
Did you arrange through your GP first matey or just go independantly and return to the NHS with the results? I have a mate that is saying that even if I go private on the MRI the waiting list for the subsequent NHS surgical-procedure would not be shortened.... 
Stablelad said:
rhinochopig said:
I had a private spinal MRI - cost ~ 180-200 IIRC. and reduced my wait by 6 weeks.
Did you arrange through your GP first matey or just go independantly and return to the NHS with the results? I have a mate that is saying that even if I go private on the MRI the waiting list for the subsequent NHS surgical-procedure would not be shortened.... I went via my GP, who suggested I see he mate privately (physio and only £40). It was the physio that sorted out the MRI.
The risk though is that it confuses the corporately stupid NHS, as you've gone outside of their system. If you do go for a private MRI, make sure you always phone to check every stage of your treatment to makesure each department has passed on the info they should have done. I had three referral letters lost in the internal post.
Now this is what I don't get with waiting lists.
Why don't they get more staff in temp, clear them, then go back to how it was before?
Zero waiting list, by "catching up"
We have just got private health insurance through work which is nice. Good investment for them though considering how quickly we can get back to work
Why don't they get more staff in temp, clear them, then go back to how it was before?
Zero waiting list, by "catching up"
We have just got private health insurance through work which is nice. Good investment for them though considering how quickly we can get back to work
Having done something very similar in Jan last year most surgeons will want the majority of the swelling down on the knee before operating, and I think this is preferable for MRI's as well. As well as building up muscle in the legs prior to surgeory.
For a ligament reconstruction you will be on crutches for a while and will loose lots of muscle in the surrounding area so better to build up first quicker recovery.
From memory BUPA were invoiced about £1200 for my keyhole with another £600 for the anaesthetist, if I had need a reconstruction it would have been another £400 ish.
MRI was about £500-600.
Physio was about £700 over 6 months for rehab.
There was another thread posted a few weeks ago about knees which may be worth digging out. Just remember you cannot fly if you cannot bend you leg to 90 Deg and following that surgery that wouldn't be for a while, you may have to get driven there and back or book extra seats on the plane or stay in a hotel or hospital for a while.
I think the NHS is getting a lot better at doing these so worth finding out from the GP who he will refer you to and getting an estimate of what the wait is. At least if it goes tits in the UK you can easily call them back up and go and see them.
For a ligament reconstruction you will be on crutches for a while and will loose lots of muscle in the surrounding area so better to build up first quicker recovery.
From memory BUPA were invoiced about £1200 for my keyhole with another £600 for the anaesthetist, if I had need a reconstruction it would have been another £400 ish.
MRI was about £500-600.
Physio was about £700 over 6 months for rehab.
There was another thread posted a few weeks ago about knees which may be worth digging out. Just remember you cannot fly if you cannot bend you leg to 90 Deg and following that surgery that wouldn't be for a while, you may have to get driven there and back or book extra seats on the plane or stay in a hotel or hospital for a while.
I think the NHS is getting a lot better at doing these so worth finding out from the GP who he will refer you to and getting an estimate of what the wait is. At least if it goes tits in the UK you can easily call them back up and go and see them.
If you can get it done for 5000 in the UK there is no point looking abroad, If however it is more, I suggest you look at www.medpolonia.pl. It is a new private hospital in Poznań, Poland were I currently live and has an excellent reputation. As far as I know the head orthopaedic surgeon operates cruciate ligaments for Polish football players and other sportsmen so should know what he is doing and he speaks English which is a huge bonus. The whole operation plus hospital stay and flights should come in at around 3000.
Edited by tomirk on Monday 2nd March 12:46
Thanks massively to everyone for the input and effort.
Pistonheads - 'Knowing s
t Matters'
I'm going to see how quickly the NHS system moves this week and act from there. I've had a call this morning to say they will call me later with an appointment for the ultrasound ....so that's encouraging to start with!
Again thanks to all.
(never been to Poznan!....
.)
Pistonheads - 'Knowing s
t Matters' I'm going to see how quickly the NHS system moves this week and act from there. I've had a call this morning to say they will call me later with an appointment for the ultrasound ....so that's encouraging to start with!
Again thanks to all.
(never been to Poznan!....
.) Stablelad said:
audidoody said:
£5k will probably cover the scan, consultant, and arthroscopy fees in the UK.
You think? I had a complete idiots view that we'd be talking a great deal more to go private in the UK. Think I'll give my local private hospital a call this morning. Cheers for that...that's lightened me mood!Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff