For the past 14 years, Nina has been suffering back pain and discomfort which as the years rolled by the pain got worse and our ability to enjoy anything outdoors was reduced to nothing more than ½km from the car, on a good day. Whilst residents of Surrey, she constantly battled to even be allowed to start up the greasy pole of the NHS waiting list to see an Orthopaedic Consultant, despite countless scans, cortisone injections and Wellness discussions courtesy on the Pain Clinic.
When we moved to West Sussex, we were told the transition to NHS Sussex would be seamless, the reality was that we got dropped completely and Nina needed a new referral to, yes you’ve got it, the Pain Clinic. Roll on another 18 months and an appointment came through followed by another year of physio appointments, cortisone injections and more Wellness discussions. Following an intervention by the GP, an MRI scan was ordered but there was no-one to discuss it with. By now Nina was in constant pain and discomfort, so we drove up to Guildford to see an Orthopaedic Surgeon privately – who recommended surgery! Back to the GP who wrote to the pain clinic, and at the next appointment we were told we would be put on the waiting list to see someone; however the current wait was 86 weeks. In the meantime, take a shed load of drugs and have a pair of sticks. The sad reality is that there is no spinal care in West Sussex
And then, and we’re still not sure how it happened, we were given a golden ticket and the private Nuffield Health Care Spinal unit at Chandlers Ford contacted us and explained the NHS had referred Nina to them.
We rushed back from Rochefort and met Nina’s saviour to be, Mr Christopher Dare, surgeon (BBC at the edge of life). Within five minutes of meeting and looking at her last MRI, he confirmed surgery was absolutely necessary and said he could operate on our return in September 2024. We shook hands, at which point I couldn’t help but notice that they were the size of shovels! We returned to LJ both utterly speechless, but delighted.
Six hours of surgery later, 2 months of convalescing, my cooking and the support of a lot of fantastic neighbours, Nina is the proud owner of a lot of titanium metal work; the change in her is nothing short of miraculous. She is now working hard to build up her fitness together with her walking distances.