Mom Forced to Wait 2-Plus Years for 'Urgent' Ovarian Cyst Surgery, Says There's 'No End Point'
Meechan told the BBC that her cyst causes her so much pain that she cannot fully bend over and needs help from her children just to put on her socks and shoes
She said she feels "forgotten" after spending 100 weeks on a waiting listA woman says she has now waited 100 weeks for ovarian cyst surgery, although she was placed on an "urgent" list for the procedure.
Tracey Meechan told the BBC that she feels "forgotten" after spending two years on a waiting list for NHS, the United Kingdom's publicly-funded healthcare system. The cyst pain is so intense that she is unable to fully bend over, and needs her children to help her put on her socks and shoes, and has her husband take care of household tasks.
The 41-year-old, who is from West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, worked as a home carer before she "signed off work" in January because of the pain. She told the BBC she feels the effects of her cyst every day that she spends on the wait list.
"I can't live my life to the fullest. I can't do the activities I want to do with my kids," she said. "I can't do the job that I love."
Meechan first saw her doctor about the cyst in 2021. After the visit, she waited a year to see a gynecologist for the condition, and was put on the "urgent" list for surgery after the gynecologist found that the cyst had grown over the course of six months.
Although she initially assumed the surgery appointment would take place "relatively soon" because she was asked about any upcoming holiday plans, Meechan said she still has not been contacted about her cyst removal.
She told the BBC, "About a year ago I was advised by the GP to try to get in touch with the gynecology secretary myself and I have been doing that on a regular basis letting them know I am still here and still waiting."
Meechan also claimed that the NHS continues to move the timeline of her surgery whenever she calls. She said, "It's another couple of months, or they are working on the routine list, or working on the long waiters."
"I was told at week 92 that they were working on women round about week 98-99, so it should be another couple of months," Meechan told the BBC. "When I did get to week 99, I called up because I wanted to keep my employer up to date. I was told they couldn't give me a date and still nothing is fixed yet."
Meechan even considered getting the cyst removed through private health care, but the £8,000 price tag (which comes out to $10,806) made the option unaffordable.
While waiting for the surgery, she said her mental health has "declined," telling the BBC, "This has been years and the symptoms have worsened. It's impacted my life, my personal life and my family."
Meechan feels there is "no end point," telling the outlet, "It's a drudge," and adding, "there is only so much pain relief I can take and still try to be a mother to my children."
A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told the BBC that they "apologize" to Meechan "and to anyone who has faced longer waiting times than expected."
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"We recognize the distress this can cause," they said, adding, "We are prioritizing patients based on clinical urgency to ensure those with the most serious conditions are seen as quickly as possible and are taking action to improve wait times."
The BBC reports that wait times as long as Meechan's were "rare" before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, nearly 25% of the entire NHS non-urgent care inpatient wait list is made up of waits longer than one year. The outlet reports that the NHS's gynecology wait list had 324 waits of more than three years.
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