The daughter of a Scots pensioner - who has lived in crippling pain for more than two years as she waits for a back operation - fears she will die in agony after being hit by more surgery delays. Mary Travis, 69, from Beechwood, Bonhill, opened up to the Lennox Herald in March about her plight, with health chiefs assuring her at the time that surgery would go-ahead within nine months.
Mary’s spine is so severely twisted that she can only leave bed for a few minutes each day, whilst a cocktail of palliative care strength morphine and powerful painkillers leave her drowsy and struggling to concentrate. After counting down the weeks, Mary, who has already waited two years for the surgery, was told on October 16 that, despite being at the top of a waiting list, she could now face a further two-year wait.
And Mary’s daughter Mikaela McCormick fears that her mum will now die in pain, unless the operation can be brought forward. Mikaela said: “My mum doesn’t have another year. She is giving up mentally and physically.I worked in elderly care and was an assistant nurse in a hospital.
“And I know that once someone gives up mentally the body quickly follows. She knows that, at the moment, she faces two or maybe three more years of agony and suffering.
“Being told she had a nine month wait gave her so much hope. She blocked it off in weeks. My sister got married, then she had some birthdays, then Christmas and then the operation.
“So she had nice wee things leading up to what will be a hell of an operation. That’s gone now. She’s completely and utterly lost. Mary’s condition has declined severely over the last six months, as Mikaela explained.
She continued: “Six months ago she was maybe able to get out of her bed for an hour a day. Now you’re lucky if she leaves the house once a month. She only leaves the bed now to go to the bathroom. Standing for more than a few seconds is excruciating.
“Sitting for any period of time to read can be excruciating. She basically just goes from sitting to lying. When you sit on the end of her bed the displacement of the mattress is agony.
“The covers touching her feet some days can be too much to bear. My dad, Neil, is 70 himself and is now her full-time carer. I have seen a picture of her spine and you would wonder how someone could possibly stand up.
“My mum’s spine looks as if it has folded in half. The deterioration in her symptoms would normally be a red flag when we’re talking about the spine. Deteriorating bowel and bladder function and my mum’s memory.
“Even though she’s almost 70, it’s mainly due to the long-term impact of being on morphine and high opioid painkillers. Those start to have an impact on the brain.”
And the reliance on powerful pain killing drugs is worrying Mikaela. She added: “My mum is on so much prescribed medication that she’s already had two accidental overdoses.
“Sometimes when your body doesn’t filter out the last dose and you take your next dose it can cause an overdose. She ended up hospitalised and had to be resuscitated. Morphine isn’t supposed to be used at this level long-term.”
Mikaela admits that her parents have been forced to consider selling their home to fund private surgery. She continued: “If we can find a way to pay over £200,000 then she can get it tomorrow. That’s the sickening thing.
“With the amount of pain she’s in, a two to three year wait is not doable. She won’t see for two years.”
Mikaela added:“They can’t blame Covid forever. Healthcare doesn’t stop because of the virus. I’ve seen the devastation that it caused, but it doesn’t mean that other health conditions stop happening.
“The consultant is great and so are the hospital staff. They have given their sympathies and I’m not sure if the surgeon fully knows why he isn’t able to do it. The sympathies aren’t saving my mum though. To whoever calls the shots my mum is a number on a file.
“As a family we’re happy to invite the people making decisions to come and visit my mum for a day. That’s an open invitation. Then they could see the impact that this waiting list has had on her.”
An NHSGGC spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Mrs Travis and her family for the wait she has experienced and for any distress this has caused. While we cannot discuss individual patient cases, Mrs Travis has been in contact with our service who would be happy to discuss any further queries.
“Our staff are working extremely hard at a time of considerable pressure to provide the highest standard of care possible to our patients and are continuing to prioritise urgent and emergency care.
“We will continue to work with the Scottish Government, and our fellow health boards, to reduce waiting times, and to eradicate the longest waits as quickly as possible.”
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