i have to have triple bypass

it all started late 2009 while on holiday in Ireland i became ill my body just became swollen i went to the Doctor
she told me i had water retention and sent me to the hospital where they found i had angina and gardio myopouthy
i was in the hospital there for 2 weeks and they told me i needed surgery urgently and i needed to get back to Australia where it was coverd by medicareas the nhs didnt cover me for surgey  i came back to Australia march 2010 went to see gardioligist  here spent 2 weeks in hospital was told i needed to have surgery urgently now its january 2011 still hasnt been done and getting scared
and its putting a strain on my relationship with my wife  how do i change this and i am feeling very afraid

[calcium539]

In Australia you do not need to wait for emergency surgery. You do have to wait for elective surgery. Are you an Australian citizen? Do you have private health care such as HBA. If you have private health care you can go straight in. Medicare is different to NHS in UK but good You will have to wait but not too long...

[ed34]

I'm confused why they would put you onto such a long flight if your heart required emergency surgery. What is it, over 20 hours?

[calcium539]

I am confused too. I am an Australian. I have never heard that someone had to wait almost 10 months for open heart surgery. Most of us in Australia also have private health cover. But our Medicare system is quite OK.

[bjf55]

yes i am an australian citizen i gave the gardioligist the angiogram disc that the hospital in Dublin gave me he kept it when the surgeon wanted to see me he said it would be in a month when he went to the gardioligist to get the disc the gardioligist had lost it  that was august i had another Angio gram done in november and havnt heard anything since then

[ed34]

Perhaps go to a different cardiologist? sounds like they are hanging around too long. At least if it isn't urgent, tell you, but they have said it IS urgent. Why don't you write a letter to your cardiologist stating if your condition worsens or something serious happens to you, then you hope he has lots of savings in the bank.

[calcium539]

Are you in a big city in Australia. My Cardiologist saw me within 24 hours after a referal from a doctor in Indonesia.Normally it takes one month to see a cardiologist in Australia. If you are serious then your doctor can get an appointment with the surgeon as soon as possible. My angiograph was done in 48 hours and I was back at work in Indonesia after 72 hours. Please go to your doctor and tell him you will need to see the cardiologist ASAP. If your doctor think that you are not serious enough to see a specialist, then he will not get you an urgent appointment. This all depends on your GP. You cant go to a specialist in Australia without the approval of your GP. Private yes! Medicare No.  

[bjf55]

yes i am living in Melbourne

[bjf55]

i was lucky the only way they would let me take the flight was to have someone with medical knowledge with me and luckily my wife is a retired nurse