Private treatment

I thought the same when when told about turbt I inquired and was told private list was as long as nhs! .Consultant said to inform appts that you are happy to go on cancellation list nhs I was lucky my appt. came thru for 3 weeks ahead these things are not cheap and do vary. Your husband is now under care have trust in the staff his turn will come unfortunately  if his appt was only a week away you still would worry just focus on being busy and enjoying yourselves for the time being

Thank you

I was diagnosed in may 2021 and my turbt was 11th august. So nearly 3 months. Do not worry. Easier said than done, i know. No point paying £1000s when his appt isnt that far away. Might have neen worth it if you were having to wait 12-18 months, but 5 weeks is fine. The situation probably wont change in that time. If they thought it would, theyd get it done sooner as they prioritise. Best wishes and good luck for 25th may.

Deb

Hi Grateful1972,

I have been very fortunate as my employer has corporate health insurance, so after the initial diagnosis I've moved over to private health care.

The NHS prior was fantastic, so was unsure initially about moving to private. Although I started to feel guilty about taking up someone's spot on the NHS.

I had two TURBT operations Privately, and was seen quicker than the NHS for sure. I've now started the BCG treatment.

Other things liike having my own room and even ease of parking also means less things to worry about.

I couldn't personally afford to pay for the treatment, but I certainly would if I could..

Saying all that and speaking to NHS support nurses at the time I don't think the time difference was that far apart (a few weeks).

I wish you and your husband all the best.

Kindest Regards

BFG 

To give you some idea of my time scale. I was diagnosed end November 2022 and moved to private early December 2022. I had my first TURBT on 21st December (NHS would have been in January) and my second 10th February.

It's certainly been a blur.

Best wishes again 

Thank you Deb. I hope that you are well

Thank you 

Hi Grateful1972 . Something to consider if paying yourself. Bladder cancer treatment is more than a one off operation. Most people then have a follow up TURBT to mop up and get a more accurate diagnosis. There are also CT or MRI scans. Follow up treatment such as BCG can be expensive. Going on what people have said on here in the past, if reverting to the NHS after going private, some doctors are reluctant to take over where someone else has left off and prefer to start the process again from scratch. I hope all goes well whichever way you go. Best wishes. 

That’s very useful advice, thank you 

I would check out the consultants, my diagnosis came from the back of a private pelvic ultrasound for something completely different (which was fine), private cystoscopy showed growths, back to nhs for Turbt, private again for results and second Turbt, now back with nhs for bcg.  8 treatments down.

The reason this all worked is because the main NHS urology consultants in Nottingham also work privately through a group, so checking out where the consultants work is important.  I’ve stayed with the same consultant throughout, and if BCG doesn’t work (in first set of 4 weekly maintenance) and I need to have a RC, I know I can revert back to private for that.

Private all through my husbands work insurance, we probably saved 3 weeks wait on the results, and that second Turbt was much easier just due to being given better drugs, no paracetamol, straight on the codeine! but without the insurance I’m sure we would have stayed NHS.  I’m very lucky to have this option, I know that. 

its super hard to be patient, after the last cystoscopy I was told off by the cns team for constantly chasing results, I’m learning the hard way to go with it

hope this helps