A Dublin woman who has had surgery in Beaumont Hospital rescheduled six times in three months is in "horrific pain".
Melissa McMahon, from Ballymun, has a condition called Neurofibromatosis type 1 which causes tumours to grow along your nerves. The tumours are usually non-cancerous (benign) but may cause a range of symptoms.
The 34-year-old has had many tumours removed by a plastic surgeon for cosmetic reasons but is currently suffering with a benign tumour on her spine which is causing "horrific pain". Melissa had surgery scheduled in Beaumont Hospital in August to have the tumour removed by a neurosurgeon but the surgery has been rescheduled six times since then.
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"I’ve been on many high drugs since then with no relief," she told Dublin Live. "My first surgery was scheduled for August but was cancelled due to no beds and this is the reason every time.
"My latest surgery was cancelled on Tuesday (because of) no beds." Melissa said she has cut her hours in work due to the pain and is just "scraping by".
"The rescheduling has a huge impact when it happens because I’m planning my life around it, taking days off work, missing out on family events because the surgery is supposed to be on that date," she said. "This week I’ve had to cancel and miss out on Christmas events with my family that we do yearly as the surgery was meant to be this week and these events are now sold out.
"I prepare myself each time mentally as it can cause a lot of anxiety to work up and for it to be cancelled sends me into a depressive state. I have to go through that whole process of anxiety and depression again and again."
The pain that Melissa is experiencing "continues to get worse". She said: "I don’t know what to do anymore and it’s incredibly hard to deal with the pain on a daily basis, I’m exhausted from lack of sleep and just trying to get through work and daily life with this pain.
"I’ve been to A&E many times over the pain or when I lost the feeling in my legs, and because it came back after a few minutes I was told this was okay and to go home and wait for surgery."
She added: "I can’t keep going on like this, the pain is horrific. I can hardly walk when I get out of bed in the mornings."
Melissa's surgery has been rescheduled for December 11th and she is "really hoping" it isn't cancelled again.
A spokeswoman for Beaumont Hospital told Dublin Live: "All scheduled care admissions are subject to bed availability which can be compromised as a consequence of acute medical admissions; however we do not comment on individual cases."
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