Breast reduction medical card

Bitches Be Trypsin

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows about this? Is it covered on medical card (back pain not vanity)? Also, could I get a lift at the same time? I'm only 5"3 and they are causing me bad pain

njs030

You can ask but generally it's a very very long wait (as in 5+ years) and you'd have to have lost any excess weight to be placed on the list.

Back pain can be caused by incorrect bra size because 70% of the weight is carried by the band so if you're wearing the wrong size you aren't getting support, you'd be better off making sure that's right first.
Shops don't generally measure correctly so maybe try online?
r/abrathatfits is a great resource.

Bitches Be Trypsin

I'll have a look, thank you! I don't have much excess weight to lose or anything

tringle

My sister had it done about 4 years ago, I don't think she had a medical card but got it done as a public patient. But AFAIK she was told it wouldn't be available as a public patient procedure much longer.

kleiner feigling

Bitches Be Trypsin wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows about this? Is it covered on medical card (back pain not vanity)? Also, could I get a lift at the same time? I'm only 5"3 and they are causing me bad pain

Hi,
My GP referred me to a specialist in Galway to be assessed (I'm on medical card also).
In March 2017 the consultant agreed I was a suitable candidate for surgery.
You need to have a healthy BMI, a cup size larger than an E or F (I think?) and exhibit back/neck pain. I'm 34G and have a very bad back and neck despite being physically fit.
I was put on the waiting list last March and was told at the time that the list was 2 years. They called me again recently to see if I still want the procedure, which I do. Seems like it'll be several months until I actually get an appointment.

Hope that helps somewhat, and best of luck with it!

Maggiesm70

sorry to drag up an old post, my GP referred me today for a reduction, i've just come off HRT due to being on it for years for medical reasons, and he said they won't get any bigger at this stage, I'm a F cup, how long does it take to get the 1st appointment, he said if i have the money to go private, also i looked on the internet there is liposuction for breasts in england, but its not here yet

wifey28

Maggiesm70 wrote: »

sorry to drag up an old post, my GP referred me today for a reduction, i've just come off HRT due to being on it for years for medical reasons, and he said they won't get any bigger at this stage, I'm a F cup, how long does it take to get the 1st appointment, he said if i have the money to go private, also i looked on the internet there is liposuction for breasts in england, but its not here yet

Your prob looking at a minimumof 2 years before you get an appointment, the general wait is 5+ years for elective surgeries such as a reduction


Not the exact same but i have very severe carpal tunnel in both hands caused by chemo for cancer almsot 2 years ago, i was put on the wait list to see plastics for surgery in june of this year and was told itll be at least 18 months-2.5 years before i even get seen as a public patient but if i could afford the consultant fee privately idprob get hte ops done within 3 months publically then .

Its so severe my hands are numb and pins and needes porb 75% of the time which effects everything frommaking food to driving and still not classsed as urgent

Maggiesm70

wifey28 wrote: »

Your prob looking at a minimumof 2 years before you get an appointment, the general wait is 5+ years for elective surgeries such as a reduction


Not the exact same but i have very severe carpal tunnel in both hands caused by chemo for cancer almsot 2 years ago, i was put on the wait list to see plastics for surgery in june of this year and was told itll be at least 18 months-2.5 years before i even get seen as a public patient but if i could afford the consultant fee privately idprob get hte ops done within 3 months publically then .

Its so severe my hands are numb and pins and needes porb 75% of the time which effects everything frommaking food to driving and still not classsed as urgent

i'm sorry to hear that, its terrible, your quality of life is affected, terrible the way the health system is. you should be priority for treatment

kleiner feigling

Hi Maggiesm70,

After speaking to my own GP it was 4 months until I got an appointment with the consultant.
The consultant put me on the waiting list (2 years long).
I've since been told that he's only doing emergency surgeries (ie. breast cancer) and they can't give me an estimate of how long I'll be waiting. Sounds as if I'll never be seen, as the consultant is semi-retired now.
They recommended going back to my own GP to see if any other options available (no idea what this means but I'll go anyway.).

I've been on the list 2 years now.
If nothing happens in the next year I think I'll have to consider going private, as the pain and discomfort is a daily issue that's only worsening.

To anyone else considering reduction I'd say see your GP ASAP as it is such a long process.
If you have doubts at any stage you can always change your mind.

Best of luck to you

splinter65

kleiner feigling wrote: »

Hi Maggiesm70,

After speaking to my own GP it was 4 months until I got an appointment with the consultant.
The consultant put me on the waiting list (2 years long).
I've since been told that he's only doing emergency surgeries (ie. breast cancer) and they can't give me an estimate of how long I'll be waiting. Sounds as if I'll never be seen, as the consultant is semi-retired now.
They recommended going back to my own GP to see if any other options available (no idea what this means but I'll go anyway.).

I've been on the list 2 years now.
If nothing happens in the next year I think I'll have to consider going private, as the pain and discomfort is a daily issue that's only worsening.

To anyone else considering reduction I'd say see your GP ASAP as it is such a long process.
If you have doubts at any stage you can always change your mind.

Best of luck to you

That’s terrible. I hope you manage to raise the money to go private. Once more women are left to rot by the health service.

Tranceypoo

Hi, I had br surgery last November in the public health system, got a referral from my gp in January, assessment in April and date for op in October, which I had to defer to November as I had a holiday booked, I'm based in Galway

blackpj

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Hi, I had br surgery last November in the public health system, got a referral from my gp in January, assessment in April and date for op in October, which I had to defer to November as I had a holiday booked, I'm based in Galway

That's great you got sorted...I'm just wondering if that was on medical card or did you pay to have it done? My girlfriend suffers terrible back pain and is on a waiting list to have the procedure done in Galway on medical card but she's been waiting two years now...she's debating paying for it privately but it seems like a lot of money to pay to find out a few months later you could have an appointment with the medical card.

Tranceypoo

blackpj wrote:

That's great you got sorted...I'm just wondering if that was on medical card or did you pay to have it done? My girlfriend suffers terrible back pain and is on a waiting list to have the procedure done in Galway on medical card but she's been waiting two years now...she's debating paying for it privately but it seems like a lot of money to pay to find out a few months later you could have an appointment with the medical card.

I don't have a medical card, I just paid for the 2 nights I stayed in the hospital, has she been referred by her gp and seen at the breast unit?

blackpj

Tranceypoo wrote: »

I don't have a medical card, I just paid for the 2 nights I stayed in the hospital, has she been referred by her gp and seen at the breast unit?

She's seen her GP and referred to surgeon and she saw him about two years ago and is on a waiting list but there's been no word since...she's contacted them several times but keeps getting fobbed off. She's hoping to get it done as a medical card patient just because of the cost of it. The surgeon said she'd a perfect candidate for it as it is not for cosmetic reasons rather because of back pain.

She's losing hope now and maybe we'd be better off going the public hospital route and paying for it. Can you tell me please how much the surgery might cost. I'd like to save up and surprise her so she could finally have the surgery

The_Kitty

It might be worth going to one of your local councillors on their meeting days as well as going GP asap.

Portsalon

The_Kitty wrote: »

It might be worth going to one of your local councillors on their meeting days as well as going GP asap.

Or, in other words, ask a councillor to help you to jump the queue - the kind of thing that used to happen when Local Health Boards were infested with Councillors and one of the things that the establishment of the HSE was intended to stamp out.