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Speaker 1: One of our listeners, Andrew, Good morning Andrew, Katie. How

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Speaker 1: are you, mate?

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Speaker 2: I've been better now.

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Speaker 1: I understand. We spoke to you a little while back

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Speaker 1: about an operation that you needed on your spine. Have

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Speaker 1: you managed to have that?

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Speaker 2: Yes? I had. The operation was a complete success. They

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Speaker 2: brought one of the best surgeons outside of America from

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Speaker 2: Brisbane up doctor Tab's locker, Wilkinson, and he replaced a

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Speaker 2: large section of my spine because my fine was a

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Speaker 2: pretty bad way in the titanium cage. And to usday.

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Speaker 1: Wow, So how long ago did that happen?

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Speaker 2: That was on the twenty eighth of September, shortly after

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Speaker 2: I spoke to you and put a bit of pressure

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Speaker 2: on the health departments, the wire getting bumped off the

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Speaker 2: priority one list back down to the Priority three list

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Speaker 2: when I was told that I'd be in a wheelchair,

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Speaker 2: so they didn't have the operation.

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Speaker 1: And mate, like you said, you'd spoken to us about that.

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Speaker 1: What did the what did the specialists say? What did

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Speaker 1: that surgeon say when he actually then went in to

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Speaker 1: do that operation.

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Speaker 2: I saw him only meeting moments before the operation up

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Speaker 2: in the operating theater and he told me what he

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Speaker 2: was going to do and I said, yeah, well good,

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Speaker 2: everything about you because I was I wasn't going to

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Speaker 2: let me un cut into my back without doing that,

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Speaker 2: and he explained the operation. He's very good. Then following

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Speaker 2: the operation next morning, I was still pretty groggy, and

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Speaker 2: he said, if you hadn't operated, He said that I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't have walked within within days because the nerve was

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Speaker 2: almost seven. He hadn't seen mye quite so bad. But

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Speaker 2: before the operation, I saw the ementhetist and they said,

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Speaker 2: have you ever had a pump put in for pain?

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Speaker 2: You know, like a morphine self administrating morphine pump, And

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Speaker 2: I said I have, but I'm allergic to morphine. And

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Speaker 2: they went through all the stuff with me. They're going

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Speaker 2: to get a sentinel pump and put it on me,

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Speaker 2: and this is done by the pain team immediately following

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Speaker 2: the operation, the chronic pain team at the World Arn Hospital. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: this didn't happen and I was kept on a really

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Speaker 2: heavy analgesia whilst I was in hospital. I was in

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Speaker 2: there for quite a few days after the operation, and

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Speaker 2: I got sent home and within twelve hours my wife

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Speaker 2: had to ring an ambulance and I was back in

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Speaker 2: the hospital. Getting sedated again because I was in so

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Speaker 2: much pain on no And this went on and the

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Speaker 2: hospital managed to get it under control again, and they

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Speaker 2: wrote a letter to my private GP to really up

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Speaker 2: the analgesia that he's given me until I get to

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Speaker 2: see the pain team. Meanwhile, they had requested the pain

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Speaker 2: team several times to come and see me, which I

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Speaker 2: didn't see them. So there, I'm out of hospital and

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Speaker 2: I'm still supposed to be on this self administrating pump

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Speaker 2: and it's been eleven weeks now and I still haven't

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Speaker 2: got an appointment with the painting. So I've been rattling

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Speaker 2: the cage there to find out what's going on. Three

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Speaker 2: and a half weeks ago, they said, well, you haven't

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Speaker 2: filled in the form.

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Speaker 1: Oh, come on what form?

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Speaker 2: And they said there's a questionnaire you've got to fill

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Speaker 2: in before you can see us. I said, well, I

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Speaker 2: haven't even been advised to that. Yeah. So we went

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Speaker 2: from hump you dow to the hospital. We got the form,

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Speaker 2: we sawt the form, we gave it straight back to

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Speaker 2: them three and a half weeks ago and filled all

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Speaker 2: their questionnaires in that I'm on heavy s eight drugs

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Speaker 2: that the GP can't do without getting permission from canber

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Speaker 2: and he can't do for more than a month without

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Speaker 2: some other notification from the pain specialist. Goodness a month,

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Speaker 2: and the doctor keeps telling me, I can't keep prescribing

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Speaker 2: you this heavy analogy. And I've been ringing the paint

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Speaker 2: team and they said it's a matter of triarche and

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Speaker 2: it doesn't We haven't read your paperwork so we don't

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Speaker 2: know how urgent yours is yet.

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Speaker 1: Oh come on, but if it's a matter of triarchs,

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Speaker 1: you would think that they'd read all the paperwork. And

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Speaker 1: then they triarge paper.

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Speaker 2: And I actually didn't get told that. It was told

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Speaker 2: through someone else at the hospital that informed me that,

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Speaker 2: and she sent me that the text message that they

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Speaker 2: haven't even my formers yet. I'm not just winging on

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Speaker 2: my behalf. I'm getting by. But you're not the only

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Speaker 2: person in this situation.

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Speaker 1: No, you're actually not. We've had other people call through

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Speaker 1: on this very topic. I spoke to a lovely lady

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago whose name escapes me, but

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Speaker 1: she'd been in contact with us. It was the first

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Speaker 1: time she'd ever called through to the show, and she

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Speaker 1: had she's got a chronic pain situation that she's had

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Speaker 1: for many years, and she's no longer able to access

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Speaker 1: the medication that she has been able to access for

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Speaker 1: several years, and she's in some really serious pain. So

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Speaker 1: I know you're not the only person. I just can't

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Speaker 1: work out what the heck is going on why people

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Speaker 1: aren't able to actually get access to that medication, to

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Speaker 1: the pain medication that they've been told that they need

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Speaker 1: by their specialists like you have been.

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Speaker 2: What I've been told is they're just inundated at the

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Speaker 2: hospital and after you know, I've spent probably weeks in

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Speaker 2: the hospital all up in the last few months with

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Speaker 2: several operations on my hand and the operation on my back. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and I can't praise the start up. They will flat

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Speaker 2: out all the whole time that they're in there, and

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Speaker 2: they are just totally overwhelmed with the amount of work

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Speaker 2: they've got to do. But that really should be sending

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Speaker 2: a message through to the government. Do we have to

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Speaker 2: wait until our chief minister gets into chronic pain and

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Speaker 2: can't see the chronic pain specialist before it gets fixed,

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Speaker 2: or yeah, oh you know needs to be changed.

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Speaker 1: Well, this is the thing, you know, we all understand

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Speaker 1: why we pay our taxes, and we all understand, you

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Speaker 1: know that that you know, you want your money to

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Speaker 1: go towards things like hospitals and infrastructure to actually support people,

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Speaker 1: you know, whoever you are and wherever you come from.

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Speaker 1: But then when you're not actually able to get in

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Speaker 1: there and see the people that you need to see

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Speaker 1: when you are hurt, and when you are obviously then

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Speaker 1: waiting for that pain management, it's you know, it's unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know, it's a pretty bad situation around

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Speaker 2: our house. My wife has had to resign per job

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Speaker 2: to care for me, and you know, so we're really broke.

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Speaker 2: We live out of hope, you do. We've got to

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Speaker 2: travel into town to the doctor's a couple of times

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Speaker 2: a week, but now we can't even get an appointment

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Speaker 2: for something as important as pain.

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Speaker 1: Oh mate, I'm so sorry to hear this, especially after

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Speaker 1: you've actually had the surgery and you're still in a

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Speaker 1: terrible situation, but obviously a different one in terms of

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Speaker 1: your pain. Look, all I can say, Andrew is let

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Speaker 1: me make sure that we raise this. We will make

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Speaker 1: sure that we get your details through to the appropriate

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Speaker 1: people to see if we can rattle the cage. A

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Speaker 1: little bit for you on your behalf, because I think

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Speaker 1: you've been through enough by the sounds of it. But

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Speaker 1: it does sound as though it's something that we actually

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Speaker 1: need to follow up as well, in terms of either

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Speaker 1: speaking to the Health Minister or speaking to somebody from

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Speaker 1: health about what the goal is with the pain management

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Speaker 1: team at the moment and if they're understaffed and how

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Speaker 1: it can get sorted.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. No, that'd be great, as I say, just not

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Speaker 2: for me. There's a lot of people in the same

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Speaker 2: situation and to live every day in pain, it's just

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Speaker 2: no fun. No.

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Speaker 1: Well, mate, you know, the most important thing in our

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Speaker 1: lives is our health, and until you're in a situation

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Speaker 1: where you don't have it, and when you're battling pain

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Speaker 1: and you're battling illness, you really can't comprehend how difficult

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Speaker 1: it is for people.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm very grateful for having your operation. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and I was told that I'd be in a lot

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Speaker 2: of pain for at least twelve months, but they would

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Speaker 2: handle it. And that's not that part of it isn't

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Speaker 2: being handled. I've been referred three times from urology to

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Speaker 2: the pain department, but I haven't even heard from them.

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Speaker 1: Mate, let me see, let us see what we can

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Speaker 1: what we can do. It might take us a few days,

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Speaker 1: but let us see what we can do. Andrew, I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate you giving us a bit of an update, mate,

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Speaker 1: and it's it's good to speak to you. I wish

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Speaker 1: it was on sort of bitter terms, but it's good

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Speaker 1: to chat with you this morning.

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Speaker 2: No, thank you very much.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. That is Andrew there, and I know he's

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Speaker 1: not alone. Like I said, we've had other people in

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Speaker 1: contact with us about struggling to be able to get

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Speaker 1: the pain medication that they require and that they have

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Speaker 1: been able to have for a long periods of time.

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Speaker 1: But that situation with Andrew is quite unbelievable. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you go through back surgery and you're told that you're

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Speaker 1: going to be managed, your pain is going to be

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Speaker 1: managed in a certain way, and then nothing ever happens

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Speaker 1: with it and you're struggling. You're having to be taken

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Speaker 1: back to the hospital in an ambulance. Unbelievable.