Pain Instead of Surgery
Devastating Surgical Ordeal for Great-Grandmother from Vienna
The 79-year-old woman from Vienna, who lives on the minimum pension, recounts her complicated ordeal in an interview with the “Krone.” Waiting times for surgeries are exacerbating the domestic healthcare crisis...
It is a story that is by no means an isolated case and at the same time sheds light on a healthcare system that is increasingly reaching its limits. A 79-year-old great-grandmother from Vienna has been waiting for months for a necessary surgery on her lumbar spine. What sounds like a routine procedure has turned into a nerve-wracking ordeal for her—marked by pain, uncertainty, and fear.
In detail: It all begins in September of last year. The attending physician submits the request for surgery, and an appointment is scheduled for this February. Finally, a glimmer of hope for the woman living on minimum pension, finally an end to her suffering. But shortly before the procedure, the next blow strikes—the surgery is canceled. Not through a personal conversation or timely notification, but quietly and without fanfare.
Daily life as a challenge, no money for a private doctor
A brazen detail: In retrospect, the patient is asked why she (!) canceled the surgery (see facsimile of the meeting minutes). The patient in an interview with the “Krone”: “The days are getting harder, the nights longer. Sleep is barely possible anymore; everyday life is becoming a challenge. Just because there’s no surgery for me.” It would go faster in the private sector, but costs of 10,000 to 15,000 euros are unaffordable.
Part of a larger problem
This case is not an isolated one, but part of a larger problem. In Austria, as reported, patients are having to wait longer and longer for surgeries. The medical community is warning those in charge: “The pressure to cut costs has become unbearable, and not just when it comes to surgeries. Due to a lack of follow-up care, reoperations and complications are on the rise. We finally need political solutions instead of bickering.”
Incidentally, the woman from Vienna has now managed to secure an appointment in June after all; her doctor pulled out all the stops.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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