Brendans Operation
Donation protected
The following letter sent by Brendan to the clinic in Poland in November 2017 sums up his situation. Brendan has scoliosis and underwent major surgery in Preston in England in 2010 to attempt to relieve pressure on his spine.
"I am writing to you to give you a short summary of my history. I will try and just keep to the facts of my condition, but suffice to say that I really hope that you can help me as I feel I have been trapped in constant pain now for over five years.
A medical summary of my condition up to 2010 is outlined by the enclosed letter from Doctor Nihal Gurusinghe FRCSE, a consultant neurosurgeon from the private Preston hospital in England. He was writing to a doctor in my local hospital in Letterkenny, Co Donegal Ireland in September 2010, asking him to take care of my rehabilitation after surgery in England.
After this surgery I did have some restricted ability to walk with sticks without pain. But by December 2011 I had lost power of my legs and was restricted to a wheelchair. In January 2012 I returned to Preston for reassessment and stayed for one month for a series of tests and Scans. I am contacting the Preston hospital to request those results to forward to you. These will show the condition of my back before the onset of severe pain the following year. At this point I was restricted to a wheelchair, but not in pain.
Later, however in 2012, while moving from my wheelchair to pick up something from the floor, I felt pins and needles going down both legs and into my feet. Immediately I felt severe pain in my lower back and felt that I had damaged my back in some way.
I have been in constant unabated pain ever since, which seems to have got worse. I have not had a full night’s sleep since 2012 and am in constant pain from my lower back. This has resulted in me being confined to my bed for 23 hours a day. With help and in great pain, I am helped to take a shower once a day.
I have had several MRI and CT scans in Letterkenny and Dublin since then and I enclose two of these for you to see. I went to see a neurosurgeon in Dublin with these scans and told him about the pain in my back and what I how I felt I had injured myself in bending down. But on looking at the scans, the neurosurgeon said that these changes were “wear and tear” and consistent with a person of my age. But I remember distinctly the pain arising from that day when I hurt myself.
I also saw a private neurosurgeon from Northern Ireland and showed him the scans and he agreed that I would need an operation. He talked about doing an operation with pins to strengthen my back. But that would have taken a lot of money as I was seeing him privately and I was unsure at first how I could raise these funds. In the meantime I was looking online for other hospital options and came across your hospital’s site and read some patients post-op comments and testimonies. I was very encouraged to read these as it appeared that you could help someone with my condition. I then initially emailed your hospital as I felt that I was getting no-where here.
I enclose some dated scans and the records that came from Preston.
I look forward to your comments and pray every day that someone will be able to help me end this nightmare.
Yours sincerely
Brendan McCann.
Having examined the records and scans that Brendan sent through, the KCM Clinic responded on 4th January 2018 that their professor of surgery had determined that Brendan would be a suitable case for surgery.
Below is that communication and their summary of the itemised cost of the surgery.
From: Philip Pasler
Date: 4 January 2018 at 12:03:00 GMT
To: Brendan mc cann
Cc: Dominik Pasler
Subject: Re: KCM Clinic - Brendan Mc Cann - minimal invasive spine surgery
Dearest Brendan,
thank you for the phone call earlier today.
We have good news, The Professor has qualified you for minimal invasive spine surgery at KCM Hospital. Please find here the below the Professors opinion:
„Patient Brendan Mc Cann has a visible lumbar discopathy on two levels.
After seeing his detailed newest medical reports and other diagnostic reports and examining and speaking to him in person i will be able to determine the exact treatment at KCM Clinic, that will be most probably a complex treatment of:
SED YESS - Selective endoscopic discectomy
DIAM - Dynamic Spinal Stabilisation Medtronic
Patient Brendan Mc Cann qualifies for minimal invasive spine surgery in our Hospital. He can come to one of our earliest appointments.
After over 11.600 minimal invasive surgeries performed - I personally believe that modern minimally invasive techniques is the best a solution to Mr. McCann - that is easier to tolerate for the patient and he recovers much quicker (complication rate is reduced to the absolute minimum).
With Best Regards,
Prof. Stan Kwiek."
ITEMISED COSTS
Patient: Mr. Brendan McCann - No 2 Cottage, Burnfoot, Lifford, CO Donegal, Ireland Date: 04.01.2018
DOB: 11.06.1973
COST ESTIMATE – all incl.
Planned medical treatment:
SED YESS - selective endoscopic discectomy, 1 level
€ 3.100,00
Implantation of DIAM Medtronic Dynamic Stabilization System, 1 level € 4.000,00
General anaesthesia € 340,00
2 hospitalization days at the Spine Surgery Department with doctor’s, nurse’s care and
medicine - €250 per day, 1 day included € 250,00
Pre-surgery consultations: specialists in neurosurgery, neurology, internal medicine and cardiology,
orthopaedics surgery, anaesthesiology
Individualized rehabilitation and physiotherapy plan by Dr. Suszynski and Prof. Kwiek included
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comprehensive preoperative diagnostics – neurologic, orthopaedic, internal and cardiac tests:
o MRI: lumbar and cervical spine segment € 300,00
o Echocardiography, ECG, X-Ray-chest pa and lateral
€ 240,00
o Complete lab: blood typing, TSH, HIVAg/Ab, anti-HCV, HBsAg, anti-HBs, INR/aPTT, morphology,
creatinine, urea, electrolytes, transaminases, glucose
€ 220,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal host at KCM Clinic dedicated to your travel itinerary and medical travel program complimentary
9 days in the 4* Palace on the Water Hotel, B&B, two person - 70 €/day € 630,00
Transport from and to Wroclaw (WRO) airport, local transport to Hotel, personal driver € 180,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: € 9.260,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The price can eventually change if the rehabilitation/hospitalization period will be longer. Additional and current medical procedures are not included.
An advanced payment of 20% is required in order to book the selected appointment date.
The remaining amount has to be paid at the admission day by bank transfer, cash or credit card.
Philip Pasler
International Patient Coordinator
KCM Clinic S.A.
As you can see ,the total cost for the operation and related diagnostic tests, accommodation and local transport in Poland is € 9,260.
We have made the total to raise € 11,000 to cover the extra costs of transport and flights from Ireland to Poland and the 7.55% that GoFund receive.
Brendan has been in constant pain for over five years, which keeps him from sleeping well at night. He has had recurrent kidney infections and related problems which has necessitated him being on repeated antibiotic courses. He has sought continually for pain relief and the prospect of surgery through every available avenue in Ireland but without success. He realises he may never achieve full mobility, but simply wants the pain to ease to the point where he can leave his house and seek to return to work and recover some semblance of a normal life for himself and his family. On very occasional days he will attempt to drive in a specially adapted car, but these journeys are rare due to the discomfort caused.
Asking for financial help is not easy for Brendan, but the KCM clinic is the only prospect of imminent pain relief and he feels he cannot go on as he is. He believes that with this support he is hopeful he could accept an appointment for surgery within months.
A big thank you to one and all for any help you can offer and your prayers are also greatly appreciated.
"I am writing to you to give you a short summary of my history. I will try and just keep to the facts of my condition, but suffice to say that I really hope that you can help me as I feel I have been trapped in constant pain now for over five years.
A medical summary of my condition up to 2010 is outlined by the enclosed letter from Doctor Nihal Gurusinghe FRCSE, a consultant neurosurgeon from the private Preston hospital in England. He was writing to a doctor in my local hospital in Letterkenny, Co Donegal Ireland in September 2010, asking him to take care of my rehabilitation after surgery in England.
After this surgery I did have some restricted ability to walk with sticks without pain. But by December 2011 I had lost power of my legs and was restricted to a wheelchair. In January 2012 I returned to Preston for reassessment and stayed for one month for a series of tests and Scans. I am contacting the Preston hospital to request those results to forward to you. These will show the condition of my back before the onset of severe pain the following year. At this point I was restricted to a wheelchair, but not in pain.
Later, however in 2012, while moving from my wheelchair to pick up something from the floor, I felt pins and needles going down both legs and into my feet. Immediately I felt severe pain in my lower back and felt that I had damaged my back in some way.
I have been in constant unabated pain ever since, which seems to have got worse. I have not had a full night’s sleep since 2012 and am in constant pain from my lower back. This has resulted in me being confined to my bed for 23 hours a day. With help and in great pain, I am helped to take a shower once a day.
I have had several MRI and CT scans in Letterkenny and Dublin since then and I enclose two of these for you to see. I went to see a neurosurgeon in Dublin with these scans and told him about the pain in my back and what I how I felt I had injured myself in bending down. But on looking at the scans, the neurosurgeon said that these changes were “wear and tear” and consistent with a person of my age. But I remember distinctly the pain arising from that day when I hurt myself.
I also saw a private neurosurgeon from Northern Ireland and showed him the scans and he agreed that I would need an operation. He talked about doing an operation with pins to strengthen my back. But that would have taken a lot of money as I was seeing him privately and I was unsure at first how I could raise these funds. In the meantime I was looking online for other hospital options and came across your hospital’s site and read some patients post-op comments and testimonies. I was very encouraged to read these as it appeared that you could help someone with my condition. I then initially emailed your hospital as I felt that I was getting no-where here.
I enclose some dated scans and the records that came from Preston.
I look forward to your comments and pray every day that someone will be able to help me end this nightmare.
Yours sincerely
Brendan McCann.
Having examined the records and scans that Brendan sent through, the KCM Clinic responded on 4th January 2018 that their professor of surgery had determined that Brendan would be a suitable case for surgery.
Below is that communication and their summary of the itemised cost of the surgery.
From: Philip Pasler
Date: 4 January 2018 at 12:03:00 GMT
To: Brendan mc cann
Cc: Dominik Pasler
Subject: Re: KCM Clinic - Brendan Mc Cann - minimal invasive spine surgery
Dearest Brendan,
thank you for the phone call earlier today.
We have good news, The Professor has qualified you for minimal invasive spine surgery at KCM Hospital. Please find here the below the Professors opinion:
„Patient Brendan Mc Cann has a visible lumbar discopathy on two levels.
After seeing his detailed newest medical reports and other diagnostic reports and examining and speaking to him in person i will be able to determine the exact treatment at KCM Clinic, that will be most probably a complex treatment of:
SED YESS - Selective endoscopic discectomy
DIAM - Dynamic Spinal Stabilisation Medtronic
Patient Brendan Mc Cann qualifies for minimal invasive spine surgery in our Hospital. He can come to one of our earliest appointments.
After over 11.600 minimal invasive surgeries performed - I personally believe that modern minimally invasive techniques is the best a solution to Mr. McCann - that is easier to tolerate for the patient and he recovers much quicker (complication rate is reduced to the absolute minimum).
With Best Regards,
Prof. Stan Kwiek."
ITEMISED COSTS
Patient: Mr. Brendan McCann - No 2 Cottage, Burnfoot, Lifford, CO Donegal, Ireland Date: 04.01.2018
DOB: 11.06.1973
COST ESTIMATE – all incl.
Planned medical treatment:
SED YESS - selective endoscopic discectomy, 1 level
€ 3.100,00
Implantation of DIAM Medtronic Dynamic Stabilization System, 1 level € 4.000,00
General anaesthesia € 340,00
2 hospitalization days at the Spine Surgery Department with doctor’s, nurse’s care and
medicine - €250 per day, 1 day included € 250,00
Pre-surgery consultations: specialists in neurosurgery, neurology, internal medicine and cardiology,
orthopaedics surgery, anaesthesiology
Individualized rehabilitation and physiotherapy plan by Dr. Suszynski and Prof. Kwiek included
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comprehensive preoperative diagnostics – neurologic, orthopaedic, internal and cardiac tests:
o MRI: lumbar and cervical spine segment € 300,00
o Echocardiography, ECG, X-Ray-chest pa and lateral
€ 240,00
o Complete lab: blood typing, TSH, HIVAg/Ab, anti-HCV, HBsAg, anti-HBs, INR/aPTT, morphology,
creatinine, urea, electrolytes, transaminases, glucose
€ 220,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal host at KCM Clinic dedicated to your travel itinerary and medical travel program complimentary
9 days in the 4* Palace on the Water Hotel, B&B, two person - 70 €/day € 630,00
Transport from and to Wroclaw (WRO) airport, local transport to Hotel, personal driver € 180,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: € 9.260,00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The price can eventually change if the rehabilitation/hospitalization period will be longer. Additional and current medical procedures are not included.
An advanced payment of 20% is required in order to book the selected appointment date.
The remaining amount has to be paid at the admission day by bank transfer, cash or credit card.
Philip Pasler
International Patient Coordinator
KCM Clinic S.A.
As you can see ,the total cost for the operation and related diagnostic tests, accommodation and local transport in Poland is € 9,260.
We have made the total to raise € 11,000 to cover the extra costs of transport and flights from Ireland to Poland and the 7.55% that GoFund receive.
Brendan has been in constant pain for over five years, which keeps him from sleeping well at night. He has had recurrent kidney infections and related problems which has necessitated him being on repeated antibiotic courses. He has sought continually for pain relief and the prospect of surgery through every available avenue in Ireland but without success. He realises he may never achieve full mobility, but simply wants the pain to ease to the point where he can leave his house and seek to return to work and recover some semblance of a normal life for himself and his family. On very occasional days he will attempt to drive in a specially adapted car, but these journeys are rare due to the discomfort caused.
Asking for financial help is not easy for Brendan, but the KCM clinic is the only prospect of imminent pain relief and he feels he cannot go on as he is. He believes that with this support he is hopeful he could accept an appointment for surgery within months.
A big thank you to one and all for any help you can offer and your prayers are also greatly appreciated.
Organizer
Phelim Doherty
Organizer
