We open with a brief and painful medical tour:

Summer 2019: I make several trips to A&E (Heath Hospital, Cardiff) for abdominal pain. I am eventually diagnosed with gastritis and put on medication to ease it. Plot twist: it isn't gastritis.

[Insert two years of repeated doctors visits and medication tweaking]

Christmas Day 2021: Another trip to A&E (Morriston, Swansea) for abdominal pain. The doctor suggests that maybe it's gallstones and I should get a referral to get it checked out.

February 2022: I get my referral and a scan which confirms it is indeed gallstones (also there's a tumor on my liver lol)

April 2022: Visits to A&E start becoming more frequent. I'm told I'm being put on the waiting list for general surgery to have the gallbladder removed by a doctor who says there are too many stones to control with diet and a sneeze could cause a flare up.

I'm told if the pain becomes unmanageable, I'll have the operation as an emergency patient.

April-July 2022: Visits to A&E are a common occurance and I'm maxed out on prescription pain medications. Eating has become a thing of the past, a normal life where I go out and do things is non-existant.

I'm told if the pain becomes unmanageable and I can't keep anything down, I'll have the operation as an emergency patient.

I see a doctor who tells me to call my GP to have me escalated up the waiting list. I call my GP and the same doctor tells me that's not something that can be done.

We discover my pain meds interfere with my mental health meds which could have been fatal. What fun.

Present day:

At time of writing I have been to the hospital three nights this week. The pain cannot be managed. I went to the hospital because the pain was unmanageable and I couldn't keep anything down, and was told I had to present with an infection to qualify for the emergency surgery.

A day later I developed an infection, but apparently it's not the right kind.

I'm then told I was bumped to the top of the waiting list. You'd think that'd be great but it's the waiting list to be put on the waiting list. Despite the consensus that I need the surgery, I hadn't actually been referred for the surgery.

The current medical advice from the three different doctors I've seen this week:

1. Return to A&E nightly on the off chance that a bed clears up on the surgical ward.

2. Prove that I want the surgery by losing weight. (The weight doesn't have anything to do with the surgery, and I've not been given a specific amount to lose)

3. Take a holiday to England and visit the A&Es there in the hopes that one of them decides to operate as an emergency. This is a gamble as they might just send me back to my health board.

I'm exhausted from the pain and visiting hospital as often as I am. I can't eat, drink, or sleep properly. The waiting list is a minimum of eighteen months but apparently, because of my post code, it's looking more like three years. This isn't feasible. Nor is it feasible for me to go A&E hopping every day for the next three years in the hopes that someone will take pity on me and whip it out.

So we're going private and friends suggested they would like to help with the costs so I set this up to make it easier. I'll be treated at Benenden Hospital, Kent which is a bit of a trek for me (240 miles) so the costs will also include travel.

I'm looking for £6,000 which will go towards:

£185 consultant fee

£5,400 cost of the operation

The remaining £400 will go towards travel and accomodation costs for the pre-op and post-op appointments.

Anything you'd like to give would be much appreciated! I'd like to not practically live at the hospital for the next three years and would like to salvage something of the summer with my daughter. Either way, I'd love you forever