Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Tumour victim: `I'll drill into my own head' Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
A GOLD Coast man says he will take a drill to his head in a desperate attempt to get brain surgery through the public health system.
Mark Black, of Merrimac, has two acoustic neuroma tumours situated on either side of his head.
He was diagnosed six months ago.
But the 52-year-old had waited two years to get the MRI scan that finally confirmed what was wrong with him.
Mr Black is now slowly losing his hearing and developing facial paralysis because the tumours are touching his nerves.
Have your say on the feedback form below
Still with no answer on a surgery date and the grim possibility he might go deaf waiting, Mr Black plans to stand outside the Gold Coast Hospital on December 7 and drill into his head to receive emergency care if he does not get the response he is after the day before.
Mr Black has a follow-up appointment with an ear, nose and throat surgeon on December 6 but believes he is being shifted through a system that will put him back to where he started.
The father of three and grandfather of one said he had been back and forth to ENTs over the years but without any answers.
''I'm not blaming the doctors in this, I'm blaming the bureaucrats who don't fund the hospital enough to do the surgery that's needed,'' he said.
''My main concern now is to have this first lot of surgery because the end result is I'll end up totally deaf and have facial paralysis. The longer I let it go the worse the outcome.''
Mr Black said he woke every day feeling off balance, had ringing in the ears, facial spasms and dizziness.
The former inventor and coffee shop owner said he could not work any more because of his condition.
''There's no light at the end of the tunnel,'' he said. ''They're (the hospital) using delaying tactics so they don't have to do it and in the meantime I'm sitting here suffering.
''I don't want to push in front of someone else. I just want to be put on the list and dealt with fairly.''
Gold Coast Health Service District acting chief executive Michael Allsopp said Mr Black was receiving the most appropriate treatment for his condition.
''Mr Black has a small tumour, known as an intracanalicular acoustic neuroma,'' he said.
''It is not growing and standard clinical treatment for this condition is observation, not surgical intervention.
''Clinicians from both specialties, ENT and neurosurgery, have discussed this case and agreed that surgery is not required at this time.''
A GOLD Coast man says he will take a drill to his head in a desperate attempt to get brain surgery through the public health system.
Mark Black, of Merrimac, has two acoustic neuroma tumours situated on either side of his head.
He was diagnosed six months ago.
But the 52-year-old had waited two years to get the MRI scan that finally confirmed what was wrong with him.
Mr Black is now slowly losing his hearing and developing facial paralysis because the tumours are touching his nerves.
Have your say on the feedback form below
Still with no answer on a surgery date and the grim possibility he might go deaf waiting, Mr Black plans to stand outside the Gold Coast Hospital on December 7 and drill into his head to receive emergency care if he does not get the response he is after the day before.
Mr Black has a follow-up appointment with an ear, nose and throat surgeon on December 6 but believes he is being shifted through a system that will put him back to where he started.
The father of three and grandfather of one said he had been back and forth to ENTs over the years but without any answers.
''I'm not blaming the doctors in this, I'm blaming the bureaucrats who don't fund the hospital enough to do the surgery that's needed,'' he said.
''My main concern now is to have this first lot of surgery because the end result is I'll end up totally deaf and have facial paralysis. The longer I let it go the worse the outcome.''
Mr Black said he woke every day feeling off balance, had ringing in the ears, facial spasms and dizziness.
The former inventor and coffee shop owner said he could not work any more because of his condition.
''There's no light at the end of the tunnel,'' he said. ''They're (the hospital) using delaying tactics so they don't have to do it and in the meantime I'm sitting here suffering.
''I don't want to push in front of someone else. I just want to be put on the list and dealt with fairly.''
Gold Coast Health Service District acting chief executive Michael Allsopp said Mr Black was receiving the most appropriate treatment for his condition.
''Mr Black has a small tumour, known as an intracanalicular acoustic neuroma,'' he said.
''It is not growing and standard clinical treatment for this condition is observation, not surgical intervention.
''Clinicians from both specialties, ENT and neurosurgery, have discussed this case and agreed that surgery is not required at this time.''
