Pioneering programme may have saved life of Greenstead grandfather (From Gazette)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting GAZETTE NEWS to 80360, or email
Pioneering programme may have saved life of Greenstead grandfather
9:18am Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in News
Pioneering programme may have saved life of Greenstead grandfather
A grandfather from Greenstead has had potentially life-saving surgery after becoming the first to have a condition picked up by a new screening programme.
A ten minute Ultrasound Test shortly after Bill Davies’ 65th birthday discovered he had a 6.7 centimetre aneurysm which had to be treated.
If the aorta, the main blood vessel running from the heart through the chest and abdomen, is allowed to grow, it can become weaker and burst. Around 6,000 people a year die from a ruptured aneurysm.
But Mr Davies is now safe from harm following a five-hour operation at a £1.5 million operating theatre created last year after Colchester General Hospital was named a centre for major vascular surgery.
Mr Davies, of Gardenia Walk, Greenstead, is now urging men to take part in the new NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme when they turn 65.
See Thursday's Gazette for the full story.
Comments(4)
Taj
says...
3:12pm Thu 3 Jan 13
I am well past that and have not even had an offer of prostate screening yet alone a full health screening .
It is almost impossible to see the same doctor twice and you are out of the door with a prescription like a rocket .
They do ask if you smoke or drink so they can tick the boxes and claim the money ,maybe that was the full screening .
Reginald47
says...
11:24pm Thu 3 Jan 13
Boris
says...
2:45am Fri 4 Jan 13
Taj wrote:It says in the article that it is a new scheme, so no doubt it came in after your 65th birthday. Make an appointment with your GP and ask to be screened. But don't rely totally on any screening result: it is just a snapshot of your condition at that moment.
I read the article in the Gazette and was surprised to read that patients in North Essex and Suffolk get a health screening invitation at 65.
I am well past that and have not even had an offer of prostate screening yet alone a full health screening .
It is almost impossible to see the same doctor twice and you are out of the door with a prescription like a rocket .
They do ask if you smoke or drink so they can tick the boxes and claim the money ,maybe that was the full screening .
KJay71 says...
12:03pm Wed 2 Jan 13