DEREK O'BRIEN,
Sir, - Like Tommie Gorman, I too was admitted through A & E with suspected appendicitis, but in my case in Dublin. During "doctors' rounds" the next day I first heard the word "carcinoid". The surgical team had recognised the condition and had removed the offending part of my intestines.
Three weeks later, at an outpatients' clinic, I was told I would need further scans. At this point I was still a public patient and was advised that my treatment would be the same, public or private. I decided to go privately, primarily to free up a place on the public list.
After three months, part of my liver was removed and six years later I am, thank God and the surgeons, still here to tell the tale. My VHI plan was B (the same as Tommie Gorman's).
I too searched the Internet for information and have found that aggressive surgery is the recommended treatment for this rare complaint. While I can only judge Tommie's treatment by his own programme on it and by my own experiences, it seems to me that he might have been saved a lot of stress had he been lucky and been taken ill in Dublin.
While it is marvellous that we can as citizens of the EU avail of the best treatments available, this does not necessarily mean that we have to go abroad to get them. - Yours, etc.,
DEREK O'BRIEN,
Roundwood,
Co Wicklow.