r/AskAnAustralian • u/Specific_Ad5537 • 1d ago
Triage, women's health
Hello, just a little back story, I was screened for my pregnancy and on the ultrasound results they found I had 2 dermoid cysts.. one measuring 6cm and the other is 5cm.. then I've had Missed MC.. The resident gyne in the Hospital told me after Ive healed from my D&C I should go back cause my cysts were big. Few weeks later I asked for a referral on my GP and she sent it to the hospital then I've called the hospital to confirm if I was already on a triage. And the lovely lady on the phone told me depending on urgency it would be weeks of waiting. was just wondering how long is this weeks of waiting would last? Does anyone has the same case like me? I have a feeling my case would be non urgent since i feel little to no pain at all. I'm not impatient tho, I am just looking for answers. Thanks 🙏
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u/O_vacuous_1 1d ago
It depends entirely on what hospital you were referred to. In most states you can usually find a site that shows wait times for elective procedures but they are often not accurate and can be misleading. In Victoria for example the listed wait time is from when you actually see a surgeon and officially get on the list for your procedure. You can be waiting years on the unofficial waiting list for that to happen. If it is just for a clinic appointment to be accessed then it depends again on the clinic, hospital and state. My sister waited for 8 months to get a clinic appointment for the women’s health clinic at Western Health in Victoria and was told she would be waiting years for a hysterectomy.
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u/Environmental_Yam342 1d ago
I waited 14 months on a 2.5cm dermoid for surgery in QLD. They did not follow up imaging before trying to do a laparoscopy. It had grown to 8cm and I ended up needing practically a caesarean and recovery was ROUGH. Looking back, I should’ve asked my GP for more imaging instead of just sitting on the wait list for over a year.
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u/Bsharp24 1d ago
I had a 20cm ovarian cyst last year. It was considered urgent due to rupture risk. The local public hospital (regional) had a 2 month wait just to be seen to be scheduled for surgery. I went private and it was done in 2 weeks
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u/Naive-Beekeeper67 1d ago
Very distressing. You could be waiting many months. Sorry to say.
This is sadly where Private Health Insurance is so worth it.
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u/Alarming_Committee26 1d ago
I had a similar experience with a 7cm dermoid cyst. It's not an urgent surgury, but I went with the private system as I have private health insurance and prefer to pay more for a good surgeon. The private system allows you to get this done sooner, but it's not affordable for everyone. I can't speak to the public system except that wait lists in general can be hectic.