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| Hello! I was approved for breast reduction on the NHS a few years ago but was too scared to go through with it. I now feel I am ready but have been turned down for it on the NHS now! My Dr says I can appeal but need to write an appeal letter. Has anyone else had to do this? If you have, what did you put in your letter and were you successful? Any tips greatly appreciated! |
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hi, i had to appeal to get my funding. I contacted my local pct and asked what would help their decision for agreeing to gving me funding. They advised to ask gp to write to them with more information regarding any physical problems caused by heavy or large breasts. She took measurements, weights, put in it all of the times I had been to see her for anti B's because of infected rashes or spots underneath my breasts. The physio I had had on my back because of the weight of my breasts. I was also advised to put in a letter myself along with doc appeal. I added lots of things that the doc didnt put in her letter like how it affected me psycologically, how i could not run around with my children and how expensive bras were. I also was advised, if I felt brave enough, to put in photographs of my breasts so that the panel could actually see for themselves how I needed the reduction. I was successful within a month of sending in the letter. You can also ask the pct when they meet for exceptional treatments. You can ask for a phone call once a decision has been made. good luck |
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| thank you so much. i have been putting off writing this letter for so long as i just hate thinking about it but i have just sat down and written a letter and post itoff tomorrow. fingers crossed. thanks again for your advice! |
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Good luck, don't give up. Let us know how you get on -- |
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Hi Gymgirl, I asked a question here on BHO on this very same subject about 4 years ago when I was appealing against my PCT's decision not to fund my BR. See the thread here http://www.breasthealthonline.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?tid=112841&pid=926793&hl=Appeal&hlm=phrase#926793 My sample letter in the thread is not the final draft of what I actually ended up sending to the PCT but it gives you an idea of what you could write. I took the advice of the lovely ladies who replied to me on here & added lots more information to my letter about unwanted male attention etc. I'll see if I've still got my letter saved on my PC somewhere so you can see what I eventually ended up sending (I'll post back here later if I find it). I don't want to put you off but my appeal was actually unsuccessful & I had to pay privately (with financial assistance from family which I'm still repaying). But please don't let my experience put you off appealing - my appeal was turned down because of my BMI being too high (which incidentally is now completely under control & within a normal range now that I have teeny tiny boobs & can move around & excercise more easily). Anyway, I hope this helps you & I'll post back later if I can find the final draft of my letter on the other PC. Love, Nat.x -- |
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thanks nat, always so grateful for the kindness of people on this site! i had a look at your and here's the letter i have sent .... Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to appeal against your decision not to fund a breast reduction for me on the NHS. It is really hard to put all of the reasons in one letter because they are numerous, but I have put them under three main reasons that I think make this an exceptional case, and I will now go through them one by one. 1) Physical problems caused my breast size I have been suffering from sore shoulders and upper back pain since I was 17. This has got more painful as I have got older. If I am home alone, I take my bra off as soon as I get the chance because it is less painful. I always have strap marks on my shoulders when I take my bra off and this is not because my bra is too tight but from the weight of my breasts. Underneath my breasts is often really red and sore too. When I wake up in the morning, I have pain right across the top of my back and have to do a few stretches to ease the pain a bit. I have at least one massage a month and can't really afford to have these, but feel I absolutely need them to help relieve my pain slightly. I am worried about how much worse this could get and the long term affects of this. Especially as arthritis and osteoporosis runs in my family. 2) Psychological effects caused by my breast size I could write about this endlessly. So, so, many things I do are affected by my breasts and I feel that they slow me down and limit me from doing things. This really affects how I feel in myself and about things. It isn't just that I am pinning problems on my breast size either and blowing it out of proportion - these are real issues. I will give a few examples of problems that are caused and how they make me feel. From a young age I have received a lot of (unwanted) male attention because of my breasts. Men often shout, whistle or say something when I walk past them (especially in the summer). This is extremely embarrassing and really upsets me. When summer arrives I just don't want to go out. I don't enjoy things like picnics or bbqs as much as I should because of the issue of what to wear to not draw attention but also to keep cool. I enjoy going on holidays but every holiday I go on also causes me great anxiety. I cannot buy bikinis in high street stores because they do not go up to my size or support me so I have to buy them in specialist shops and they are expensive. Bikini tops start at £32 each. So for me to go on holiday with three different bikinis - I would need spend at least £160 (the bottoms are about £20). Once my luggage got lost and didn't arrive with me in France. I couldn't find a bikini that fitted me for the whole week that I was there and the people that I was staying with couldn't understand why I wouldn't borrow one from one of them. I had to explain that nothing would fit me and didn't have a bikini for the beach throughout the whole holiday. This again was embarrassing and drew a lot of attention to my breasts amongst friends and friends of friends and made me feel really uncomfortable, upset and alienated. I also enjoy socialising but social events also cause me anxiety and dread as it is so hard for me to find clothes that fit me! My proportions are nothing like the proportions clothes are made in and this makes it extremely hard for me to find clothes that fit me (top is 30GG, bottom is size 8/10). For example, if I am invited to a wedding, I want to go but I also dread it as I will have to go to loads of shops before I can find an outfit that fits and even then often have to get alterations made to it so that it fits better. Even when I do find an outfit, I often feel uncomfortable in it because of the amount of cleavage on show or because it just doesn't look right. Buying coats is also a nightmare. I am often cold when it is cold too as I don't like wearing layers as I makes me look so bulky up top. I have to buy clothes that fit me and not necessarily clothes that I want to wear which again is upsetting and affects me and is also frustrating and makes me angry. There have been many events that I haven't ended up attending because of the difficulty I have in buying outfits or sometimes I have every intention of going but get so upset with the way I look before going that I don't end up going. On paper, this may not sound as though it is psychologically damaging but it really is. There are many other examples I could give (for example, my summer works party is a bbq on the beach and playing volleyball and I will either not go or have to make excuses about playing volleyball because I would feel so uncomfortable jumping around in front of people because of my breast size) but I could be here all day. Sexually I feel uncomfortable too as I hate my breasts. All of this serves to make me feel miserable and really knocks my confidence. I first approached my Dr about breast reduction aged 17 so this has been affecting me for years! I almost feel as it gives me a sort of constant low level depression as although I am usually upbeat and quite happy - issues arise several times a day because of the size of my breasts. Sometimes small but upsetting all the same and always on my mind. 3) I was told that I could have breast reduction on the NHS in the past. I was booked in to have the surgery around 2005 however I fell ill and needed to have another operation around the same time (I had a mayomectomy). I didn't want to put my body through two operations in quick succession and so postponed my breast reduction operation. I was scheduled to have it again around 2006, but as it drew closer I didn't feel the time was right as I was at university doing my final year assignments and dissertation (i.e.stressed and I have read stress really affects healing process) and living alone with no family around to help if I needed it whilst recovering. I was told at the time that it was fine to postpone and that when I was ready I just needed to let my Dr know. When I did, I was told that I wouldn't be able to have it on the NHS. I left it at that, but approached my Dr again a couple of months ago as I do not feel that I can carry on with this constant aching around my shoulders and back and I am at the end of my tether with the limitations that are presented to me because of the size of my breasts. I feel as though I am not really living my life. I unfortunately cannot afford to pay for the operation privately. Please do not think that I am exaggerating in this letter. My breasts are causing me emotional and physical problems and I would really appreciate it if I could have a breast reduction operation. I don't feel that this is a cosmetic operation, I actually se emy breasts almost as a disability. I have researched the operation extensively and I know what it entails and this is a decision that I have not taken lightly but I really do feel that I can't carry on living life like this. Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you. so i am keeping my fingers crossed nat, with me, what's a shame is that i had it funded on nhs a couple of years ago but was too scared to go through with it and now the funding criteria is a lot stricter!! rose x |
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