My step father has been diagnosed with a Vestibular Schwannoma, brain
tumor.

I have done general research explaining what it is and how they occur
etc.

He lives in country Victoria, Australia, in the city of Mildura.  He
and my mother also have a retail business employing approx Three
full-time staff.  Their financial position has recently detoriated and
they have just put the business up for sale so the timing for all this
is not ideal. (I guess there's not really a good time to be having a
brain tumor is there?)

Yesterday he flew from Mildura to Melbourne to see the ear surgoen and
in five weeks he has to fly back to Melbourne and see the
Neuro-sergeuon and have an MRI performed.  They told him my mother
should go to this appointment also.

After they receieve the results of the MRI they will then decide if
the surgery to remove the tumor will be performed via the ear canal or
skull and I assume further discuss the situation and the surgery.

The main question I am asking here is if the waiting time for the MRI
is unreasonable and even if it isn't, are there any options to have it
performed earlier?

He has top level private health insurance.  I am unsure if he is being
treated as a private or public patient.  Does it make a difference in
realtion to something like an MRI scan?  I thogught a private patient
would generally have a shorter wait.  (To answer this would require a
general understanding of the Australian heatlh system so I understand
the response to this part may be limited)

He is currently not able to drive and has trouble working all day at a
time when his business can't afford to be without him.  He is looking
at 5 weeks till the MRI, (i'm guessing), another week until they
operate and then 4-6 weeks recovery.  The only time that he can have
any influence over is the next five weeks so I wanted to explore any
options that he may have to reduce the wait.

Any general thoughts would also be appreciated.  

Thank you.


Mark

Hi Mark

How very worrying for you and your family. I live in Melbourne and I
know that I'd be just as anxious as you are. My plan of action would
be 1. To talk to his doctor and ask why is there such a delay -- doc
might not be able to discuss the case with you but you can ask if
there is any way of reducing that five weeks (five weeks of waiting
seems very cruel). 2. I'd ring the hospital. If it's somewhere like
Monash or The Alfred or Royal Melbourne, phone and ask their MRI
department about the waiting times. 3. They might be able to suggest a
private medical imaging practice that can do the required scan just as
well as the hospital -- I know that Victoria House Medical Imaging in
Prahran (03 9529 7333) have their own MRI machine and I just rang them
and they told me that any doctor can refer a patient to them and the
earliest they could do a brain scan would be March 31st. The only
hitch is that there is an out of pocket, non-refundable expense of
$250. Not cheap but maybe worth it in terms of reducing the agonising
wait. 4. I'd talk to Medibank Private (or whoever you're with) and ask
them about the costs. Maybe there are private medical imaging places
up in your part of the world who can do the required scan.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.  

At first he seemed prepared to accept the wait and I thought it better
to keep the info you provided to myself.  As I'm sure you know it can
be an emotional minefield dealing with issues like this.

I spoke to my mother tonight and she tells me that he wants to look
into trying to have the scan done earlier.  I explained the Google
Answers service and my question and she was quite taken by your (and
my) efforts.

I have sent your information on and have also been encouraging a
pro-active approach to his situation.

Thanks once again.  Regards,


Mark

Just read your comment. Hope it goes well for you all.