Hello, ‎

Welcome to my website.

I am a 53-year-old general surgeon and oncoplastic breast surgeon. I am married to ‎Dr Amna K Tellisi (Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist) and have two ‎children in their twenties. I worked for the NHS from 1990 until I was retired on ill-health ‎grounds in 2014.‎

In 2011, I noticed a hernia in my left groin. My hernia was small, and it did not bother ‎me, so I carried on working as a full-time NHS consultant. One day, while I was about ‎to leave for work, my hernia popped out and became extremely painful. I immediately ‎informed a trusted colleague of mine who operated on me three days later. ‎

As soon as the effect of the local anaesthetic wore off, I was disabled with ‎excruciating nerve (neuropathic) pain in my left groin. I could not even move in bed. I contacted my ‎colleague surgeon, but he was dismissive. ‎

Despite undergoing several surgical and medical treatments, I continued to suffer from ‎severe nerve pain. I have also experienced some very unpleasant side effects of my ‎nerve pain medications. ‎

My emotional distress was off the scale, and my nerve pain was so severe that I ‎considered life was not worth living anymore. I also saw myself as an unnecessary burden on ‎my family. ‎

I lost my beloved job at the top of my surgical career.‎

I cannot even begin to tell you how much this has messed up my life, and if it weren’t ‎for my beloved wife, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story.‎

I do not want my suffering to go in vain, hence this website. My story contains ‎many useful lessons and warnings for the public, the medical and the legal ‎professions.‎

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou

By telling my story, I aim to:‎

• Inform – the public and the medical profession. Lessons must be ‎learned.‎
• Help prevent – the same mistake from happening to another patient.‎
• Improve – doctors’ responses to complaints and never to be dismissive of ‎the patient’s complaint.‎
• Provide – some guidance (for patients and doctors alike) on what to do ‎when things go wrong.‎
• Warn – doctors and expert witnesses on how not to conduct ‎ themselves.‎
• Effect a change – by making Expert Witnesses accountable and liable to ‎ damages and even to prosecution.‎

If my story helps one patient of medical mishaps

OR

if it helps inform one doctor so that he/she avoid a surgical mistake; then I would consider that I ‎have succeeded.

I hope you will find this website helpful. If you do, please feel free to share it with ‎others (adelhrateme.com).‎

For further details, please follow my blogs, which I shall update regularly. I look forward to your comments on my blogs.‎

I wish you and your loved ones health and happiness.‎

Dr Adel H Rateme

UK

January 7, 2019