A SECOND Tayside neurosurgeon has been accused of botching an operation during the reign of disgraced doctor Sam Eljamel.
Emily Robertson, 45, said she “skipped into hospital” but after surgery on herniated discs in her neck she was paralysed from the neck down.
Media ScotlandEmily Robertson, 45, came out of her herniated disk operation paralysed from the neck down[/caption]
Media ScotlandThough the paralysis was temporary, Emily says the March 2012 surgery has left her wheelchair bound and without independence[/caption]
Media ScotlandEmily had surgery at the hospital under disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel’s reign[/caption]
Even though the paralysis was temporary, the lasting damaged caused by her spinal cord being partially severed has left her wheelchair bound and without any independence.
Emily, who currently lives near Coupar Angus in Perth and Kinross, has been battling for 12 years for answers.
Although I had compression on the spinal cord I literally skipped into hospital. There was nothing wrong with me
Emily Robertson
And when she tried to complain she was told as she had signed a consent form which warned paralysis could happen during an operation like hers, there was nothing else to discuss.
Emily had been attending her GP for two years complaining of stiffness to her neck and headaches.
In desperation she begged for “as many tests as possible” to be carried out.
The test results indicated she had the autoimmune condition lupus and she was sent for an appointment with a rheumatologist.
But while there, her rheumatologist did some basic neurological tests and immediately sent her to see a neurologist who, in turn, sent her for an MRI.
When the results came back Emily was told she had herniated discs in her neck and she should see a neurosurgeon.
Just two hours after she returned home, a neurosurgical registrar called and made an appointment for her to see a neurosurgeon just a few days later.
He told her in the meantime she should sit down and not do much until she had seen him and told her “if you sneeze or trip over your own feet you could end up paralysed and there would be nothing we could do about it”.
I’ll never forget the look of pity on that man’s face
Emily Robertson
In March 2012, around two months later, she had surgery.
Emily said: “Although I had compression on the spinal cord I literally skipped into Ninewells Hospital. There was nothing wrong with me.
“But I woke up after that surgery paralysed from the neck down.”
When she awoke there were a lot of medical staff around her bed as her neurosurgeon stabbed at her toes before telling her she was paralysed.
She said: “His eyes were starting to get a bit watery and he said ‘look Emily you are paralysed’. I’ll never forget the look of pity on that man’s face.”
But a couple of hours later she managed to twitch her big right toe.
She continued: “Over the next hour I thought I was starting to get feeling back but I wasn’t. I couldn’t feel pain or temperature on the right side of my body but I had movement to an extent.
“My left side was still completely paralysed.”
Her neurosurgeon was out of the country by the following day but gathered around her bed at the time were a group of other doctors, all paying attention to the words of one of them who Emily now believes was Eljamel.
The disgraced brain surgeon at the centre of a Scottish government probe is believed to have harmed dozens of patients at NHS Tayside, leaving some with life-changing injuries.
Feeling returned to her left side within a couple of days but she had no movement.
However, spasticity kicked in, which caused her to contort in pain and left her unable to use the left side of her body.
The spasticity – a condition causing the muscles to stiffen and tighten – remains to this day.
She was discharged from hospital just five days after her operation.
They took my life away and did nothing to try to fix it
Emily Robertson
It was six years later during a conversation with another neurosurgeon that she learned she had a scar on her spinal cord from a “hemi section” – a term used to describe the partial severing of the cord on one side which had happened during surgery.
Emily applied to see her medical notes but she was given an incomplete record and the notes on her operation were missing, so she has no idea how it happened or who was present.
She said: “I know Eljamel wasn’t my neurosurgeon but he could have been in at the operation as he was the head of the department.
“I have never been given an answer to why my spinal cord was severed.
“My 20-year-old son, my youngest, doesn’t remember me as an able bodied person and that’s the hardest thing for me.”
And she stated: “They took my life away and did nothing to try to fix it.”
Police officers intended to speak to her as part of the Eljamel inquiry.
Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This looks like another scandal to rock NHS Tayside and there is clearly a need for an urgent and independent case review to establish what happened.”
An NHS Tayside spokesperson said: “We do not comment on matters relating to individual members of staff.”
They continued: ”We would encourage any former patient who has concerns about Professor Eljamel to contact the NHS Tayside Patient Liaison Response Team for support with their enquiry.”
Media ScotlandEmily is searching for answers as to why her spinal cord was severed during surgery[/caption]