Mr Drostan Cheetham

Written by a patient at Watford General Hospital

After many years of great discomfort and illness that no doctor was able to diagnose,MR. cheetham found that I had a blocked and twisted bowel which needed to be operated on immedistely.He phoned my wife from the recovery room to tell her that the op was successful. I found him to be a most charming man with great empathy and sense of humour.It is now 3 months since my op and I cannot thank him enough for giving me my life back

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Written by a patient at Watford General Hospital

Mr Cheetham is an extremely caring Surgeon who operated on me on two occasions, and without any doubt he extended my life for a further 20 years, after 3months from the last operation Mr Cheetham arranged for me to have a Colonoscopy on 10th March 2015 which he carried out, the outcome was excellent and don't want to see me for another 5 years (that's a pity) because I became very fond of him and his wicked sense of humour.

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Written by a patient at Watford General Hospital

It is undoubtedly traumatic news when someone (not Mr Cheetham) tells you: “Its bad news, I’m sorry you’ve got a [bowel] cancer and it is in a difficult position [to operate on] and good luck”; which was how we learnt that I had got a cancerous tumour. However if you are then fortunate to have Mr Cheetham appointed as your consultant you have done better than winning a roll-over lottery. He not only takes as much time as you need to draw out a picture of what is needed to remove that cancer; he plans the operation to give you time to best prepare for the operation [in my case lose some weight]. He then spends hours in surgery removing the tumour using keyhole surgery. He has a straightforward approach, combined with a sense of humour, professional approach and a bedside manner that is unbelievable. This man is a GOD. Dave Billington

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Written by a patient at Hemel Hempstead General Hospital

This man saved my life. But I knew if it came to it he would. I have absolute trust in him and with the down to earth way he gave me the information and details, made more explicit by the pencil drawings of what was happening, I fully understood what was going on and this took away all my fears. Bearing in mind the seriousness of the procedure his great sense of humour helped me through. He enabled me to remain positive throughout. I can't thank him enough and ditto from my family.

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Written by a patient at Watford General Hospital

I met Mr Cheetham when I went for a sigmoidoscopy at Hemel hospital. No-one was more surprised than me to go in with a case of piles and come out with a satsuma sized cancerous tumour. Over the next few meetings, Mr Cheetham drew Picasso-esque pictures of my tumour, explained what he would do during the operation and spelled out any potential problems. Fortunately my tumour was slow growing and Mr Cheetham kindly fitted me in for surgery in January so that I could have a restful holiday in Tobago over the New Year. Drinking rum punch in the sun is classified as "building up strength" isn't it? I had laparoscopic surgery in January. It went exactly as Mr Cheetham had anticipated, with no problems at all. Beautiful incisions, an elegant stoma and fabulous stitches. Two weeks later I returned to the clinic to be told that the surgery had been curative. Perfect. I found Mr Cheetham to have a straightforward approach and, importantly for me, a wicked sense of humour. He is an excellent surgeon and I trust him absolutely. I wouldn't have changed a thing about the way I was treated. Never mind about ensuring that I'm cancer free; the ultimate accolade from my husband was that "he's the sort of chap I could go for a drink with". Rare praise indeed.

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