Shell shocked after a and e visit

[Onethreefiveseven]

I am looking for advice on what to do next as I feel like I'm not coping

I started developing very severe neck pain yesterday. I am not inexperienced with pain, I've been through significant, life-threatening medical events. This was far worse pain than breaking a bone, for example, or an infected surgical wound. I've also had migraines and this was much worse. The closest comparison was when I went into hyperstimulation during a pregnancy induction and felt like my abdomen was in a vice. This time I felt like my skull was about to crack. It was so extremely painful and very frightening, I also had blurred vision on my left side. The pain was so intense I can't describe it.

I was sent to a and e by 111, got there at 8, told 3-4 hours wait. I sat in waiting room on a hard chair groaning and crying. By the time I was triaged the wait had become 5-6 hours and then by 11pm 8-9 hours. I spoke to a receptionist who made it clear that I wouldn't be seeing anyone until the morning. No pain relief until then. So I asked my partner to pick me up and we called 111 again desperately trying to get pain meds. Spent the night waiting for callbacks and begging for help down the phone. Sobbing and at times screaming from the pain. I finally got some codeine this morning, after 14 hours of indescribable pain.

This morning the pain is more under control and I thought I would feel relieved but instead I feel odd, psychologically, in a bad way. Kind of dead eyed and like I want to cry but can't. Hopeless. The fact that I interacted with so many people and no one helped. No one even really seemed to believe me how bad the pain was. I'm not writing this to blame them. Maybe they were doing what was necessary, prioritising other patients. It was still horrific though.

I will make a drs appointment for my physical health but I want to know what to do, today, to try to minimise the psychological effects. I've barely slept and I can't figure out what to do. Has anyone else been through a prolonged period of very intense pain and/or been denied pain relief, and found a way to cope with the emotional aftermath. Maybe just writing this down will help, I don't know.

Excellently put. We know a hotel reception manager from Poland, a Spanish plumber. Both permanent here. Both went home for health treatment. One was maternity care.

My brother has lived in China for 25 years no way would he be treated here. He's mid sixties and says that the care is different, family expected to feed and bathe you so relatives are around all day or pay a private individual to do so.

My DIL did all the care when my son was in hospital, she sponge bathed him. Took care of his toilet needs. Brought in food or brought it up from the canteen she cared for his needs 12 hours of the day.

She said that the staff were run off their feet by Alzheimer's patients who were ambulatory being a big problem for staff and distressing for the patients . It was a surgical ward so imagine being in a strange place, in pain from surgery and not seeing familiar faces.

There's got to be a better way my son said.

Thank you for your view.

The figures you’re looking at must be looked at further. There is a massive difference between tourists on holiday requiring treatment and medical tourists from outside the Commonwealth who travel to the country specifically to receive specialist care with zero intention of ever paying it back.

Your figures don’t reference reciprocal health care arrangements with other Commonwealth countries. For example - Canadians might cost the NHS $10 million over the course of a 12 month period - yet UK residents receiving medical care in Canada may cost the Canadian’s $11 million.

Your data is insufficient to support your argument.

Seems you're set to believe that health tourism is a massive issue to the NHS despite it being objectively a drop in the ocean of the overall NHS budget and despite the figures showing how much more wastage costs the NHS than "health tourism". But thanks for the feedback...