About delay in seeing surgeon?

[RevoltingPeasant]

I have to go for surgery soon and am worried about complications - but am I being stupid to expect the system to work faster? Sorry in advance for length and whininess .

So, 2 years ago it came to light that I had a kidney complaint which would require surgery. Various scans, waiting lists etc, and finally 18mos down the line I had the surgery: a big op requiring hospitalisation and then a smaller op, which was day surgery and no biggie.

Between big op and small op, I started getting blood in my wee - a lot of blood. Given that I'd just had renal surgery and had been told that a significant risk of the op was internal rupture, I was a bit freaked. Rang consultant's secretary and was told he'd get a registrar to ring me back - this never happened. Rang a couple more times, but nothing doing.

Left it and hoped it would get better on its own

Then after the next op, I started getting severe pain within a couple of hours (at home by then). Rang NHS Direct, who referred me to out of hours GP - I'd taken 90mg of codeine by then. OOH GP said that pain after routine ops was normal and due to 'disturbance of the tissue' () and I should take paracetamol to cure it () and not bother consultant. This was despite the fact that I had an aftercare sheet which mentioned lots of possible symptoms, but not pain like this.

Fastforward a few hours, too painful to lie down or sit, pacing the house all night, throwing up periodically from pain and reaction to codeine. Rang consultant's sec first thing in the morning, and she said I had to see a different GP to get referred back to hospital, which took a couple of hours. In the end, it's late afternoon by the time I see a surgeon. As it happened, the small op had gone pretty badly wrong and I needed further surgery that day - and have to go back in next week for fourth op and maybe more.

Okay, if you've read this very boring essay, well done! Am a bit scared because I am afraid there will be more complications and I feel like the system takes so long to react. I am not dying and I don't want to bother the consultant when he is busy doing ops on people with kidney cancer - but equally, AIBU to think when you have surgery and really bad pain right after, it shouldn't take the best part of 24 hours to see someone who knows what they're doing?

Or do I just have a massive sense of entitlement?

you should just to a and e in hospital you had your op

No, of course you don't have a sense of entitlement, but I wonder why you didn't go to A&E or a walk in centre when you had blood in your urine or when you had terrible pains. I wouldn't have waited for a response from the hospital.

Sounds really awful - hope it's all over soon.

agree go straight to A&E if your in that much pain. YANBU to think they should respond but if you refuse to wait - ie A&E they'll have no choice but to respond immediatly.

Best of luck for next OP.

I'm not really sure why you didn't phone the hospital or pitch back up after the op when you were in severe pain TBH. Post op care is not really an NHS direct thing.

Op - please go straight back to A&E . I have had several kidney operations in the past & the pain is dreadful . sending you good vibes for the 4th op .

Well GPs are generalists who work in the community. You should have gone to A&E as you were in that much pain. They could have called the renal unit down or referred you up, admitting you if necessary.

I hope you feel better soon.

Sorry I have to echo everyone else and say in future go straight to A and E. Consultants don't deal directly with emergencies arising from operations.

I can't believe you phoned NHS Direct.
Hope you feel better soon OP, anymore problems go straight back to A&E!

Hey, thanks for responses. The thing is, the pain got gradually worse and I rang NHSD to see what they would say - they said, don't go to A and E, we'll refer you to the GP. The consultant's sec also specifically said the fastest way to get back to see the consultant who did the op is to go through your GP, not A & E.

I was walking and talking, no broken bones or anything - didn't want people to think I was a time waster and after the way the first GP reacted, I thought A&E would just tell me to go home.

Hi, so sorry things didn't go well after the op, hopefully all will go well from here on in.

I think many of us worry about time wasting. What you describe would not have been time wasting - I have family with long A&E experience and what they mean by time wasting is toothache, an ear ache, a cold, a bad back - things that don't come on suddenly, don't cause pain and really won't be something serious.

Blood in your urine plus pain after renal surgery does warrant investigation. Staff will prioritise you when you go in so you would not prevent someone having a heart attack seeing the doc first.

Also often there is a walk in docs next to A&E - this is a good option as you have bases covered.

Best of luck with the next op.

Thanks duvet

I guess one thing that's kind of pissing me off is that apparently, blood in urine is quite common after the particular op I'd had. Just, no one told me - no warning from surgeon or nurses, no aftercare sheet with symptoms on. So I guess no one rang back because to them, it was nothing - but of course I didn't know that.

And with NHSD - I see now I was wrong to call them - but then shouldn't the nurse I spoke to have told me to go to A&E rather than a GP? Shouldn't the GP I saw have realised that he didn't know enough about renal surgery to know for sure that nothing was wrong - shouldn't he have told me to go to A&E rather than saying 'Don't bother people'?