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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder of the hospital shoukd have kept me in for observation

66 replies

listsandbudgets · 11/08/2017 13:21

I gad to go to A and E as a piece of grit had blown in my eye and wouldnt come out even after 30 minutes of me trying to wash it out. We are staying with a friend amd she stayed to watch children and I got a taxi which was an hour journey.

I couldnt open my right eye at alm and was having trouble keeping my left eye open for more than a few seconds. The pain was awful to the extent I was involuntarily jerking.

I arrived at 11pm and asked for pain killer which the triage nurse refused becaise I had had a coupke of paracetomol at 9pm. A doctor finally gave me liquid morphine at 1am which still did not control pain. Both the doctor and triage nuse tried to manually force my eye open which made pain worse.

At 3am a different doctor finally used some kind of eye numbing drops and removed grit but when drops wore off my eyes closed again and pain started up again.

They sent me home at 3.30 with codeine and eye drops I couldnt open my eyes, I was still in severe pain and I had started vomiting. In fact the taxi driver had to stop 3 times in a one hour journey and help me find my way to side of road.

I was finally able to open my eye at about 8pm on the sunday after a miserable day of pain and vomiting.

AIBU to wonder if they should have kept me in for observation given I couldnt see, the pain wasnt controlled by liquid morphine and I was vomiting. I genuinely don't know.. they had done the emergency removal of grit so perhaps thats all that was required

OP posts:
araiwa · 11/08/2017 13:24

They fixed the problem

You didnt need to be in hospital to recover or be observed

MsJamesDeanBradfield · 11/08/2017 13:26

I definitely don't think you needed to be kept in. What for exactly?

HarrietKettleWasHere · 11/08/2017 13:26

No. I think they were satisfied they fixed the issue, and it sounds like they did. Your life wasn't in danger, there was no risk of complications.

Not nice for you obviously but no I don't think you should have been kept in.

mrsRosaPimento · 11/08/2017 13:28

Is this real? They got the grit out! Liquid morphine? You are joking?🤦🏻‍♀️

upperlimit · 11/08/2017 13:29

I think vomiting can be a side effect of the liquid morphine. I think it was fine that you went home.

Tazerface · 11/08/2017 13:30

Not even sure they give liquid morphine after eye surgery Confused

No you didn't need to stay in.

HarrietKettleWasHere · 11/08/2017 13:30

Yes, it is a common side effect of morphine.

You did get a fair few things there to manage the pain, OP.

RatherBeRiding · 11/08/2017 13:32

But to observe what?

I can't see any reason for you to have been kept in, as there was nothing more to be done. NHS resources are grossly overstretched as it, and taking up beds for pointless observations isn't the best use of those resources.

The problem was dealt with, and settled at home.

Original poster
listsandbudgets · 11/08/2017 13:35

wish I was joking. It was absolutely agonising and mirphine wasnt dealing with it. The lens of my eye is scratched sp have to have follow up appointments woth eye hospital.

Honestly if someone else had written this thrad I would be asking same as Mrsrosapimento but it hurts more than I ever imagined

OP posts:
Moreisnnogedag · 11/08/2017 13:39

There'd be no one for you to be admitted under tbh. Most ophthalmologists don't have admitting rights in most hospitals which would mean referral to an eye hospital. I think they would most likely refuse given treatment had already been given. It's the morphine that made you vomit and the grit was out so need to keep in. That's not to say you didn't feel rubbish but not a reason to keep you in.

upperlimit · 11/08/2017 13:39

I understand that you were in pain but I don't see how or why you think that means you need to be observed overnight?

Original poster
listsandbudgets · 11/08/2017 13:40

Fair enough by the way... i genuinely wasnt sure whether they were right or not. Personally I was glad to to get home!

I think it was standing by a roadside hedge, unable to open eyes and vomiting whilst being helped by an unseen stranger that made me wonder Sad

OP posts:
Corneliussnitch · 11/08/2017 13:42

The lens of your eye won't be scratched as it is inside the eye, it's usually your cornea which is painful as has a very good nerve supply

unweavedrainbow · 11/08/2017 13:43

Oramorph (liquid morphine) is often the next painkiller up in A&E if the pain isn't controlled by paracetamol. 2.5ml (half a spoon) of 5ml/10mg oramorph is equivalent to 5mg of morphine. Morphine is 10 times as strong as codeine so 5mg of morphine is equivalent to 50mg of codeine-so less than 2x30/500 cocodamol which is the standard prescription opiate for moderate pain. It's really not that strong it just has a bit of reputation.

unweavedrainbow · 11/08/2017 13:45

The vomiting was likely a side effect of the morphine though, especially of you're opiate naive. People can have nasty side effects if they're not used to it. I do hope you feel better soon.

BlossomCat · 11/08/2017 13:49

Having had corneal abrasions on a couple of occasions, I understand that it is very painful. I spent a couple of days just lying on the sofa unable to open my eye, just gently peeking out of the other in case I blinked, causing more pain. It's miserable, but it will get better. I'd rather push another baby out than do that again.

Bit, the thing is, once the grit was out, there is nothing more to do, except rest the eye.
People are admitted 'for observation' when there is potential for further serious problems.

Twitchingdog · 11/08/2017 13:52

As some one who scratch their eye slot. Don't try to open it . Tape it shut put pad on it . And let it heal . Best thing really .

quercuscircus · 11/08/2017 14:02

Sounds horrendous OP.

I think it was bad luck that it happened on a weekend as hospitals will be understaffed and under pressure. Also if the following day was a week day then you could have gone to the GP as soon as you could or called the GP out to check on you. Being in pain, sick and partially blinded (even if temporary) is not a routine occurrence for most people so I don't blame you for being concerned and felt like you were just left hanging, especially in the mddle of the night.

We have sadly had experience of being released from hospital or A&E without any meaningful advice of what to do if the (serious) problem doesn't rapidly improve (a sort of fingers crossed and hope for the best attitude) and also without adequate home support to be able to manage the condition. Just sort of turfed out as soon as they could and left to try to cope. It can be very overwhelming.

In an ideal world (and probably in past decades) I think you should have been kept in a while longer to make sure that the condition was actually improving and that you could manage, but there just isn't the budget or beds for this nowadays. Maybe when we had local or cottage hospitals this might have been done. I'm not sure.

I hope you feel better soon.

Ontheboardwalk · 11/08/2017 14:12

lists I feel your pain. A piece of hard plastic took a visible chunk out of my cornea and the pain was shocking. You need to take it easy over the next couple of days and you must use any antibiotic drops or tablets they gave you to prevent infection.

The hospital really couldn't have done anything else and I think they were right to discharge you. There was nothing they could observe from your eye injury.

As others have said the vomiting was most likely due to the liquid morphine.

Ontheboardwalk · 11/08/2017 14:14

Sorry meant to add I hope you feel better soon!! It'll take a few days to heal so take it easy.

Guavaf1sh · 11/08/2017 14:20

Corneal scratches are painful yes but liquid morphine is ridiculous! Keeping you in for observation even more so!

Steeley113 · 11/08/2017 14:22

Oramorph for grit in the eye? 🙄 Yabu. Hospitals are under pressure, you can't take up a bed because you were being a bit dramatic. TBH if you came into me wanting morphine for that, I'd think you were seeking...

quercuscircus · 11/08/2017 14:25

Oh look. Here come the cruel bastards...

SnipSnipMrBurgess · 11/08/2017 14:30

My cornea was scratched something similar and it was worse than childbirth.

But they flushed the eye, gave me pain killers and an eye patch and told me sleep is a healer. They were right but it took a few days.

Absolutely right not to keep you in though. Removing the grit meant issue was dealt with, but you have to manage the pain yourself in afraid till it heals.

AlmostAJillSandwich · 11/08/2017 14:37

Having spent the past month unable to do much but lie on a sofa in the dark due to severe dry eye i sympathise massively. I am also all too aware that a specialised eye hospital is pretty much the only place to get any treatment for eye issues other than lubricant drops. 3 Gp apps, 2 optician apps, and seen in regular a+e when i was there for a suss kidney infection and none had the exprtese or equipment to do anything but shine a light in it, and rule out abrasions or iritis. Sadly eye hospital isnt local enough for me to get to due to mental and physical health problems, plus im unable to sit waiting 3+ hours to be seen due to said health problems. The pain is agonising but i find ibuprofen helps since its anti inflamatory. The drops are uncomfortable to use but will help.