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AIBU?

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Original poster

how do i get to A&E?

318 replies

hurtmyankle · 09/03/2018 16:08

not AIBU but posting for traffic

I've fallen over about half an hour ago and heard my ankle crunch, can't put weight on it and in a lot of pain, taken paracetamol and got it raised but really am in unbelievable pain and think I need to go to A&E, my DP says i've just fallen over and i'm being silly but i'm not so He's gone to work.

I can't get a taxi and have no family here to call to drive me so how do I get to A&E? If I ring 111 can they arrange transport? The hospital is only a 2 minute drive from me but I can't walk Confused what is the best thing to do?
Sorry for asking here but my DP is useless and my family are all away

OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 09/03/2018 16:40

If it was broken you wouldn't be typing as you'd be in severe pain.

Jesus, she's hurt her ankle, not her finger! I would never, ever ask for advice about going to A&E on MN. If I'd asked when I was ill a few years ago I would probably be dead by now as I know what the advice would have been.

Good luck OP, I hope you're OK.

yawning801 · 09/03/2018 16:41

Dalek Please read the thread. OP has said that her hospital offers a free taxi service home for people who cannot get home.

And to those of you being passive aggressive, or just downright rude, please don't. OP is in enough of a predicament already without having to deal with rudeness.

Glad your friend is on the way OP, hope the ankle is OK. I see the armchair doctors are on their way in Grin

Quatia · 09/03/2018 16:43

Quatia - the NHS is really struggling & doesn't need injuries that can be self medicated turning up on a Friday evening!
You don’t know that it’s just a sprain from the pic or the fact she is typing typing on a phone is not a diagnosis for whether an ankle is broken or not, should we just scrap the X-ray departments, save some money and have you diagnosis online Hmm

whatishappeninginsalisbury · 09/03/2018 16:43

I broke my foot once. I could still type Hmm

But thank you doctor for your insight...

OP - That’s great that your friend is coming. It’s shit when you’ve got no money. We had to get a taxi to A&E recently - 5 minutes drive cost £16!!

We ate less that week, but at least we had it.

Hope your ankle, finances, and your partner all improve Flowers

blastomama · 09/03/2018 16:43

Dalek Please read the thread. OP has said that her hospital offers a free taxi service home for people who cannot get home

Er, you read the thread! That was the response to Daleks question.

twinone · 09/03/2018 16:44

GrinGrinuser diagnosing from a photo.
I've seen it all nowGrin

DalekDalekDalek · 09/03/2018 16:44

@yawning801 I have. OP said that in reply to my question.

sirlee66 · 09/03/2018 16:45

Keep us posted on the old ankle, OP! Hope it's just a small sprain and not a full break!!! Take it easy Flowers

Troels · 09/03/2018 16:46

Hope your ankle gets better soon, good old work friend you have there.
I'd have called 111 for advice in your shoes too. I'm a nurse and used to have a patient who managed to walk back into her house up two steps and call her own abulance when she fell, turns out she had broken her hip.

AriAliyah · 09/03/2018 16:46

"No you read the thread."

"No YOU read the thread."

Ahhh gotta love the internet 🙂

Shopkinsdoll · 09/03/2018 16:47

I called an ambulance a few years ago when I was on my own, my partner was working up north. I only lived 5 min from hospital, but couldn’t see any other way out at the time. I was in so much pain, I didn’t even think of a taxi.

HicDraconis · 09/03/2018 16:47

user14977etc I’m amazed at your X-ray vision and ability to determine whether a bone was broken or not by looking at a photo. You could save the NHS a fortune by screening everyone before they come through the door Hmm

That ankle needs an X-ray. If it’s broken it might need pins / plates. If badly sprained, it still may need a moon boot or below knee cast. A&E minors is precisely the place where OP needs to be.

GnotherGnu · 09/03/2018 16:47

You have twisted it. If it was broken you wouldn't be typing as you'd be in severe pain. Keep it elevated and ice it

What utter, dangerous nonsense. You don't type with your feet, and being in pain doesn't stop people functioning. I should know, I broke my ankle badly a couple of years ago.

Aragog · 09/03/2018 16:47

You have twisted it. If it was broken you wouldn't be typing as you'd be in severe pain

Unless you have invented an X-ray machine that can workVia the computer you don't have a clue if it's broken or not!! Pain levels is not the only measure. FWIW sometimes a sprain can be even more painful than a break. And people can go days without knowing they've broken a bone.

Yes, some breaks cause excruciating pain which debilitate the person entirely. However most do not cause a person to be totally unable to move even their thumbs and fingers to use a phone!!

One day this type of nonsense response is going to lead to serious consequences yet it happens constantly on MN!

Idratherhaveacupoftea · 09/03/2018 16:49

I broke my ankle and to be honest it wasn't that painful, I even turned down painkillers in the hospital. I was lucky my daughter was able to take me, it would have cost me a good £25 for a cab. I would have called an ambulance, that's what they are for, broken bones surely count as emergency. My daughter needed to get a wheelchair for me, I doubt a cab driver would have done that.

LakieLady · 09/03/2018 16:49

Ouch, OP, that really does look painful! If my ankle looked like that and I'd heard a crunch, I'd be thinking broken bone.

Good on your friend for helping you out and shame on your DP for going to work and leaving you to fend for yourself. My ex did that when I broke my wrist, the mean git.

Hope it's nothing major and you get some good pain relief.

Landed · 09/03/2018 16:50

SOME Lovely people here again! Poor OP didn't even want to call for an ambulance that's why she started the chat, who knows someone might have been able to give a really invaluable suggestion. Anyway it gave her time to think and connect with a good person. Hope itynot a busy time at a&e OP so you can be back home with your foot up whether it's a sprain or brake.

Aragog · 09/03/2018 16:51

the NHS is really struggling & doesn't need injuries that can be self medicated turning up on a Friday evening!

See, another one! This kind of advise is dangerous. If I'd posted in MN a few years back I'm sure I'd have had a similar response. Reality it is have been even more seriously ill had I waited. But I've seen people with similar symptoms to my own told not to go in or phone 999, or to wait til the morning to phone a GP. So dangerous to give over the computer advice when you've no clue what's going on!

JustVent · 09/03/2018 16:51

When I broke my foot I walked round on it for hours before I gave up and got a taxi to hospital.

I’m sure it is just twisted (because twisting an ankle is a lot easier than breaking it) but no way can you diagnose that through a screen and she is absolutely right in getting it checked:

justicewomen · 09/03/2018 16:51

A few years ago I fell over and broke my leg and ankle. I could not weight bear but sitting there was no pain. I had to have ambulance men trolley me from the centre of the park to the ambulance and then to hospital for an operation to put titanium scaffolding to support my ankle. I was signed off for 12 weeks. If you had asked me after the accident if it was a break I could not have told you. I had more painful sprains (after the operation it was really painful just to balance it out)

UrsulaPandress · 09/03/2018 16:51

I broke my calcanium (heel bone) and that wasn't painful at all really.

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 09/03/2018 16:51

People on 999 threads like to be nasty and pretend they are a better person than you. If you said I've just been hit by a car goimg 90 miles an hour and I'm bleeding out some posters would still be outraged at you calling 999.
Calling an ambulance in this situation isn't an unreasonae thought to have (whether or not you actually do it), the op needs to get to hospital pretty soon and she can't afford other means, she's probably in a lot of pain and will be worried and clearly said she didnt want to, so theres absolutely no need to be so nasty. It's just being nasty for the sake of it to make other posters feel better about themselves.
Helpful suggestions about alternatives absolutely fine, and I'm glad op has found someone to drive her to hospital but the moral outrage is just ridiculous and makes you look like a twat. There's no point pretending to care about the nhs when you have absolutely no empathy for it's patients.

Qvar · 09/03/2018 16:52

If it was broken you wouldn't be typing as you'd be in severe pain

Not everyone is a wimp like you.

I broke my foot 5 years ago and WALKED HOME. Yes, in agony, but I was certainly not intellectually incapacitated and unable to type, like you seem to think everyone would be.

blastomama · 09/03/2018 16:53

I don't think anyone is being nasty.

If you've ever waited an insanely long time for an ambulance while your loved one is seriously ill or injured, you would probably have strong opinions on misuses of ambulances.
I don't think that makes anyone look like a twat.

justicewomen · 09/03/2018 16:54

Oh and my father's broken ankle was incorrectly diagnosed initially and therefore not put in plaster. He is now severely disabled and having to use a walking frame and scooter

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