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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be angry & upset that DH didn’t want me to go to hospital?

324 replies

ThisWayDown · 26/12/2018 13:04

I’m in South Africa for a holiday with DH and DC. No family here but a friend. Today at the beach the waves were strong. I got knocked over by one and my knee gave way with a loud snap. I tore my anterior cruciatr ligament (ACL) 15 years ago when someone skied into me and had a reconstruction - it tore again some years later and I needed another. The way the knee sounded and hurt and not being able to stand on it made me really worry that I’d torn my ACL again.

DH helped me stand up and hobble over to our towels on the shore. He then said “we’re not going to A&E”. He was being slightly lighthearted but also totally serious. He said that’s because we went to A&E our last holiday due to a hand fracture I turned out to have.

We took the kids to get some dinner before heading back to our rented flat. As we went home on the bus, my knee became increasingly painful and in my view was swollen. DH said “oh shit” when I told him I was in pain and seemed angry. He said he was upset that I may have injured myself. He was caring but when I said I wanted to go to A&E he seemed to shut down, which he often does. He thought it was in my “best interests” not to but to get back to the apartment and rest and decide tomorrow, as it was “highly likely” that I wouldn’t need treatment and that the hospital wouldn’t be able to do anything. And the kids needed to get home. He thought I was being unreasonable going.

He’s not a doctor. I was angry that he’d - yet again - put what he thought should happen above what I did. He thought I should wait to the morning. When we got off the bus I told him to take the children home and I would call my friend to take me there. She didn’t answer. I said I’d take a cab. He said he wasn’t leaving me but he didn’t want to take the children to the hospital as that wasn’t in their best interests, so it was “an impossible situation”. He wanted me not to go. I said I was in considerable pain and I strongly suspected it was torn, and that I couldn’t believe he wanted to override that. We had a huge argument at the bus stop, in front of our kids SadBlush They wanted to come to the hospital. Eventually we all went in a cab.

The triage nurse sent me to wait to see a doctor. My family stayed with me for a while but I sent them home so the kids could go to bed. My friend eventually called but had been drinking so couldn’t drive over to see me.

My DH said again while here innA&E that he hadn’t wanted to go to A&E as we went on the last holiday. I said I didn’t realise there was a quota, regardless of whether someone needed treatment or not Hmm I am so upset that he wanted me to delay hospital treatment to the next morning or, better yet, not seek any. I am so livid and heartbroken by his irrationality, callousness and rigidity (again) that I put my friend and not him as my emergency contact and told DH I’d let the kids know how I was getting on but not him.

I strongly suspect he is on the autistic - one of our children is - and so does our ASD child’s psychologist and the couples therapisf we used to see. He agrees that he has traits sometimes but when pressed will deny he has it and refuse to seek a diagnosis or accept that some of his thinking and actions are, er, different and frankly come across as selfish and uncaring. He says he was worried about me, just felt it was much better for me if I slept on it and decided on A&E in the morning. I said that wasn’t his decision to make.

We’ve had a lovely holiday so far but I am so down with him not respecting my opinion and thinking it’s aporopriate to think he knows best. I’ve been waiting for hours to see a doctor and, apart from my children who have been so sweet and caring, I feel utterly alone. AIBU to think he’s BU?

OP posts:
Gone4Good · 27/12/2018 02:08

I'm very interested this - 'Asperger husbands'. My own husband has some very strange behaviours and some years ago my adult son suggested to me he might have Aspergers. Can anyone suggests anywhere on MN where I could learn more about living with someone with Aspergers? Thanks.

MrsTerryPratcett · 27/12/2018 02:25

You poor thing. I hope you feel better soon and it doesn't ruin your holiday too much.

Your DH's apparent lack of empathy could be linking to autism. Goodness knows why so many posters on this thread are lacking it.

JustJoinedRightNow · 27/12/2018 02:26

OP I hope you’re OK. I’m in Sydney and we are having a heatwave over the next few days so it is probably best for you to stay indoors in the air conditioning and rest your leg.
You’ve had a horrible time on this holiday and this thread too, some people are being really horrible. If you want to chat more about how hot it is here PM me 😀 you’ll get great care, our hospitals are excellent.

CaptainCabinets · 27/12/2018 02:29

@OP your response to @HollyJolly30 asking for clarification on your whereabouts was very passive aggressive and disproportionately rude.

Makes me wonder if you’re always so dramatic and whether or not that has any bearing on the situation...

CaptainCabinets · 27/12/2018 02:30

@JollyHolly30, even

JustJoinedRightNow · 27/12/2018 02:31

Maybe OP could be cut some slack right about now eh? She’s got a really painful knee injury and a difficult husband to deal with.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 27/12/2018 03:46

Wow, and the nastiness just continues, doesn't it.

Injured woman in severe pain with full leg brace and torn ACL, whose holiday has just been rather trashed, gets a bit snarky with people who CBA to read the whole thread - and some other poster(s) think that's worthy of a further kicking??

May your life be as interesting as the OP's!

Thiswaydown - I hope that you manage to find somewhere cool to hang out for the next week at least because yes, it's going to be fucking hot here. Your DH is never going to understand because, regardless of whether or not he's on the spectrum, he clearly thinks/thought HE knew best, so the fact that he was wrong about that isn't going to register, as he'd have to admit failure/wrongness. (My DH is not on the spectrum at all but has a total inability to ever accept that he's wrong - and when it's blatantly obvious that he is/was, he manages to make it someone else's fault rather than accept it)

WhereTheFuckIsMyFuckingCoat · 27/12/2018 03:53

@CaptainCabinets - I'd say the OPs response is more an indication of someone who has been given an unreasonably hard time by both her 'D'H and quite a few posters on this thread, and by someone who clearly hasn't been arsed to read the thread properly to boot - all whilst in great amounts of pain and having a miserable holiday.

Oh and Medicare are fantastic for performing scans/xrays at all times of day or night in public hospitals, and you most certainly can NOT get a full leg brace, or endone for that matter otc here - in fact you can't even buy the weakest codeine otc here - you need a script even for 8/500. (Yes I'm in the medical field in Australia)

Hope they gave you decent pain relief op and you feel a bit better soon.

JollyHolly30 · 27/12/2018 04:23

I genuinely wasn't trying to be rude!
I was in a busy club waiting for my OH to finish work tonight and had read the thread but totally missed somehow the OP change the details on her whereabouts.

FWIW, I tore my ACL 6 years ago and it was awful. My plan was to come back and offer relevant sympathies and advice once I'd clarified my confusion on the OP's location, as it seemed pretty obvious from 'I'm in South Africa' that that's where she in fact was. My mistake. I absolutely didn't intend my question to come across as rude, and certainly not nasty of unsympathetic as I know exactly how horrible an experience an actual torn ACL is.

JollyHolly30 · 27/12/2018 04:28

Captaincabinets, I really don't see how you can say I gave her an 'unreasonably hard time' when I was simply confused about the discrepancy in her location. That I admit, was because I'd missed her update but I didn't even address the original poster, let alone criticise her.

ThisWayDown · 27/12/2018 04:29

Thank you ThumbWitches and *FuckingCoat" Flowers

Yes @CaptainCabinets I was pass agg to @JollyHolly30. tbh I thought her post was rather passive aggressive itself, but I was overly caustic - not cool.

I read some shitty responses to me on here while in A&E last night and shrugged them off, but this morning I'm tired, in pain and really grumpy as the realisation that my holiday is trashed, as Thumbs perfectly put it, and Holly's post irritated me. It wasn't that she didn't pick up on me actually being in Australia as that confusion was of my own making. It was the "has she changed her mind" and constant repeated reference to me as 'she' that triggered me - years of conditioning by my mother saying "who's she, the cat's mother". (I am irrationally pleased that I've managed to inadvertently blame my mother Wink)

OP posts:
JollyHolly30 · 27/12/2018 04:35

I referred to you as 'she' as I don't know your name and I wasn't sure if OP is accepted on here as an acronym for original postER as well as 'original post'
I suppose that's down to me being a relative newbie.

Possibly a little OTT to use that as a reason to dislike my post.

JollyHolly30 · 27/12/2018 04:38

And I suppose I used 'has she changed her mind' as it seemed from your original post, quite categorical and not up for debate, that you WERE in South Africa. Again, my mistake for missing your update. There's no more to my post than that. I genuinely wasn't being passive aggressive or trying to be rude.

Hope your knee mends soon, I'm constantly worrying I'll tear mine again, especially walking down hills. Despite your annoyance with me, I genuinely hope you're better ASAP and able to enjoy what's left of your holiday in some capacity.

Flowerpot2005 · 27/12/2018 04:39

Yet again, another thread where women simply can't be supportive. The need to be vile is clearly deeply ingrained in some people.

I'm really sorry about your DH being unsupportive, your knee & holiday OP. Try not to let it get you down too much, you're clearly in a very beautiful part of the world (knew you weren't in SA when you said were travelling by bus lol) & whilst you might struggle with pain/mobility, you can still enjoy parts & enjoy beautiful scenery. Hugs.

ThisWayDown · 27/12/2018 04:42

Oh crossed posts! Apologies @JollyHolly30 I misread the tone of your wording. Flowers

Yes a torn ACL is a bugger. I am actually trying not to break down sobbing as regardless of whether this one is fully torn (which I don't think it is), or partially torn (which I do think it is), it's bad enough that I'm on crutches AGAIN and not able to walk properly AGAIN for the fourth time in 17 years. My first ACL reconstruction was because of a full tear, and it wasn't a great job and has left me with nerve damage all the way done the side of my leg from above me knee to mid-calf. So my leg is mildly sore and sensitive all the time just from that. The second ACL tear was also a full tear, albeit many years later. I thought that was a good job done and really didn't expect for it to (possibly) tear again. But the pain and signs are mostly the same.

As I mentioned, I've also had cancer and it's quite depressing after having had years on and off of being incapacitated for several reasons to have a setback and not be fully mobile again.

OP posts:
ThisWayDown · 27/12/2018 04:48

Ach, crossed posts with you again @JollyHolly30. You do sound lovely and I did jump the gun there Blush

I also feel embarrassed that I might sound a tad overdramatic in my last past re "trying not to break down sobbing". What I actually meant was I'm trying not to give in to the urge to think about how shit it is and wallow. I am currently sitting on a balcony looking at a gorgeous Sydney harbour view. DH has made me lunch. He is very good at the practicalities, that is how he shows his love, and would do anything I asked to make me more comfortable but I am still exasperated with him after last night.

OP posts:
JollyHolly30 · 27/12/2018 04:49

I totally understand how that would send you into a tailspin emotionally. I actually find my mental health suffering quite a bit whenever I'm ill enough to be off work or incapacitated for more than a couple of days. It's a horrible feeling, especially when it happens away from home where you're supposed to be carefree and enjoying yourself.

Hopefully if it's not fully torn you'll be on the move again sooner than in the past. Definitely take it easy until you know for sure.

bastardkitty · 27/12/2018 05:40

I'm sorry all the stupid came out to play on your thread OP. Greendale's answer is the standard vileness. I don't know why MN don't ban him.

You absolutely did need prompt medical attention. People saying otherwise are simply uninformed or being goady.

Your H does not have your best interests at heart and is clearly uncaring towards you. My ex was similar. I first of all decided never to consider his point of view as to whether the DCs or I needed medical attention because the only consideration for him was his own discomfort or embarrassment. Ultimately I left him and life is much better without him. It's really horrible having someone in the centre of your life who absolutely doesn't have your back. My friend has had repeated medical mishaps on a succession of holidays. Her DH has been nothing but kind and supportive. I'm sorry your trip went this way. You must be really disappointed and it's so painful.

Italiangreyhound · 27/12/2018 05:41

CaptainCabinets the OP was not rude, she clarified the situation. Which she was under no obligation to do.

She is away from home, hurt and very unhappy with her spouse.

Why not cut her some slack and not try and tell her off like a naughty child!

Oh JustJoinedRightNow just typed that before I read your post, yes, cut her some slack really sums it up!

Italiangreyhound · 27/12/2018 05:50

ThisWayDown

"I also feel embarrassed that I might sound a tad overdramatic..." I honestly do not think you are being dramatic. The situation is crap. I;m so sorry for you.

Glad DH made you laugh. I hope you can work on the issues and all will be well. Thanks

mirialis · 27/12/2018 07:58

"trying not to break down sobbing" - I'd be a red-eyed, puffy-faced, bunged-up mess by now if I were in your shoes! Let it out when you have a bit of time to yourself from the kids - better out than in.

I think good ACL reconstructions are supposed to be just as good as the real thing aren't they... meaning just as likely to tear or snap as the original thing if you're in the sea, skiing, playing netball or hockey, riding a bike... or even just doing the hoovering (this how people I know have all done theirs)!

Is the brace removable for icing and a bit of relief in the heat?

At least you will have extra legroom on the mega flight home...

WaterOffaDucksCrack · 27/12/2018 09:14

He does know that he can't make a "best interests" decision for you if you have the capacity to make the decision for yourself doesn't he?
All this talk of acting in your best interests...signpost him to the MCA then information on ACL tears.

Crazyfrog007 · 27/12/2018 09:19

Oh OP, I've just read all the developments since I originally posted and clearly, the majoritys lack of understanding of an ACL tear has really come out to play here (this includes me).

I'm sorry you've had such bloody nasty posts on here to boot and really hope you're feeling better soon. Being in pain/strapped up on holiday is shit.Flowers

SalitaeDiscesa · 27/12/2018 09:55

I don't know much about knee injuries but my husband has recently been diagnosed as having ASD. It's making me look back on a series of crises in our lives and I now

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