WIBU discharging myself from hospital

[Carrottopppp]

Sorry if this is long but it's important I tell you every detail to give the full story. Saturday evening I woke from a nap to find myself really sore and swollen in my groin and part of my pubis, overnight it swelled considerably went really red and painful to walk, sit, stand etc, I called OOH gp Sunday morning who got me an urgent appointment at our urgent treatment centre within A&E. App was at 9.30am with an absolutely lovely doctor who left no stone unturned and said I had developed an abscess and it needed draining urgently due to the risk of sepsis and the fact it had literally appeared out of nowhere and had grown 4x4 inches literally overnight. He got me an appointment with emergency surgical ambulatory care for 2.15pm yesterday, I attended the nurse took one look and said "no surgeon on this ward will touch that as it is on your pubis not your groin" she sent me back to urgent care and the doctor I saw that morning took me back to his room had another look then said its definitely a groin abscess but we'll let gynae have a look anyway, he sent me up to the gynae ward, 3 different doctors took a look but it was the most senior surgeon on the ward who said it actually is groin, not his area of expertise and also due to the amount of blood vessels in the area he couldn't touch it, so I waited and he came back and said I had to go back to emergency surgical ambulatory care as its them who deal with these things. So off I went an as soon as I walked in I was met by the same nurse who told me she had spoken to a surgeon up on surgical assessment ward and that they were waiting for me and expecting me and I may be treated as a golden patient I. E doctor has a look at it then books me a time to go back the next day and have it removed so off I went up to the ward.

Now this is where I started losing my rag mentally, met by a nurse on the ward who asks another lady to show me to my bed and she said "ill be with you in a minute" yeah you guessed it, never saw her again. I was shown my bed obs done and that's it never saw anybody again, nobody knew when the doctor was coming to speak to me, nobody could tell me whether or not I could eat or drink by this point I hadn't eaten in 26 hours, Its on my notes that I'm on antibiotics yet nobody asked if I was due any (I was but mine were at home as nobody told me when all this started that I would become an inpatient), I waited hours, I had absolutely no overnight stuff with me, I got frustrated and I went to the nurses station to let them know I'm discharging myself and have someone call me to arrange to go back in when it's convenient. The nurse couldn't even find the doctors number to call and ask permission to sign off the discharge, and with that I left.

So to clarify I'd been in and out of hospital for 12 hours, I was no further forward than knowing I had an abscess, i had 4 doctors, 2 nurses and a receptionist all having a gander at my genitals, I was passed from place to place, I walked in agony the entire length of our hospital 1/2 mile 3 times, nobody could tell me what the hell was happening and all the prodding and poking aggravated the abscess to the point it doubled in size and started spreading down my leg. WIBU, maybe I was but I was frustrated, tired and I hadn't eaten in 28 hours. I'm planning on attending A&E this morning and hopefully try and get somewhere, I'm due back in work tomorrow and need it removing as my job requires me to be on my feet for 8 hours a day and don't want to be walking around in pain.

Where are you now?
Forget about work tomorrow. There’s no way you’ll be fit. Continue taking the antibiotics. Get back to A&E urgently.

[quote Carrottopppp]@Guacamole001 our other trust hospital is too far away travel wise

@RyanReynoldsHusband I'll still be in the system, it's on my notes for an urgent removal but it's clearly not that urgent when they are leaving me sat around for hours, nobody knowing what the hell is going off, with it being morning doctors are 10 a penny so I'm hoping I'll see one who can give me a time/day to have it removed, I can't be sat around a hospital in limbo when I have children at home, a job to go to tomorrow etc[/quote]
You're not "still in the system" because you discharged yourself, so effectively your case has been closed.

YANBU for being frustrated with the delays, but YABU for leaving before being treated.

You have made things so much harder for yourself now. Your going to be back at the bottom of the list and have to start again.

Nobody likes being in hospital and yes the way you where passed around was shit but you have put yourself into a worse position now.

But what’s done is done, get back take an overnight bag and hopefully you get seen before it gets any worse

I don't want to scare you but my patients do this all the time - refuse to go into hospital or discharge themselves because they are left for a few hours or are paranoid about not going to work.
The next time I see them they often have had gangrene and sepsis in the interim and have to have the leg off which messes up their job for good. I am a community podiatrist.
I see this time and time again. get back there and get yourself readmitted.

In the nicest possible way, get off MN and get up to hospital now

Good luck

@KateTheEighth

In the nicest possible way, get off MN and get up to hospital now

Good luck

Yes, you can always come back to MN while you wait there. But just get there!

YABVVU because you'll be the one moaning when it takes a turn for the worse.

Sorry you’re so unwell OP, and the treatment at the hospital sadly sounds pretty standard. Even pre-covid, there just aren’t enough staff. You won’t “still be in the system” though, by discharging yourself you’ve left the queue so to speak, and you will be at the back again when you go in. I totally understand the worries about work, but you have to look after your health. Pack a bag with your antibiotics, some food and drink and a book and head back. Tell your kids you’re fine but there’s a long queue so you might have to wait all night. You will likely need to wait all over again, but there really isn’t much of an alternative.

@Christmasfairy2020

Yabu. You should have gone to the nurse and said. I know your busy but no one has completed my np assessment I haven't had my anti biotics I urgently need a drink or some iv fluids. You sound young. How old are you

Blame the patient for bad care. That's always a good idea.

OP I'm sorry this has happened. You have been failed because even basic nursing care was not given. Hospitals often take away our decision making skills and lack of communication is usually what causes problems.
Go to A&E and remember a squeaky wheel gets oiled first so be polite but persistent.

You’ve been a bit silly and cut your nose off to spite your face. If you need hospital treatment then work goes out the window and isn’t a consideration.

I would say the treatment you got yesterday is fairly standard. You’ve been seen by a few different doctors while they decided who was best to treat you, what needs doing. It’s the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend…..there will be majorly less staff than usual. Yes things may not have been to the speed you’d have liked but obviously nothing was that urgent as you’re still alive. Chances are both in a&e and on the ward there were people who needed seeing before you did. So you have to wait. Why on Earth did you show a receptionist your genitals?

If you had been in a bed for ward round this morning you may have made a theatre list for today. Your chances for this are less likely now unless deemed a medical emergency as by the time you get processed through a&e theatre lists will have been drawn up. And obviously if there are very sick people in a&e you won’t queue jump just because you were there yesterday…so you could well be hours in a&e again. You’d be best off ringing the ward you self discharged from and seeing if they will do a direct admission….if you’re lucky they may not have got round to discharging you on the system yet.

It’s always up to you to leave if you wish. It’s not a prison.

In ICU I’ve only encountered a few people with septic shock from an abscess and most of them didn’t die. You know best.

Quite unusual to have a large abscess requiring incision and drainage and no IV antibiotics. Also quite unusual for the receptionist to have examined you.

Also hahahahhaha at the absolute moron who thinks drs are ‘waltzing’ around…..that sort of stupid comment is downright embarrassing. I invite to join me for a shift so you can enjoy all the waltzing.

Go to A&E and remember a squeaky wheel gets oiled first so be polite but persistent

😂😂😂. It really, really doesn’t. People are prioritised totally on medical need, not who complains the loudest.

I do know I'll be right back where I started and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll most likely be kept in but I'm also right back where I started in regards to not eating, I still haven't eaten and most likely can't from now so by the time I do get my surgery I'm probably looking at a minimum of 2 days without food or drink, even if I had stayed last night I'd still be sat waiting in hospital with no food or drink, surely that's wrong

Yabu.
You shouldn't have walked out - that has done nothing to solve the matter - you were admitted to the surgical ward. Going to A&E will mean they have to admit you again, but you'll likely be waiting 4 hours plus for that to happen, if not being admitted to a medical assessment unit first. You should have stayed. You were in the right place. Now you have to start the same circus again and due to the bank holiday is likely to take a lot longer and you'll be more "miffed" at how long it takes.

You would not have been two days without food or drink. Why don’t you eat now. Why didn’t you eat when you got back last night? You are very unlikely to be in theatre in the next six hours on a bh Monday when you’re not even currently in the system.

Why haven’t you eaten. If lack of food was a deciding factor in you discharging yourself then not eating at home makes no sense

@Carrottopppp

I do know I'll be right back where I started and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll most likely be kept in but I'm also right back where I started in regards to not eating, I still haven't eaten and most likely can't from now so by the time I do get my surgery I'm probably looking at a minimum of 2 days without food or drink, even if I had stayed last night I'd still be sat waiting in hospital with no food or drink, surely that's wrong

Yes but your now sat at home with no food or drink either, plus you'll be waiting longer to get back on the emergency list.

But you discharged yourself partly as you were hungry. So why didn't you eat as soon as you knew you weren't staying?

Have some food and water before you go in and take water with you. You can sip water closer to procedures.

Get yourself to a hospital ASAP - if that bursts inside you its a whole different ball game. In fact I think calling an ambulance would be best because it will stop you needing to walk around and risk bursting it. They can also give you some stronger drugs ASAP - you must be in agony.

Regards to the receptions the doctor in urgent care brought her in as a chaperone, she popped her head around the curtain how much she saw I'm not sure of.

@hashbrownsandwich there's no moaning here if it gets worse I knew the risks of leaving, not being funny but if a nurse can leave an elderly lady 9 hours asking for pain medication then I really don't think she's going to give 2 f's that I've suddenly developed sepsis overnight. I know what to look out for and I'm only 10 minutes from my hospital by car

Get a shower, pack your bag (and antibiotics) and go back to a &e. You will still have to wait again. They don’t care if you threaten to self discharge again, it will not bump you ip the list.

Being a weekend (and now a BH) it is likely there is just one theatre team and one surgical team for the whole hospital. It will be a long wait so make sure you have everything you need. No job is worth your health. Keep them informed and they may be understanding. If they’re not due to your trial period, then better to find out early what type of boss/company you work for.

I understand your frustratio but I think you've shot yourself in the foot a bit there and it will just end up delaying everything further. Every time I've been in hospital - not that many - its been like this. Things take forever, there's miscommunication, x says its y's responsbility and y says they can't do it without a form from x, and so on. I don't know what the answer is but I don't think leaving will have helped at all.

All you needed to do was wait for the nurse to come back from seeing the other patient, tell her you needed your abx and tell her you hadn’t eaten in x time and could you please have some toast.

And they are very unlikely to do it as a day case. I agree it’s a daft system but an outpatient list is totally different. Urgent and emergency care such as this is done on an inpatient list.

@Carrottopppp

I do know I'll be right back where I started and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'll most likely be kept in but I'm also right back where I started in regards to not eating, I still haven't eaten and most likely can't from now so by the time I do get my surgery I'm probably looking at a minimum of 2 days without food or drink, even if I had stayed last night I'd still be sat waiting in hospital with no food or drink, surely that's wrong

I was almost 3 days not eating or drinking between being ill during the day before I went to a&e and needing surgery. They will give you IV fluids and you will be fine.