My word should have been enough

[EthelsAuntie]

A couple of weeks ago, I was admitted to hospital. I had severe abdominal pain, no appetite, being violently sick, couldnt even keep water down. I hadn't been to the toilet for a wee or a poo for at least 24hrs.
The dr wanted to send me for an x-ray of my tummy but wouldn't send me until I got a confirmed negative on a pregnancy test.
I repeatedly told them that I wasn't pregnant. I knew that I wasn't pregnant. However because I'm married they said they needed to do the test. This seriously held up proceedings. They had to put me on a drip. They probably would have done that anyway. But they had to wait for hours until I was able to go for a wee. Then they did a test on it and only then did they request the X-ray because lo behold I was not pregnant.
It turned out to be extremely serious and I needed emergency surgery that took 5 hours.
AIBU to have felt very strongly that they should have taken my word for it. Make me sign something to say that I wasn't pregnant. Fine. Don't just dismiss me because I'm of childbearing age.
I also wonder what would have happened had I been pregnant. Neither I nor a fetus would have survived what the actual problem was had it been left untreated.
It was an awful time and I have to say the constant asking and not taking my word for it did not help. I was feeling like shit. I am a strong, intelligent woman in my 40s but I felt I didn't have a voice to be listened to.

Patients lie - about alcohol intake , smoking and drugs , about lots of things . Unfortunately, helthcare workers can't take every thing at face value.

@Carriemac

Patients lie - about alcohol intake , smoking and drugs , about lots of things . Unfortunately, helthcare workers can't take every thing at face value.

I think when a woman tells you she is post menopausal or had a hysterectomy and you "can't" believe her then you should be asking for a guardian to be appointed, since you have plainly deemed her to be incompetent to consent or make decisions.

Either women have agency or we don't. When you are delaying urgent treatment for hours or risking theatre slots rather than believe what the adult patient is telling you then something is badly wrong.

Yes but this is extremely rare and wouldn’t end in a viable pregnancy without a uterus and would end in its own emergency surgery!

@Carriemac

You can have an ectopic pregnancy after a hysterectomy

It doesn't matter. It really doesn't. A pregnancy test can be strongly advised, can be explained why it is a good idea but never should be forced. Withholding care is forcing someone. It is simply not ethical.

But perhaps they needed to rule
out ectopic from her symptoms ? It can be life threatening

Nurse here. Pregnancy tests are mandatory before surgery and it makes sense to me that this it could be the same prior to an X-ray. You did need surgery so it’s just a rule we have to follow with the patient’s best interest in mind. It’s not because women lie but because it’s more common to have unexpected pregnancies than is realised.
Having said that, when I go for X-rays at the dentist, all that is required is my word that I am not pregnant. So I suspect they needed to make sure of this due to the symptoms you were experiencing, plus the possibility of surgery.

If it had been me, I might have considered taking a urine sample via catheter insertion rather than wait for you to pass urine. A blood test can also be done but it would depend on facilities as to how quickly the results can be processed.

In the end it turned out okay fortunately. You can raise a case with PALS to investigate. They can then either explain their reasoning behind your treatment plan or if you were made to suffer unnecessarily this will be fed back to the team to acknowledge their mistakes and avoid making them again.

@Carriemac

But perhaps they needed to rule out ectopic from her symptoms ? It can be life threatening

Then you tell the patient you want to do the test as there is a small risk of ectopics even after certain types of hysterectomy and if she tells you she hasn't had sex in multiple months you either believe her or ask to have her certified incompetent to make a decision because you have assumed she is a liar or stupid. Not something which is generally assumed about men.

What isn't acceptable is the extent to which women's agency and ability to make adult decisions about our own bodies is removed "because roolz".

When I went to the ivf clinic for my testing, they made me go do a pregnant test to confirm I wasn’t pregnant… that one stung!

@Phobiaphobic

Given that men can give birth now, are they going to insist any man with abdominal pain has to do a pregnancy test too? Or will they take his word for it because he's a man.

Men can’t give birth. Transmen can. So they should be asked.

Same thing happened to me when I lived in Bournemouth. I can actually understand both sides of this.

I agree it's wrong to withhold care from a woman in pain just because she is of childbearing age. In this case in paticular where an inability to pass urine was a significant factor, it seems very cruel.

I’m sorry - but that did make me smile. And what a way to find out

It was!

No is absolutely not unreasonable. We have to pregnancy test every single girl over 11. (Including special needs children) before they go to theatre. Better safe than sorry.

Me too! And the nurse who asked me was 7/8 months pregnant at the time.

I didn’t say anything at the time but I really struggled with that nurse. She was lovely. But she was pregnant. And I wasn’t.

Obviously, she has a right to her job but I am sure I was not the only person who felt (possibly unreasonably, I was on quite a cocktail of drugs and hormones) that it was a slap in the face.

Not unreasonable for them to want to confirm you weren't pregnant, but if you couldn't urinate due to dehydration or whatever then they should have done a blood test (qualitative hCG blood test) to check for the pregnancy hormone, not delayed a potentially urgent and life-saving operation.