to think DP should see the doc urgently!

[Equallength]

One leg has been swollen for a while. It comes and goes and a few years ago he had cellulitis in the same leg. He’s scratched it today in the garden and it’s bleeding a bit but more worryingly is leaking fluid! I know there’s an association with congestive heart failure, which has worried me a bit as he has a low heart rate to begin with.

Hes 54 and otherwise fit bit recently gets a bit out of breath. WWYD?

Sorry came into this late sounds like he is getting medical attention which is what’s needed. Good luck

Thanks x

Have you ever tried to get a same day appointment with a GP ? Ours opens at 8am - last time I tried, I sat from a few minutes to eight, dialling repeatedly and getting the answering machine. The second 8am comes you get the engaged tone because the world and his wife are doing the same thing. When you do get through, there are no appointments left and the advice is to go to A&E, walk in, or use 111. Why people are criticising the OP for using A&E for something that could well have been serious is beyond me. And FWIW the OP should be making a complaint to PALS about the way they were treated by the doctor. We’re not medical experts - that’s why we have an NHS. I appreciate that some people do use A&E for trivial complaints but this clearly wasn’t one of them.

READ THE THREAD !!!

I personally would tell I’m so confused what all these abbreviations mean (DP??)

I’d be insisting my husband / dad or whatever saw a doctor.

After it started oozing I’d probably stick him in the car and take him straight to A&E..

DP is partner.

What medication is he on OP? He could be on the wrong BP meds, or could be other meds causing an interaction with another med he is taking.

You definitely need to to see a doctor.
Like some one said earlier, phone 111.
I know I would .

Update. So the hospital must have followed up with the GP as the surgery rang today to offer a phone consultation tomorrow morning. The cut is healing but his leg leaks at the slightest knock. I’m so sad for him.

@Equallength is he in pain? Does he have other symptoms? Sounds really awful, hope he gets the treatment he needs soon

They ache. His mum, who passed away before we met, apparently had a similar thing so there may be a hereditary element to whatever is going on.

Update.

So, the hospital pulled their finger out and referred him to Gp, GP sorted bloods (couldn’t tell what cos just a QR code) and he’s had those done. Private GP said wait for NHS bloods to come back, GP also arranged a Doppler on his legs and that was postponed until today.

He saw the nurse, she did the Doppler and announced he has “VPD” - vascular pulmonary disease. And told him to Google it. He’s going to see his GP and hasn’t googled it. I have, and am climbing the walls with horror. Dr. Google gives a life expectancy of 3-5 years. Someone tell me this is all bollocks.

The nurse, who I could cheerfully shake right now, also suggested he “get some stockings” but added he won’t get them on the NHS till he’s 75. He’s 54 and will apparently be long dead by then.

Someone talk me down. I don’t want to speak to him because I will frighten him and I keep crying.

It sounds like you or he has got confused with the term peripheral vascular disease. There's nothing pulmonary about this and it isn't going to kill him in 3-5 years. Please try to relax a little and ask questions of the doctors you are seeing in real life - the advice on this thread, with the obvious exception of 1 or 2 people who knew what they were talking about, has been absolutely woeful and totally counterproductive.

OP - calm down. Firstly The hospital does not refer a patient to the GP . It is YOUR role to make a GP appointment.

Secondly - I think the practice nurse indicated that DH may have peripheral vascular disease or peripheral arterial disease (that is what a Doppler test checks for). It is completely different to a pulmonary vascular disease.

Practice nurses are often poor at doing Doppler tests accurately anyway so I wouldn’t worry too much. Compression hosiery is like any other prescription - not free.

yes re the pulmonary thing I queried that, she didn’t do any lung testing, she put testing things on both arms and legs at the same time and said the pressure in one leg was 1.52 and the cut off for diagnoses is 1.2

Ah yes but to me, it’s not obvious which is which!

Pulmonary means the lungs. Peripheral means "away from the centre", so the arms and legs. She won't have done a Doppler of his legs and declared he has diseased arteries of the lungs. You need to google peripheral vascular disease.

That’s what I thought. So she’s mixed up pulmonary and peripheral. Bloody hell.

Ok -
so generally we make a diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease ( should be called peripheral arterial disease )when the ankle brachial pressure index is less than 0.9 and even then it’s not really clinically significant until 0.7 or less. We also do not make the diagnosis on this measurement alone - we examine the patient and take a history.

greater than 1.3 means that the vessel was incompressible ( as might be the case in someone with diabetes and very calcified vessels. 1.52 is meaningless - it just tells you that the pressure in the artery at the ankle could not be measured. It may be than the nurse is not experienced enough to do the test correctly.

please take a deep breath , take a pinch of salt and make an appointment with your GP .
Vasc specialist…

Ok.I’m calming slowly.

so, this makes sense right?

The test was inconclusive on the left leg so they should not have recommended full compression stockings.
a light stocking or tubi grip would be better.

DH will be sent to see someone who is more practiced at measuring ABPI with a Doppler.

This happens all the time - no need to worry

I recently had oral antibiotics for what I assume was cellulitis, red, hot, spreading painful patch from an insect bite. It got to 15 cm in diameter but the antibiotics worked well. It was fluxo something or other for 7 days.