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?

I know someone who has lymphoedema in her legs and it really improves when she does aquafit. Apparently it's the combination of exercise in the water and pressure of the water that makes the difference. It's not a cure obviously but it relieves the symptoms.

Hope he's sorted and home now, op. He did the right thing going in.

I'm wondering about that too. The sole of the foot looks black. I too think that the cut is a red herring or rather a herring that has exposed something else.

A normal heart rate is 60-100. 45 is very low. With that leg, the inflammation, the heart rate and the heart rate now having doubled, there's something not right. Thankfully he has gone to hospital.

Agree, lymph drainage will be good once his leg has been seen to.

Plenty of YouTube videos about the technique - it is a very light stroke with a 'dry brush' or light finger touch up towards the groin where the lymph nodes are located, to stimulate the lymphatic drainage system. Clear fluid is likely lymph which is the body's natural waste removal system.

I hope he has been seen and knows what was causing this issue.

Bless him, hope he has been seen and all is ok.

He was finally seen about 4:30 this morning. What a waste of time. The doc said she wasn’t there to be dealing with things like this, but she checked him out thoroughly. They didn’t even dress his leg which is still leaking.

He is arranging to see the private GP service via his private medical insurance later today.

re the sole of his foot being black on the first photo, I think that was just lighting.

Looks like vascular disease to me at the very least. I should think he,ll need compression stockings.

While he is being assessed and we’re waiting for an update, DH’s heart rate was decreasing. Initially we thought it was a combination of increasing fitness and reduced stress, but when he started getting symptomatic (dizzy, breathless during exercise, dropping down to 40-45) he did a couple of ecgs (paramedic, very handy) and took himself off to hospital. He had a very gummed up coronary artery (93% tubular occlusion of LAD). Couple of stents later and he’s right as rain, but without the miracle of modern science he’d be heading for a “widow maker” heart attack.

They didn't even dress his leg that's still leaking? That's ridiculous!

That's horrendous.

Did he mention his other symptoms ?

The private GP sounds like a sensible plan. Can you get some childrens bedwetting pads from the supermarket so he can lay his leg on it, so he isn't dripping everywhere ?

If he has private medical insurance with access to a private GP why on earth didn’t he go that route first?

The doctor was pretty rude, how could you have known it wasn't urgent with those signs. I suppose good that it didn't ring alarm bells with the doctor though. Hope private GP gets to the bottom of it.

Sorry @Equallength I was too late to offer any advice - but it would have been "he needs to go to A&E". My other bit of advice is for any time there appears to be a medical problem:

It doesn't matter how well someone unknown on here (or anywhere else for that matter), describes the symptoms and/or a condition the questioner is asking about, or how emphatic they seem when giving you a diagnosis, no qualified medic would say that it was such and such - they might suggest it could be such and such - but they would follow that up with that it has to be seen by a Dr - and in your DH's case, today - whether that be the patients own GP, a walk in centre, minor injuries, or A&E proper.

With your DH's previous history OP my suggestion would have been either he needed to see his GP today (yesterday), or A&E, no messing about with anything else, it would have just been wasting time. However, your DH eventually went to A&E, which is great, and even if it turned out to be something really simple (I hope it did), I still believe that it was the right thing to do in these circumstances.

Also, and sorry I know this is obvious anyway, if one of the online "experts" in Mumsnet were right in their diagnosis this time, it does not mean that they, or anyone else (including me) will be correct another time. I think that you did the right thing coming on here for advice, and that is for the simple reason that I am yet to see someone on here seeking advice for an acute and serious sounding medical problem, and them being told by the majority "not to see a Dr the same day".

Unfortunately OP, as you have probably already realised, if you read many acute medical posts on here you will almost certainly have seen the advice that "unless someone's head is hanging on by only a blood vessel, or they have actually stopped breathing, don't waste A&E's time, and whatever else they do or don't do, they must never call an ambulance! Ok, I admit that I may be exaggerating a little bit, but some people do get rather carried away when thinking A&E visits are unnecessary, and that hardly anyone should ever call an ambulance.

Sadly, I do know that some people are idiotic enough to call an ambulance because they have a spot on their nose that is hurting, or because they have missed the last bus home, which is 15 miles away, and they can't afford a taxi, but I doubt very much that we get many people like that on Mumsnet? Ambulance control itself will do a mini triage, and decide how urgent someone needs an ambulance, and they will advise some people that they will be waiting 12 hours for an ambulance so they might prefer to make their own way to hospital, or even to see their own GP.

@Equallength if you haven't already while I have been typing this, please let us know how your DH is 💐

Thanks for the up-date OP. I am very disappointed with that Dr's reaction. I appreciate that she has probably got a full waiting room, and has probably been on the go for hours, but she could easily have put your husband off returning another time, when it could be very serious.

Surely the whole point of us seeing a Dr is because we have not had years of training, so we don't know whether something is serious or not, and this was potentially very serious. I do wonder if your DH gave her all his history, and told her about the worry that it could be Cellulitis again - but I don't suppose he would appreciate you cross questioning him about that to find out!

I think your DH was absolutely right to go and the A&E doctor was rude and dismissive of his obvious health issue.
Unfortunately an incredibly shit A&E experience is currently normal in our supposedly rich and developed country.
God help us all in the UK right now.
I hope the private GP is more helpful and DH can get sorted quickly for what is at the very least a painful condition.

Several posts on here saying the same thing. There are different causes of vascular disease. Venous insufficiency is treated with compression, but if the cause is arterial, as in peripheral arterial disease, compression can be disastrous.

My brother-in-law had something similar, he had a rash on his legs, swelling & eventually leaking. His doctor said it was a reaction to a virus and sent him home with prescribed oral medication and topical emollients. His legs sorted out after that x

Because we only realised that last night and because the private GP service is virtual and his leg was weeping. And there’s an excess to pay on private cover when we are supposed to have a functioning NHS free at the point of delivery…

First picture looks like cellulitis is back. He needs antibiotics urgently.

I think the doctor in A&E may possibly have meant it was more appropriate to a GP and referral to the appropriate specialist, than A&E, rather than it was something trivial. But that’s no excuse for rudeness - after all, how are you supposed to know ? And if you had left it and something serious had happened, you probably would have been questioned as to why you didn’t take action sooner, so you can’t win.

I’m glad he’s following it up with a GP because it does sound as though it needs proper investigation.

He also needs checking for DVT

What difference would that make ? Some posters have medical training, and some have personal experience. Regardless of either, he still needs face to face medical advice.