How can she be left like this? Take her back to A&E?

[Fearsheisdying]

Posting for traffic has honestly I'm terrified something is seriously wrong with my Mum and don't know what to do so please be nice.

Last week she started with some pain that she says feels like it's right at the very bottom of her ribs and radiating round the sides. She was in agony, basically screaming with pain so I took her to A&E on the advice of 111. All obs and ECG were normal but the blood tests were abnormal. They were going to do a CT scan but then decided as her obs were ok and they didn't think there was a bleed as no fall/injury, they were not going to do a CT scan there but would refer it to the GP to arrange BUT because of the blood test results and recent weightloss, they wanted it done urgently under the "2 week rule" and from his grave tone, I highly suspect he thinks it's cancer and serious. They couldn't/wouldn't give her anymore painkillers because of the painkillers she's on for severe arthritis but these are not touching the pain.

Fast forward to today, she has been in absolute agony since Thursday and seems worse today and can barely move. She's exhausted and crying/screaming in pain. My sister called 999 today but they said as not life threatening they won't send an ambulance but had to speak to GP within an hour. GP receptionist tried to say no appointments so we couldn't speak to GP but after I explained the issue (and she could hear my Mum crying out in pain) she finally agreed to pass a message to the GP so currently waiting to see if GP will call back today or not. Mum says if I take her back to A&E we'll be sat for hours again and nothing will be done but I can't just sit here and watch her in so much pain and do nothing.

What do I do?! Do I make her let me take her to A&E? Do we wait to see if the GP will call? Just feel so helpless

Absolutely agree, as scans and even MRI's do not detect kidney malfunction either.

If the pain has got worse just take her to a&e , it's obviously serious if oramorph isn't helping.

OP if there is any change contact 111 or your GP.

@AttentionAll yes, I should have done but I had a five month old baby - consultant told me that the gallstones were brought on by pregnancy - and after having two hospital procedures I then found out that my mum had terminal cancer. I didn’t have the energy to deal with anything else at that time. My point is that if you have private insurance (as I did) or the means to pay you can get help privately in urgent situations. Not for heart attacks, car accidents etc but my current insurance has cancer cover and I wouldn’t be waiting two weeks for a scan.

I lost 10 stone 20 years ago.. I got gallstones and it got so bad i couldnt eat SOLID food. i went through months and months of excrutiating pain and A + E admission. In and out of A + E for TEN MONTHS. then doctors coming to my home to give me morphine injections whenever i had an attack . Finally a doctor prescribed me morphine pills which melted under the tongue that i took every time i had an attack. First attack was 3 July 2002 Scan was on 19 Dec 2002 after months of A + E admissions . Early Feb 2003 i got a letter telling me id have to wait for ANOTHER YEAR. I cried my eyes out and actually considered suicide. It was only after a private consultation with a surgeon and then another admission to hospital and an NHS appointment with the same surgeon that my op was promised within 6 weeks It was done 5 weeks later on 28 April 2003.id lost 8 stone by the time i had my op. The surgeon and two doctors told me it was caused by losing weight too fast. (slimming world) The pain was excrutiating and the first attack appeared after id lost nearly 4 stone. Back then i had no idea fast weight loss could cause gallstones I was losing a stone a month and whenever i did try to slow it down i either stayed the same or gained.
I actually did seriously consider suicide especially after i got the letter telling me id have to wait ANOTHER YEAR. I thought it was beyond cruel especially when id lost the weight by myself with willpower.
i believe due to mixing tramadol with as many over the counter drugs as i could in the early months to stop the pain i have been left with long term issues and its also left a bitter taste in the mouth TBH. Im grateful for the NHS but i was in so much pain i was thinking of overdosing (which i was bloody close to anyway) i also think the fact i won Class Slimmer of the Year and started to appear in our local papers may have been a factor in me getting the op sooner than that awful letter said but i shall never know.

Lots of people are in chronic pain all the time. Morphine has now been prescribed. But the cause needs to be found and treated. There is a limit to how much pain relief can be safely given. There is no point giving pain relief at such a high level for a few weeks so that someone is left with permanent side effects.

It's an extremely long time to wait in agony though and totally unacceptable to expect someone to wait that long in excruciating pain!

What a fucking disgrace- what an absolute joke of a country we live in.
I’m so sorry for your mum OP, so so sorry.

@Bluesandwhites as I’ve said above, I wasn’t admitted and my GP didn’t take it seriously even though I had turned yellow and the scan had picked up that I had gallstones. My consultant put his head in his hands when he first saw me. He said I had a textbook case and that pregnancy was a big risk factor and that my GP should have picked it up months ago.

I've worked in general surgery receiving and now work in medical receiving and I would take my mum in to ED if she had had whatever analgesia is available and the pain is not settling. I'd also be quite careful how much oramorph she has at home. I think its quite strange that she is being given oramorph as her top of the line pain killer for her arthritis but to use it for an undiagnosed acute pain.
Is she spiking fevers at all? Any jaundice? Was it just her inflammatory markers that were off? I've certainly seen less deserving admissions. I really hope she gets seen and gets her CT soon.

Jaundice can be harder to assess in people who aren't white though, not everyone turns yellow, although the whites of the eye are often a giveaway, if you know what you are looking for.

This, a thousand times this 👏👏👏

So many people here seem to be oblivious to what A&E actually is and how it works, let alone general healthcare. I’m all for advocating for yourself, but leave the decisions and advice to the experts.

@Lozzybear Fair enough if you want to see a private GP and hospital. But someone with jaundice caused by a gallstone blockage would normally be admitted that day to an NHS hospital. So you would have been treated urgently anyway.

@AttentionAll yes my NHS GP should have referred me that day but they didn’t, they couldn’t care less. When you don’t get support from your GP, you do whatever you can to resolve matters.

@Noonesperfect People are in pain all the time though even if they get treatment straight away.
I suspect you have never had serious health problems.
When my mum had terminal cancer she had to choose between being in pain but being awake, and sleeping all the time.

So many people here seem to be oblivious to what A&E actually is and how it works, let alone general healthcare. I’m all for advocating for yourself, but leave the decisions and advice to the experts.

The 'experts' usually safety net the patients they see from an arse covering perspective if nothing else, if the symptoms don't resolve or increase do X is fairly standard practice.

@AttentionAll she's used to chronic pain. For my Mum to be crying it really does have to be bad. She's in tears asking me how she's supposed to cope with this for 2 weeks. G.P said nothing has been sent/nothing on their system. I'll be honest, I don't trust her Dr's - they are in special measures

Go back to A&E as they can do scans and tests to find out why your mum is in such terrible pain. This type of pain is not ok and needs checking right away by doctors.

@AttentionAll . I wonder if you'd feel this unsympathetic if it was you or one of your loved ones in excruciating pain!

@Lozzybear Sorry to hear that. You should have made a formal complaint.
NHS GPs are actually independent businesses. You need to take the time to find a good one just as you would have to do with a private GP. Not everyone in any profession is good at their job.

@Noonesperfect I am very sympathetic to the OP. But some people commenting on here have zero understanding of what they are talking about but keep stating things as if they are fact.
OP needs to ring GP or 111 if there are any changes in symptoms or levels of pain or go to A and E if any changes look worrying.

My 2 week pathway was handled completely outside of my GP. Thought you may be able to deal direct with a different dept instead of trying to get hold of GP. I also had a oncology nurse available to me.
I hope you get progress soon.

Really hope her pain eases soon and you get some answers x

That sounds awful and am sorry for your mum, but she was given a choice. At the moment OPs mum is not being given that choice and also has no idea what is causing the pain which must be very frightening.

After referral I mean!