Doctors ignoring me for a year and now it's come to this

[Laurawharton]

Aibu to think I should go to a and e tomorrow (really don't want to as I know they are busy) or just face the fact that no one cares
Had a lump appear by my eye last Christmas. I thought it was a spot until it didn't move for 3 months so phoned the doctors who wouldn't see me face to face but told me that it would need to be off in a strict 6 month time scale if it's not gone by then. 6 months later I phoned to say it's still there and now larger. I had a different doctor who basically said 'and why are you telling us that go private it's cosmetic'. Phoned again to get a face to face as everyone was screaming cancer at me, finally got a face to face and told they don't know what it is but yeah go private to have it off or join a over 2 year waiting list.
Anyway about a month ago it grew big again so phoned them as I was concerned as it's so close to my eye and was starting to mess with my vision and give me headache and that side of my face kept going numb. They said they referred me but still heard nothing. Now it's the size of a golf ball red and angry closing up half my eye. Swollen both my eye lid and my under eye. Painful as hell I Carnt sleep don't want to eat, put it this way I was a size 16 now even size ten is a bit big on me. I Carnt sleep properly, people keep staring at me when I go out so I no longer want to leave the house. I saw the doctor again and all he said was he will send fresh pictures along to my referral.
I don't know what to do I'm scared I'm going to blind in one eye due to the pressure and I'm not sure how my face will now look after it's gone if they ever get round to it. How long can they leave me in this much pain.
Is it worth just going down a and e and seeing if they will do anything? my partner has already stopped me twice from taking matters into my own hands aka self removal. My thinking was if I mess up they will have to something, I know it's not the right thing to do but I'm so scared and in so much pain.

I've only read the OP posts.

That looks like an abscess. Probably started as a sebaceous cyst given description which wasn't an emergency but it is now. So GP haven't necessarily been negligent as until it's infected it's not an urgent problem at all. But now it might be.

A and E is absolutely appropriate. If it is an abscess it needs draining or it won't get better.

I'm a doctor.

To those people suggesting a walk in centre - my city does not have one as it was closed down years ago. And to those people who are slating the OP for even daring to consider A&E and telling her that people like her are the reason that A&E is so overly busy at the moment - seriously? I hope that she is there right now getting it drained and having some antibiotics.

They set a timeline to review it.

and then fobbed her off despite it growing bigger.

Likewise the OP ought not to have sat back and waited until it got so painful that she didn't dare go out of the house.

She didn't sit back and wait. She has spoken to doctors several times.

But she hasn’t been ignored
Shes been referred and the gp has sent updated pictures to the specialist
Shes on the waiting list

That's great for you to say when you are not the one dealing with (most likely) a very serious infection right by your eye. Infections need to be treated asap and this looks like a serious one. As I said, I had something similar above my eye and A&E dealt with it the same day.

This.

A&E is appropriate. It needs treating.

I agree A &E. Pressure in your eye can be dangerous for your sight. Try your best to get seen.

Why are people making up things this could be when the doctor has already told the OP it's a lipoma and so in no way dangerous. It's not infected, that's what lipomas look like, mine grew fast too and I had it removed. It must be pressing on a nerve now I guess and that's what's causing it to be painful.

OP they may well see you quicker due to it being painful, it's definitely not life threatening though and no reason to go to A and E. Take some pain killers and make sure they know that it's causing pain.

I hope you are receiving attention in A&E now.

That looks very sore and if it's making your face, around your eye numb and uncomfortable and affecting your vision, of course you need to go to A&E. It has escalated since a Dr last saw it and it is likely it now needs immediate attention.

This is the sort of thing that makes me despair of the NHS. A year ago this could have been resolved simply, quickly and economically. It is likely now to be more complex and to have impacted the op's quality of life significantly.

It ahoukd have been sorted months ago. It needs sorting urgently now. The op is in the right place if she's in A&E.

I was referring to the comment that the she’s being ignored
Nothing more

Find what difficult to believe? Dr's over worked and not being at their best to eb able tondo their job. There are still many y Dr surgeries working the exact same way they did through covid and some still have to fight to see a Dr face to face.

Wholeheartedly agree.

I don’t think anyone would genuinely be happy to wait this long while walking around with a painful growth on their face. Plus op also has significant unexplained weight loss which should always be looked into. This was the only symptom of my dm’s cancer.

Op if you haven’t gone to A&E please go right now. You are not wasting anyone’s time. If anything the ridiculously overstretched system we are now stuck with is wasting yours.

Can you get to Birmingham. The eye hospital has an A&E and may be the best place.

Birmingham eye hospital A&E

If it's affecting your vision then I would go to A&E but you might find it helpful to get an urgent opticians appointment. Ime they will refer to the ocular a&e which means it's more straightforward for you and you're not clogging up general admission.

It's what I would do @Laurawharton

Why do people keep saying this isn't an emergency? How the hell do random on the Internet know what an emergency is? A&E isn't just for serious car crashes and heart attacks. My son was limping after PE one day. So minor that school didn't inform me. Decided not walking = not normal. Gp was shut do we went to A&E. How do I know if its broken? Should everyone with a break or internal bleed be screaming out in agony? Op if your gut says A&E you go. I have never once with 4 kids rocked up at A&E and been told to go home as its not a accident or emergency.

the GP thought lipoma
rare for these to receive treatment which is why op is having to wait.

@Kennykenkencat i think it’s you that doesn’t understand the timeline.

Spot appeared December 2021.

OP got worried around March 2022 as it was getting bigger. Spoke to doc who said see how it looks at 6 months.

Six months later (September?) it was the same so OP went back. Was told go private if possible or could join a long waiting list. OP doesn’t say what she said but assume they made a referral as when she called a month ago to report if was even bigger they said they’d referred. Essentially it’s out of the GPs hands and in the hands of dermatology.

She has then spoken to them (?recently but obviously within the last few weeks) and sent new photos which they have sent to dermatology to expedite the referral.

It now appears infected and needs to be seen again, probably at the GP tomorrow for oral antibiotics, or the GP may feel it needs incision/excision and drainage and may refer to the on call surgical team.

She HASN’T been ignored for a year. I can totally understand her distress and anxiety but she’s not being entirely clear or honest about her experience, and posters piling in and putting the fear of god into her aren’t helping.

Because I'm also a doctor looking at a photo, same as the OP's GP. And while it might have initially looked like a lipoma they're not usually red and angry like that. What are your medical qualifications that makes you think you know better?

Youve been treated do poorly, I’m so sorry for you. Now is the time to stand up for yourself and demand some actually treatment for this. I can’t believe the lack of compassion and treatment so far.
After you’ve sorted this, switch doctors too, yours sound awful 💐

Can I ask are you a trained MD to be suggesting that as the diagnosis having just gone by what the OP posted?

Did you miss the bit where it is causing her to lose weight and not sleep properly and causing half her face to go numb? Would an infected cyst (to the left of her eye, so not quite on her forehead) cause facial numbness?

@Nogg if you do actually work in the NHS you are an example of why the hero rhetoric needs to stop

nhs advice
same advice in my area too

Im willing to bet that the same people begrudging the OP an A&E visit would also be begrudging her getting benefits if she lost her sight.

I understand what you are saying but an initial private consultation is not usually as expensive as it sounds . We lent our son some money to take our grandson private and he only had one consultation for the DR to give the NHS a kick and push him through the system .