AIBU to be angry at A&E?

[fashu]

I'm currently in hospital A&E, I've been here for 9 and a half hours. I'm 35 weeks pregnant. AIBU for getting upset or should I just suck it up?

At 8pm last night I had the oncoming of a migraine, funny vision, light-headedness etc.
I went to tell my husband and called the midwife, then started having a chat with DH. Mid conversation I started talking nonsense. Instead of car I was was saying mayonnaise, on top of other things I was just talking crap.
I tried to Google the symptoms and I couldn't type either. I couldn't think of what I wanted to write, although I knew what I was doing and when I did think of the words it looked like this 'hdhcjsk'

I panicked a bit and went back to my husband and then I went completely numb on in my hands and my mouth. I panicked and told him to call an ambulance. Ambulance came just over an hour later and said I needed to go to hospital as it sounds like a mini stroke.
Queue major panic mode!

Paramedics called maternity unit they said its not for them but keep them updated.

So I arrived in an ambulance at A&E just after 12am. Went to majors and the triage said to wait in waiting room and they will tell senior doctors.

Well I'm still waiting. 35 weeks pregnant on a hard metal chair. For 9 and a half hours. Panicking that I've had a mini stroke.

I've told the reception and nurses several times that my belly is now hurting from sitting for so long and being awake for 26 hours. I asked for water and they said I had to use the vending machine for a can of coke.
Receptionist told me I'm not poorly enough for a bed or the arm chairs.

I'm so upset, emotional and scared. DH has dropped kids off at my mums now as they were asleep and didn't want to disturb them in the night.

But, am I right to be upset or is this just how it is? Surely a pregnant woman with suspected mini stroke should be left for this long alone without treatment?

I had a very hard time in hospital about 15 years ago. I still regularly remember the healthcare assistant (rather than a nurse) that brought me an unexpected hot drink in the middle of the night. I think I cried because it was the only kindness in my whole stay. I can imagine you’re an amazing nurse and I bet there’s hundreds of patients that remember you because of that. Probably thousands!

It's just as shit in SNP Scotland where health is 100% devolved and we pay higher taxes.

Really makes me laugh people saying its disgusting, just what do you expect staff to do??

Triage more thoroughly and at a pace to keep up with the flow of patients. If there are forty other urgent cases waiting (unlikely) and three qualified nurses triaging, they could spend five minutes on each person in just over an hour. Nine hours?

Accurate, my mum was diagnosed with meningioma and as a result of the anti-seizure medication they gave her, got kidney stones that ended up becoming full blown sepsis, borderline renal failure.

Ambulance people decided she wasn't in need of an ambulance and that she wasn't in a life threatening situation (she was).
She then drove herself to A&E in agony and tears where they promptly told her to wait outside in her car because the A&E was too full and Covid Restrictions were in full swing.

When she was finally in a ward and bed, literally every bloody nurse had to be told multiple times that she'd just been diagnosed with a brain tumour and that they needed to make sure to go over things with her slowly and write things down as her head wasn't "working properly" to use her wording.
She also had medication related to her tumour that she had to take as specific times which they had access too, and despite telling them this again and again her partner had to remind the staff when she was due medication with alarms on his phone.
She was repeatedly ignored, notes not looked at, not told what they were doing, and just overall treated with absolutely 0 bedside manner.
Kept getting trainee nurses in to do her cannular bits and they'd mess it up (I'm not exaggerating here) EVERY time. To the point one of her veins collapsed.
Another different nurse, after having gone through hell to get a cannular in after the collapse, then messed with the successful one - meaning the drip wasn't working correctly and the entire thing had to be redone again.

I'm terrified to need to go to the hospital up in Scotland honestly.

This.

The op has had form of stroke confirmation.

In the ideal world you have a d dimmer blood test and CT scan. AT THE VERY LEAST.

If your a HP do you not agree with this? It doesn't matter what the NHS delivers in reality. What is the NICE guidelines? Do the nhs scoff at NICE guidelines? Follow the script or admit failure and let people die. Don't Lord the "what do you expect?!" Stuff unless you admit not following NICE guidelines is shit.

If it was you, honestly would want the bloods and CT or would do a girly giggle and say ah never mind, blame the tory,its all gone to shit, that's life.

You wouldn't. I bet. Faced with life changing disability of a stroke you won't the NICE lottery to pay out to you.

The NHS is shit because expect it to shit and defend its shirtless. Someone uptrend was right. Its like a cult right now.

You have my sympathies OP. I hope you have had some reassurance by now xx

Is there an update OP?
Hope you got seen, tested and made it home okay in the end!

Apart from the fact she hadn't been diagnosed with anything when I was commenting.
Suspected is not the same as diagnosed.

Would I want to CT a 35 week pregnant lady, expose her and her baby to radiation and a nephro toxic dye.
No.
That's why decision to scan would be done by the radiologist.

I hope you’ve had a better night OP and are feeling better x

I'm sorry, you deserve better than this crap. I was in A&E in the summer - in fact on the hottest day of the year - and although I asked for water at least 20 times they kept me there for 19 hours with absolutely nothing to drink

You won't have to 'start again,' people are seen in order of urgency and by how long they've been in the department. Shifts change all the time- the wait time continues, doesn't re-set.
Unfortunately, yes you just have to suck it up. It's not pleasant for anyone- but honestly there will be people much sicker than you in there who need to be seen before you.
Ridiculous there isn't access to water..I would ask again, ask different person. (It might be they want to keep you nil orally until you are seen of course.)
As for fabricating symptoms to get seen quicker, as someone suggested- obviously, don't do that- apart from wasting precious time in a department that's on its knees, they will most likely spot the lies a mile off!
Hope you are feeling better by the time you see this!

I’ve had the misfortune of being in hospital many times. After 12 hours waiting in A&E around a year or so ago, I was deteriorating (awaiting admission to respiratory ward and even the clinical decision unit was full) and the doctor reviewed me again. She offered me a cup of tea. It sounds like something small but it meant a lot to me. I could see they were rushed off their feet but the human element and kindness stayed with me. No matter how bad a day she was having, she showed humanity and compassion.

Unfortunately, there's a general lack of empathy in your posts which often come across as cold and harsh which is why you keep getting come back on here. It's the very attitude of 'uncaring' staff that keeps being referred to so perhaps you are suffering from overload. Kindness can go a long way to easing fear and worry in a patient and it can be as simple as providing a glass of water or a cup of tea, not a lot to ask really.

So ‘I’m alright jack’ means that the NHS is doing quite well? That everyone else is merely bashing for fun?

the fact that your NHS hospital or trust is doing well isn’t an anomaly- but indicative of a healthy system? … And the nurse/doctor strikes, the patient complaints, the news stories, the ambulances queuing, this original poster waiting for 9 hours when pregnant without access to water… we’re the bad guys for moaning?

Well said @rainbowunicorn the poster you quote really does have form for the most ridiculous and usually inappropriate comments but that one takes the biscuit.

Which is why at work I am very different, and reserve my thoughts for here, I often make tea and toast for patients, sit and have a chat with them, advocate for them, chase test results, Dr's etc.
This is why I often get patients who hug me, say thank you, but yes carry on judging me because of what I write on here when I am home

Hi All,

Just wanted to give an update, I'm ok, just think it's going to be a long process.

I'm still in hospital, I'm waiting for Neuro now and getting an eye test behind my eyes.
My MRI came back inconclusive, but they think I'm safe from any immediate dangers.
They don't want to give me another scan whilst I am pregnant so as soon as the baby is born I will be booked in for another MRI.

They discussed the possibility of a c-section at 38 weeks but hoping it doesn't come to that.

So no clear answer, still hoping for migraines and that's probably most likely but still scary.

Once again I thank all of you for your kind words and messages, hopefully will be home soon! Back to my little boys!

Glad you’re in the right place and they’re taking thorough care of you

My DD had similar at 32 weeks. Her midwife told her to go to mat unit and she was monitored and seen by consultant there. It happened twice. She has frequent migraines. I would get your DH to phone maternity unit.

Thank goodness, fashu.
So glad you're alright and full sympathy for how tired and fed up you must feel.
It'll be lovely to get back home, hope that point comes soon! xxx

Ok,glad you’ve had further discussion with team and it’s not CVT or CVA.
what a scary & exhausting time for you.
Do complain to PALS regard the brusque poor treatment in ED

That's good. However, when my 80+ year old relative had a stroke she wasn't seen by the stroke team, and they tried to send her back to her nursing home in the middle of the night. Does this mean it's all wonderful or it's all rubbish? No, it means that experiences differ.

Thank goodness for the few remaining nurses like you who do actually seem to care.

As I don't work with you I have no way of knowing that, so am only commenting on how you come across on this thread. This is completely at odds with your actual behaviour which is obviously exemplary.