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?

Yes. I am the last person in the world who would usually advocate for making a scene but when you are at such a late stage in pregnancy there is a risk to you and the baby and I’m shocked this has not been taken into account. OP should have had some kind of monitoring for her baby by now at the very least. To have gone 9 hours with nobody checking on her or the baby is shocking and I think warrants a scene to be honest.

You need the maternity unit immediately I’d have thought

Hi All,

Sorry haven't read every message. I have finally been seen.
I have been admitted and they suspect a CVT? Not sure what it is but I'm having an MRI in 2 hours and I'm on a ward until then.
Going to try and have a sleep now.

I think they have ruled out pre eclampsia, my blood pressure was a little low, but nothing alarming.

Unfortunately, this.

There are many, many ill/unwell people in need of urgent care. There are staff shortages, and those who are left can only prioritise the patients coming in in order of risk the best they can.

It’s awful. It wasn’t always like this, the nhs is truly on its knees. The staff I’m sure do their absolute best with limited resource's. I agree save this anger for the next election & speak with your vote. I really hope you get seen soon and all is well.

OP have the monitored baby at all?

Unfortunately, it's often the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. In this shambles, I think it's forgivable.

@Theunamedcat

We are in Wales and the waiting time at our a&e is 14-16 hours to see a doctor.

Luckily we are close to the border the times we have needed a&e, we have gone to the hospital in England and the wait time was much much less.

I’m not a doctor but I have had pretty much exactly what you’re describing!! I wasn’t pregnant but the first time I had it my vision went blurry/fuzzy, half of my face went numb, I couldn’t type or read, I don’t think I could talk properly either. They mentioned a stroke to me too but then said it was probably an optical migraine but the only way they could tell was if I were to come in at the time it was happening which wasn’t possible 🙈 I’ve had it a few times since then at varying levels of symptoms. The latest was a couple of weeks ago when I could barley see at all and felt weak. It’s odd because I seem to only get a mild headache with it.

Wtf?

How will it help op when they start assessing her abdominal pains?

Sounds like they’ve triaged you and decided you’re at no medical risk currently. It sucks and it’s scary but the doctors know what they’re doing and they’ll be seeing the most urgent cases first. You’ve clearly come back to yourself and are functioning fine, you’re not in and danger so you’re quite low on the priority list. Hopefully you’ll be out soon, waiting is never any fun

A CVT is a cavernous sinus thrombosis, which is a cause of stroke typically in younger people and often misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. Pregnancy is a risk factor.

I am glad you are on a pathway now and let’s hope the MRI can rule that out. Best wishes to you OP.

www.stroke.org.uk/research/can-we-better-understand-cvt-type-stroke-mainly-affecting-young-women

Hope you feel better soon OP

This is utterly ridiculous

How often are babies checked normally?
Who is checking the baby, how are they checking the baby?
They won't have the facilities to do a CTG or indeed interpret it.

I hope you're OK. My mum had a mini stroke and I am afraid to say we were not treated as priority in A&E and it was many, many hours before we were seen.

When we pointed out that he was at high risk of aspiration and was only ever fed by carers we were told that there was no one to feed him and we'd have to do it ourselves.

Checked out the Welsh NHS lately?

It sucks and it’s scary but the doctors know what they’re doing and they’ll be seeing the most urgent cases first.

Honestly I think you have more faith than is warranted. People are frequently misdiagnosed and their symptoms underplayed - OP has just said they now suspect a CVT which is obviously very serious. She's been horribly neglected.

Because she is pregnant and they have not (as far as I can see) monitored her baby! I’m taken aback that a woman in this late stage of pregnancy would not be monitored. She could easily go into labour at this stage and to leave her for 9 hours with no monitoring or water is incredibly dangerous.

CVT is a small blood clot if i recall rightly, i had scans for a suspected one after i had my daughter.

Fingers crossed it was just a horrendous migraine though, i know mine changed during pregnancy and a couple were as severe as you're reporting (but i suffer with milder migraines that mimic TIA anyway)

Yes, yet another case of health inequalities affecting women specifically. This is also rife within the NHS. It is still a deeply misogynistic institution.

I’m sorry OP, disgraceful treatment. The NHS is not fit for purpose and hasn’t been for many years.

Thank god you have been seen now OP. I wish you the very best and hope that you get much better care from now on.