What’s wrong with me, hospital clueless

[elm26]

Yesterday at 1pm, I put my 6 month old on the rug with his toys and went for a wee.

As I was walking back I had a sudden severe pain in my right side radiating into my lower back and up to my shoulder, I was in agony.

I called DH who was luckily only on a job 15 mins away, he came straight home and took one look at me and called ambulance, I was shouting out in pain they gave me gas and air and morphine.

I had an emergency CT when dye last night and also have a catheter as lost the ability to wee. Nothing showed on CT, they got me settled on morphine and today I’ve had a transvaginal scan which shows ovaries and womb look normal.

Gynae can’t find a reason so they’ve stopped painkillers and just giving me paracetamol but somethings wrong I feel like somebody’s twisting my insides. The gynae consultant was horrible and said the surgical team will come see me if they think it’s worth it?? So I’m waiting for that if they come.

I’m in so much pain and genuinely scared they’ll send me home not knowing what is wrong with me.

Has anyone has anything similar?

Sounds very much like kidney stones, my daughter who also has a 6 month old was the same last week she couldnt move, shooting pains in her side and lower back, felt sick, kept going hot and cold. She couldnt even pick up the baby to change her or dress her and could not get herself to the drs or hospital
I dont live close by but ive had to go over to look after the baby while her hubby works as she is still on mat leave
She was diagnosed and given antibiotics eventually but its taken over a week for them to kick in and work
Stick to your guns and make sure they find out what it is
It can be very serious if left and not treated can lead to sepsis amongst other things

Have you told the nurses your nan died in that bay and ask if can be moved? Might not be as bed space is limited but worth asking.

I hope they find out what is wrong and you can be on the mend soon.

I’m so, so sorry you’re going through this, and I’m very relieved that they are actually looking after you this time

From a governance perspective, I suspect that they might treat this as a patient safety incident - in which case they will keep you informed and will have sight of an outcome. However, if they don’t, then I would strongly suggest pursuing PALS then complaints under you arrive at an outcome you’re satisfied with. You need to be careful that they don’t just treat this as a “failed discharge” because, fundamentally, this was actually a complete failure/lack of reasonable care

Thank you for the update @elm26 . I'm so glad you're being looked after well by the nurses and it sounds like the doctors are finally taking this seriously. Hoping you get answers soon.

Yes I know, but wanted to bookmark my place.

I hope they have some answers for you soon, have the doctors done their rounds yet since your surgery? Easy to say but try not to panic you are in the best place there now until you know what’s wrong xx

Please don't be adversely affected by the few people who chose to disbelieve you - it was only a tiny minority, and some people are just...bizarre.
I really hope you get answers soon, and that you can start to get proper treatment.

Look after yourself!

I am glad you came back. I’d rather get taken in by all the nutty fictitious fiction writers in the world - who cares? - and still reach out to anyone/everyone when they’re having such a horribly worrying time. Wishing you the very best @elm26and hope you have a more peaceful night this time round!

Tell them about this being where your nan died, and how that’s affecting you. They may not have anywhere else available now, but they would be aware to try to move you when a bed becomes free.

So, 'watch' the thread, and bookmark the last message you read🙂

Do not blame yourself. You went for help and expected help.
You were not getting the response you expected.
You need to request your notes.
This will be crucial.
Look after yourself and get well again.
Be kind to yourself.
Ignore messages here that trigger you, focus on those that are kind, considered and helpful.

Fentanyl is a very potent analgesia. I administer it to pretty much all my patients post op.

Very few patients remember recovery... even when we've had full conversations with them! That's why we never feature in Holby City 😅.

Sounds like your oxygen is coming from Nasal Specs... much more pleasant than a face mask. I wouldn't be happy with your sats being 90% though. I'd want 95% and above.

Is this RHH by any chance?

Awe this is all so very scary,as soon as you said they were sending you home with that low bp and sats I knew it wasn't going to end well,I didn't think this would be the outcome but hopefully you will get some proper answers now,it shouldn't have come to this though,it's scandalous and I'm so glad DH is contacting PALS,please keep us updated as to what they eventually tell you they've found out and I hope you get home to your darling babies and DH soon,take care of yourself and rest as best you can xx

I’m in Surrey

Tell them about your nan and they may be able to put you in a different bay.

Obviously the people who think you've been making things up have never experienced this side of things NHS. It's brilliant in some areas but failing in lots of areas, it's usually suits making financial decisions that impact on the medics ability to do their job right. There's some fabulous medical people and some not so good ones.

Hopefully they will now get to the bottom of what's going on for you and you can get better and get home to your babies.

@hedgebets2 Thank you for all the references and apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Very interesting reading and I guess I owe @OpalSpirit an apology too for reacting the way I did.
I've read just about all of them and pain is clearly a multifaceted issue. I've also had quite a session too with my DiL and Son (Obs&Gynae, and anaesthetist respectively) for their views. In their experiences they have not come across "medical misogyny" in their hospitals but feel there had been poor treatment in the past. Luckily I haven't experienced it myself either. I'm led to believe acute pain is multi-factorial and the issues do include psychological factors amongst others. Anyhow, given my advancing years and my experience with the NHS, I am convinced that clinical staff go to work and do the very best they can and I'm sure none of them go with the intention of doing anything that would make patients uncomfortable.

This! Someone needs to speak up for this poor lady shes in so much pain and being fobbed off left right and centre

Theres no way of speaking up for yourself when so ill :(

Some odd people on here if they thought you were making this up
I hope they get to the bottom of it
It was terrible they didn’t take yo seriously enough the first time
it is hard to advocate for yourself when youou are feeling vulnerable

So am I. Our hospitals are very poor.

@elm26 Free fluid in the abdomen, ascites, can occur with Crohn’s Disease. I’ve had to have the fluid drained multiple times (I was managing twice a year for a while), & similar to your potential diagnosis, initially it was found by accident - went in as an emergency, had an ultrasound with needle biopsy, & there it was! If it’s any comfort, one year it simply disappeared & so far (touch wood) it’s not come back! Keeping my fingers crossed for you, & for positive news going forward 💐

In their experiences they have not come across "medical misogyny" in their hospitals but feel there had been poor treatment in the past.

I can absolutely guarantee it is still happening in their hospitals. Them not recognising that makes them part of the problem.

It is absolutely baked into the system. Ask them how much of their pre-specialisation training (all training for the anaesthetist), and how much GP training, was on women's health and how their treatment needs differs from men's. Ask how much medical research disaggregates data by sex. Ask how many women are included in medical trials (and how recently that started happening - they used to be specifically excluded because their hormones make them 'too complicated'). Sign up to the Invisible Women newsletter, https://newsletter.carolinecriadoperez.com/ which contains an item about women being left out of medical data pretty much every issue. Ask how long women take to get a diagnosis of endometriosis. Or about this research https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/study-finds-women-less-likely-to-be-prescribed-pain-relief-than-men

Just to say OP this all resonates with me so much. I posted earlier that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst and I truly believe that I suffered from medical misogyny. I have given birth without pain relief and the pain from this was far worse - the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life. I couldn’t urinate (due to the massive internal bleeding) and they refused to scan or examine me until I’d produced a urine sample, so I was in A&E in a computer-says-no situation for 5 hours.

When they eventually did scan me they confirmed it wasn’t appendicitis then booked a proper scan for the next day (15 hours later) to check elsewhere. So I spent a night on a ward with my abdomen gradually filling up with blood being given paracetamol. Sure enough when they did finally look at my ovaries, 24 hours after I arrived in A&E, they managed to spot the massive internal haemorrhage and I needed emergency lifesaving surgery. The physical recovery has been ok but I am haunted by the night I spent on the ward feeling like I was going to die and the fact that if I’d been scanned even 1 hour later it might have been too late.

All of which is to say that unfortunately you cannot trust them to do the right thing all of the time and you must (or your DH must) push them until you have answers and are happy.

Wishing you all the best.

@MyObservations and at your relative's hospital(s) are the men called to their appointments as Mr John Smith, and the women as Jane Smith?

If so, they are innately sexist environments.

I wouldn't know but at the hospital I use, all the patients seem to be called by their first names. What about yours?