MC/D&C VETERANS PLEASE HELP EXPATINSCOTLAND! *LONG*

[expatinscotland]

K, was supposedly 8 weeks along.

Was referred to Early Pregnancy Unit at Inverclyde Royal Hospital for scan as had bad D&V bug on Monday and then spotting.

Got scan.

There's a sac but nothing in it.

This does not surprise me and tbh I am relieved because were not in a good position to have a third child.

BUT, was NEVER told, 'It's a blighted ovum'.

I had told them I came in from a rural area.

In fact, folks, I left here at 6.45AM and walked back in my front door at 12.30.

Instead, they tell me to come back on Monday for another scan 'to make sure there are no changes.'

Then I ask them about what if there are no changes?

They tell me I can have a D&C there.

I ask about anaesthetics.

They say it's under GA.

I tell them I cannot have GA because I have genetic hyperthermia - a condition which causes my core body temp to shoot up sky high and which nearly killed me in an operating threatre 11 years ago.

Hence, I have had the following: three knee surgeries including a major ligament replacement, three impacted wisdom teeth extractions, a colposcopy, a loop electroexision procedure on my cervix and a forceps delivery all under local or regional anaesthetics.

So they tell me that I'll have to go to the Royal Alexandria Hospital at Paisley for the D&C and they'll speak to the anaesthetist.

No mention of getting hold of the tablets that help you to expel an unviable pregnancy at home.

SOOOOOO, I'm supposed to go in there Monday morning and sit in a crowded waiting room full of pregnant women drinking water to fill up my bladder for them to tell me - wait, they never fing told me 'blighted ovum' - I need a D&C.

Then go to Paisley - a further 20 miles away - for a consultant to see me.

Then go BACK to Paisley for a D&C, because I can tell you right now I will gladly sit on this blighted ovum from now until the world ends before I let that consultant at Inverclyde touch me again, OR wait for a D&C in a waiting room of an antenatal unit and recover from a miscarriage whilst hearing newborn babies cry.

Has anyone been in this situation?

And if I have other options besides D&C or D&C under GA, which I would never have in a shithole like Inverclyde anyway because I'd for sure die under their incompetence.

We are furious at NHS Argyll for making an utter pisstake of maternity services for an entire, massive region of the country.

To the point where DH is looking to transfer again - to Perthsire.

thank you, folks!

at least, i know the end is in site for my black mood AND i can have some wine.

i'd like to go au naturel, the problem is being so far away from a proper maternity unit - Paisley is a 1.5 hour drive or 3 hours by bus/ferry that if things hit the fan I'd still need D&C and I'd be scared I'd die because I need an anaesthetist who is very competent.

i refuse to have GA for this because in all honesty, it is unecessary. this is routinely performed under IV sedation/local in other places - in fact, I had it done this way 6 years ago for missed miscarriage.

it is so, so risky for people with this condition.

what also pisses me off is how they were 'come back on monday and we'll see.'

no, 'oh, you're coming from miles away, we'll phone paisley and arrange a consult visit for you.'

or 'wait in teh GYN unit, it's not nice to wait for your MC in an antenatal waiting room.'

i mean, WTF?!

you know, if i'd have been really upset about this i'd have been beyond gutted at just having to wait there to be scanned for threatened m/c.

my GP is way more approachable.

he's off today, though.

Message withdrawn

sorry to hear this expat - sending you hugs as i dont have anything constructive to offer.

I cannot believe that they would put ladies who are going through the nightmare that is m/c in an antenatal waiting room. How utterly utterly disgraceful. Oh I'm for you.

Is your GP back tomorrow? Could you have a telephone appointment and say a, b and c has happened. I am cross. I want a, b and c to happen now please . It is your NHS after all, we are meant to be getting more choice, and control over our treatment these days are we not?????

so sorry for what you have been through expat.

franca, yes, i'd love a fag!

i've just tracked down BUPA's number.

i want the D&C under local and i'll take Valium first. that's how i've done it in the past.

it's utter BULLSHIT that you need a GA for that, and dangerous as hell for me.

EXPAT - so sorry. Haven't raed all the post as yet but Inverclyde is a complete dump and you are right to not want to attend there. The satff are generally crap too in my experience. Can you not ask to go to Crosshouse in Kilmarnock? It is far superior and really lovely staff. Can you demand the medical management of it? Mind you it might be that you cannot do it this way and need to have a D&C - I'm not sure.

I know how you feel though as I had a missed m/c at 11+ weeks and the medical management went wrong as they couldn't read the Dr's notes - I ended up having to spend the night in the labour suite at the old Ayr maternity Unit. It is horrible to be in that position so big hugs and tyr and get to Crosshouse if you can.xxxx

Oh sorry to hear this expat. I had a blighted ovum at 8 weeks and they just let it go naturally (they were going to D&C I asked them not to). I was bleeding already though. I had to go back for 2 scans to make sure everything had been expelled.

they were such shit, santa, i'm thinking of complaining formally.

first off, the midwife consults with me.

i tell her about the D&V bug.

she says, 'well, diarrhea and vomitting are normal parts of pregnancy.'

no shit, lady!? i've only been pregnant four times and given birth to two kids, don't you think i know the difference between pregnancy runs and morning sickness and bloody vomit, agonising stomach cramps, 102 degree fever and explosive diarrhea?

then the FACT that they offered me NO options but D&C under GA, after of course wasting my fucking TIME hauling back there for a useless scan sitting in an antenatal waiting room located in a birthing unit, AFTER i told them it takes me two hours to get there.

WTF?!

i'm going to Paisley and having it done under local with a couple of Valium beforehand on one fucking day, or I'm going to BUPA Murrayfield, spending the night at SILs and being done with it.

this is a common procedure.

it is quickly and simply performed by any compentent consultant.

sorry to hear what you are going through.

medical termination may mean more trips for you depending on the procedure the hospital follows.
did they give you the option of waiting and seeing what happens naturally? though again that would mean more scans etc and could result in a D&C anyway.

complain to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde about lack of services!

was going to suggest the southern general - but it's further away than RAH and i've not heard any good reports about it.

what's more, my GP wasted his time writing my notes with G4, P2 and my medical problems, including my hyperthermia, which they obviously didn't read!

he was trying to do me a favour because that hospital is closer, for which i will thank him.

before asking him to let me know how i can get to Paisley.

i felt like screaming, 'Ever heard of a GYN unit? Real hospitals have 'em.'

did i mention the bruise on my tummy from the ultrasound?

or the fact that this chap did NOT scan my entire womb or fallopian tubes?

a bruise on your tummy from the ultrasound? Was it not a transvaginal ultra sound?

They should have scanned your whole womb and fallopian tubes to check for ectopic.

So sorry Sounds like you do need another scan first just to be sure though. I've had 5 miscarriages now and it's a horrible thing to go through

Expat... I'm so sorry to hear about your m/c and that you've been messed about so badly.

I had a blighted ovum back in 1999 and did have a D&C under GA. However, the operation was very short (I think I was only under the anaesthetic for about 20 minutes) and I think the main reason for knocking me out totally was that being awake for it would have been even more distressing. But better distressed than dead... If they can do a sodding caesarean under local anaesthetic then they can do a D&C under local too, surely?

You say that your normal GP is sympathetic. I'd make an appointment to see him/her tomorrow and talk it through with him. Hopefully he will then contact the hospitals and get it sorted for you.

Meanwhile, take care of yourself. I am thinking of you.

I would definitely have a d and c under local rather than the RU486 pill - I had to have that five years ago (in a clinic) and it was the most unbelievably painful thing ever (this from a woman who cut her own finger off once). It was so bad I actually prayed to die. The thought of you being stuck at home having it is hideous.

I'm so sorry about what's happened to you.

expat, I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you
I am appaled at the 'care' you have received, and when you feel better then a strongly worded letter would be the way to go (even if it is just to make you feel better)

just seen this, what a total nightmare. You must be feeling so angry and let down

Fancy you having to tell them their job

Really hope it's all sorted a smoothly and quickly as possible for you, no matter how that is. Again, so sorry and a rare (((hug))) from me

fuck, expat im so sorry.
and im horrified at the way you have been treated, i know to them we are just hospital numbers, but this takes the biscuit!

thinking of you x

Sorry for what you are being put through by the bloody NHS, am really for you.

Hope you get things sorted soon.

sorry about the outcome of scan expat.
NHS is shit when it comes to this type of thing, I had d+c a couple of years ago when baby had died at 16wks[although must have stopped growing at 9wks] had to go back week later to have rescan, followed by then getting an appointment for 2weeks later for d+c. It is crap that you sit with hevily pg women, newborns and everything else and if anything it is one of the criticisms I have of the nhs in situations like this.

i had the tablets and was told you can take them up to around 10 weeks. from what i have heatrd though you cant take them at home they have to be taken while your in hospital. i wwas admitted to the gyne ward for the day when i had mine and had to go back the next day as they hadnt seen what they wanted. could ask your dr about it though, or what about leaving it to go naturally?