Support thread for those awaiting (and undergoing and recovering from) medical appointments,tests and surgery: PART TWO

[BreastmilkDoesAFabLatte]

This is a continuation of this thread, started a few months back by ohyouBadBadkitten as "a thread for you to vent in or post your 'hooray's'". Everyone is welcome, regardless of the nature or duration of their illnesses and whether or not they have a diagnosis. The last thread dealt with a real diversity of long-term and acute conditions, as well as many of the mental health challenges and fertility questions commonly associated with them.

We should probably add the standard sort of disclaimer about not necessarily being qualified or insured to offer proper medical advice, which means that if your symptoms start to sound a bit scary you'll get a few of us rather assertively shoving you in the direction of your local A&E department. As madsometimes puts it, "A&E for Mumsnetters would have Boden medical gowns, Farrow & Ball paint schemes and fruit shoot free vending machines selling organic elderflower presse. Pinot Grigio would be dispensed at wine o'clock. There would be public information posters warning about the dangers of googling Dragon Butter... the injuries resulting from Friday night threads would be quite horrific." However, we all know the reality of medical emeregncies to be signifiantly more stresfull than that, so if it's not life-threaningly urgent, we'll hold your hand and chat and support and speculate on the basis of the reasonably half-informed knowledge gained by our own life experiences.

Welcome. The kettle is on...

Hi Kungfu and welcome to the thread.

My mum had fibroids, and back in the 1980's the treatment she went for was a hysterectomy (sp?). I'm guessing that things are done differently now. Have you been given any indication of what treatment you may be looking at? My mum didn't look back after her op, because she had horrendous periods and was glad to be rid of them.

BM - well done for getting back on your bike. Was it as fun as you hoped it would be?

Pavlov, all the best for weaning off your meds. It's horrible to have to tread the fine line between taking enough pain relief to live your life, and at the same time not so much that you're doped up to the eyeballs. I hope you are getting to find the right balance.

My course starts next week, but I have been in for two induction days. I'm enjoying it, and meeting new people is always good. I'm tired though, so will take it step by step. Tomorrow, I start some work experience. My hair's a state, and I can't get an appointment until next week. I hope that doesn't make too much of a bad impression. It's been 12 years since I last worked, so I'm very apprehensive.

You will be fab tomorrow I'm sure, your personality shines out here as a positive," lets do our best" attitude and that will carry you really well through your work experience.

Can you tie your hair back? I'm always startled how that can make people look well groomed. Even if you can't, just walk with confidence and its amazing what you can get away with. Have you got suitable shoes?

Step by step is good, dont fret if the house and stuff fall apart, cos you can't do it all.

Hi BM, well done for cycling! How do you feel now after it? I hope you feel motivated and not suffering afterwards.
Hi Pavlov, are you still trying to come off / reduce your meds? When I ran out of medication one time , of course my spine pain went to unbearable excruciating levels, I also had aches in all my bones and felt hot and cold with shivers, headache etc. i believe these were withdrawal effects.
I've had to slightly increase my fentanyl. Not sure whether it's coz the pain is worse or that I've become more tolerant on it and my body requires more to reduce the pain, or a combination.

How's everyone else?

Well I still haven't had date for spine op. bit I believe it may be cancelled now because i had a positive pregnancy test on the weekend!!
Of course I'm happy because life is a miracle and I wanted more children but didn't realise would be now, so bit shocked. Having a lot of period cramps so trying not to get ahead of myself.
Test said 2-3 weeks which I believe is 4-5 weeks.

*i believe the aches in my bones, fever, shiver etc were the withdrawal effects

Pavlov, just read that you've had shingles, how's that making you feel on top golf your other problems? Hope it clears up soon.

It scares me too the medication I've had to take and how long I will have to continue on it, but I have tried everything, no meds, to combination of meds and other techniques. And the meds I take are the minimum I have to take in order to have some sort of function in life. Although not great, if I wasn't on the pain meds and other things, I'd probably be in hospital in a terrible state. There are other meds I could take but I try to survive on the minimum (but even that's a lot).

• of not golf

Please excuse my multiple posts and mistakes

Crickey Reeny - congratulations!!! I really really hope the cramps are early pregnancy niggles.
Wow! :)

Wow Reeeeeeny

Exciting news... congratulations! So there'll be about two years between them: a lovely age gap

(If it's any reassurance, I had period-type cramps throughout the first trimester with both of mine)

And thanks for the congratulations on the cycling too - though really not as exciting as being pregnant, I was fine. Just very, very slow, and I felt every incline. So nice not to have to stand at the bus stop.

Reeny, all the best. I shall cross my fingers and toes for you to have a happy outcome. I know it will mean your back operation being put on hold, but I'm so excited for you.

Today went really well. I shadowed an optometrist, at a really lovely independent practice. The woman I was shadowing was an amazing professional, and so good with her patients. Her assessment of her profession was exactly the same as Fruitshoots had told me on MN, ie. don't think about training for this job. Universities are pumping out too many graduates, your job prospects will be poor and pay is flooring because of multiples that treat patients and staff as commodities. Real food for thought.

I hope they liked me. I'm pretty shy in RL, but they asked me back next week and I will be trained in admin procedures so I can be a little more helpful. I'm so tired though, I got in at 7 pm, dinner was on the table and the dc had done their homework (thank you dh), and am MNing in bed. My stamina is being tested, and realistically I did F all today, so I shouldn't be feeling like this.

waves to everyone. I am around, ticking along.

reeny WOW! congratulations! i had cramping throughout the first 10 wks of my first pg (DD) and also some bleeding, she was, and is still absolutely fine.

Sorry for not posting to all, I have read and am thinking of you all.

Weaning is hard. it is difficult to know how much of my pain is withdrawal pain and how much is real (well, it is all real, but ykwim). Bone pain reeny yes that is what I having. and also, sounds odd, but my blood hurts, or feels poisoned all my nerve endings seem to hurt. I did have a cold last week as it happens, a stinker of one, but I also think it was probably part of the shingles. I am now mostly recovered and have reduced from 4 x 50mg tramadol daily, with occasional 100mg at night to 1-2 50mg daily. However, I am struggling by the evening both in terms of pain and grumpiness and sore-all-overness and by morning I am such a crab and stiff and in pain. Gp has given me slow release tramadol which I have not picked up yet but I might take that once at night and try to go the day time without. However at the weekend I upped it all and took diclofenac again to enable me to go camping. And. Get This. I bodyboarded in the beautiful North Cornish sea with my DD yey! We caught the same wave and coasted in together, looked at each other, she was like at me, and me back. She is 6! it was a perfect moment, literally on the same wavelength. Absolutely worth the pain I am now in. It is going to make the shit days so much more bearable now.

Um, hi. This thread seems to have gone rather eerily quiet. How is everyone? I hope that new terms and new studies and pregnancies are going well...

I'm currently, well... it's sameoldsameoldsameold. Mostly absolutely fine and then crumpling into a heap whenever a hospital writes or phones me. I've now been referred to NewHospital, but the recent series of admin glitches at ExHospital means that NewHospital want to repeat many of the tests and investigations done at ExHospital. And NewConsultant even rang to warn me that it would take several day-long appointments and involve many long waits between clinics, and that there is nothing, nothing, nothing that NewHospital will do to help me cope with my anxiety - no liaison nursing support, no quiet waiting areas, nothing else either. At least they're upfront, I suppose. And at least they speak to me.

But frying pans and fires come to mind as an analogy.

I'm back in that I-can't-take-any-more headspace. I've asked NewHospital if they could postpone next week's appointment to allow me some time to consider how I cope with this...

Oh crumbs BM, it is good that they are honest but rubbish that they can't help more on the emotional support side. It does sound though like they will be thorough and hopefully that can give you confidence in how they will treat you.

My medication is doing its job pretty well :) I'm definitely able to stand for longer and generally feel better. It's not a cure by any means, I still get bad episodes but in comparison....
I did try cutting down the medication to reduce the Brady episodes but within hours I really struggled with standing up.
My main problem is trying to balance a really busy time in life at the moment with my body's needs. Getting very tired and my arthritis is flaring but I need my body to cooperate for a bit longer until things settle.

Pavlov the body boarding sounds ace!! How are you doing now?

Nooooooooo!

Take best friend or husband with you to new hospital, put children with CM, and get it over and done with. The longer you have to think about scary stuff, the scarier it becomes. Ask GP for some meds to help you get through the day, if necessary, and allowed.

I'm not surprised that new hospital wants to repeat the tests, given the admin glitches of old hospital have previous test results been lost?

Seriously, there is no frying pan and fire here. Try and be positive about new hospital. They do seem soooo much more organised than the previous place. Think efficiency, not scariness .

I'm still enjoying my course, but the work has started to pour in, and my tutor is really strict, I feel a bit like I'm back at school. I think dh is finding it harder than me. He has a lot more responsibility to look after the dc, prepare meals, walk dog etc, whereas I'm feeling much happier than I have been for years. I'm feeling ok physically too. I have another check at the hospital in one month. I'm crossing my fingers that all will be fine.

OYBBK, very pleased that your meds are helping. Do you still need the TTT? Blinking nuisance about your arthritis playing up though.

Hope everyone else is well. Reeny, I'm crossing my fingers for your pregnancy. Backpack, hope all is well. I think you have NC, and your pregnancy is progressing well .

I do need the TTT still to confirm the diagnosis. not looking forward to that at all as ill have to come off the meds for a few days. Eek.

I'm really glad that you are enjoying the course. It's still early days for your family to adjust, so hopefully it will get easier.

The thoroughness and efficiency of NewHospital is reassuring, certainly. If I had any sense at all, yes, I'd line up DH, DFriend and CM and load myself up with valium for next week. At the moment, though, I don't think I'm in possession of such sense... not really sure that I'm sufficiently in possession of myself really. The prospect of setting foot in NewHospital: it currently seems utterly impossible. My aim is to try and use the next few months to find ways within my own headspace and with all the support I have from family/friends/church/MN/wine chocolate etc to just GET OVER my anxiety, as NewHospital have made it patently and abundantly clear that there is nothing they are going to do to help.

mad and kitten Good to hear from you both...

A good day for me. I went for my 3 month post-ablation check up. I'm still in normal rhythm, and have been discharged from the clinic. I'm very .

Brilliant Mad :) what splendid news!

Great to hear mad. Really glad the ablation worked. And glad, too, that you're feeling the benefit.

After some further disarray that's a euphemism I now have an appointment at New Hospital for early January. I tried hypnotherapy last week as a way to try and get my head around going to there. What I didn't realise when I booked (a random choice via google) was that the session would take place in a disused NHS medical clinic and I was going to be made to lie on a converted examining couch. But by the time I'd paid my £50 and realised this I concluded that I had not very much to lose and allowed the women to lead me down a long escalator into a small safe room... and when I closed my eyes I found myself in a fuse cupboard at Balham Tube Station, of all very random places (as regulars on here know, I live a fair train ride away from London). And against my rather dubious expectations, it has seemed to help, or at least my anxiety is manageable. So, yes, I will lie back and think of the Northern Line.

But seriously, yes... also a bit of a step forward.

And yet, on the other hand... I'm currently got so much pain in my legs/calves that I've had to work from home again today. DD asked me this morning, 'Mummy, if it hurts will a Peppa Pig plaster make you better?' and was so excited when I told her it would. But I should be sticking plasters on her, not the other way around.