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...

mad I'm sorry they're changed your date... I can see why you're apprehensive about your period. I'm sure there are endless old wives tales and potions and incantations for adjusting one's cycle... I seem to remember a friend stuffing her vagina with parsley to ensure she didn't bleed on her wedding dress.

Heamdoots welcome, and sorry you need to be here. Please don't allow what those of us on here with diagnosed serious heart issues write to scare you... we are very much in the minority. The probability is that your echo will be entirely normal and your murmur harmless, especially given that you also have costochondritis to account for the pain.

I've just lost yet more weight ...

Anyone know anything about shingles? I think dd2 might have it, or possibly impetigo. She has blisters in a line along the top of her back/shoulder. Is it contagious? I know I need to start a new thread or maybe call OOH doctor, but she seems disgustingly healthy, so perhaps I just need to calm down. My GP friend said that not everyone gets sick with shingles, but forgot to ask if she will pass it on.

I think that you can't pass shingles on to someone, but you can pass it back in the form of chicken pox virus to those who have not had chicken pox? My understanding of it was that it is your own body's mutation and manifestation of the chicken pox virus already ingrained in the glands, and something triggers it.

I once had a viral infection on my finger when I w about 10, lots of painful blisters on my finger, but not identified as shingles, might or might not have been. I also from time to time get blisters on my ear, and i recall a couple of times feeling a little unwell, I suspect that might have been shingles, but never ever considered it as such until the children had chicken pox and I googled it all! And maybe it was not.

But, I would speak to out of hours, get some advice, just in case it is contagious, and also to check timescales if she were to become poorly so you can monitor.

Ok just read that she is highly contagious in the first few days to those who have not had chicken pox. They will not get shingles, they will get chicken pox. If you have had chicken pox and have the immunity to it, you won't get shingles from it. I tried to copy and paste it to you but my iPad has a user interface problem.

Thanks Pavlov. I suppose I need to keep her off school until she is checked over. I won't bother with OOH because that is for emergencies. Will try to get an appointment with GP on Monday. Of course, I have a hospital appointment on Monday, so hopefully my Mum will have her, because I can't bring her to hospital if she is germy.

My dp and I both have shingles atm but I am immunosuppressed and my doctors are fascinated as unless it is co incidental they have never come across this before.

That's odd Noddy. I'm not sure that I like being a medical curiosity!

Anyway, I have just hit Dr Google, and the NHS site says that you do not need time off school with shingles if the rash can be covered, and is not oozing. Pita that Mondy is a swimming day, so may keep her off then, but at least not off for ages like chickenpox.

mads you can just phone OOH for telephone advice though. I have done that before. You are not wasting precious time then as you are only speaking to them for a few minutes not taking up time in the surgery, and they call you back at their convenience within an hour don't they? well they do in this area.

But, if you have found info that suggests it is not too horrendous that you are happy with then probably no need. Are you sure it is shingles now? I would not know if it could be anything else? hope she does not feel too bad with it in the coming days. How old is she?

noddy oooh a medical anomally! how strange!

No, not sure it's shingles at all. She's 8 nearly 9, and seems fine. I know it sounds bad, but I was worried about catching it myself because of my upcoming appointments . I'm less concerned now.

mad that is not bad. If she is fine, and the implications are worse for you getting it than your DD getting it, then you are right to be concerned about you!

It's a fair worry. But I would have thought she'd be feeling more unwell with shingles? I hope though that it's nothing contagious.

I don't enjoy being a medical curiosity or anomally either!

I am not unwell at all apart from the pain. Dp is and has been signed off work for 3 weeks! He has never been off before with anything

Hi all,
I'm off to the hospital tomorrow to see the ASD doctor. I feel a bit of a fraud going to the appointment when I'm certain that there's nothing wrong. However, the TOE doctor was determined that I shouldn't cancel. I do feel a bit silly though, and have visions of him saying, "What are you doing here, go away, I have sick people to see" .

I'm sending dd2 to school minus her swimming kit. She's fine apart from her rash.

I hope LGR's wedding went off without a hitch. Congratultions Mrs LGR .

Hi I found the new thread :0

I'm just marking my space then I will be back later to read and catch up when I have got DD off to Nursery :)

:o I mean

I'm back from the hospital, and much to my surprise the doctor wants to see me again in 8 months time. He said that he wants the flutter treated, because that could be confounding the issue. Then, he wants to see if I have any more eye problems afterwards for 7 months. If there are, he may close the hole under local anaesetic , otherwise he will not need to see me again .

Hi again- about the pain, I've been reading about how pain is sometimes put down to stress, however in most cases it is that pain leads to depression / stress. Not the other way round so much (although focusing on it probably doesn't help). It's very aggravating when in pain and doctors put it down to being in the mind or something.

I was a bit cross as was a mix-up and was supposed to have an ultrasound booked in for ovaries 6 weeks after the first, it wasn't arranged, each the GP and hospital think the other was supposed to do it however thankfully letter today saying next Friday (6th July) which is good, seems to have been sorted out- it's tricky these things which have to be done at times in the cycle isn't it? Stressy. I have apparently now got 'trapped ovary syndrome' - wasn't sure whether to wait till after the scan but thinking of asking GP about taking the pill, because what causes the pain is apparently the ovary being unable to ovulate properly, so each month (or two) a cyst is formed of gets larger, suppressing ovulation can help this.

I am glad it seems to still be within the 6 weeks time and yes probably a gyne referral will take forever. best wishes to everyone on the thread have to go not but have been reading all the messages.

mad I'm sorry... not the easy and straightforward news for which you were hoping.

Mharhi That does sound painful. I hope next week's ultrasound catches the right point in your cycle... are they normally regular enough?

Mad when you say "he wants the flutter treated" what will that involve - so does that mean you have that now or later?

Mharhi we'll be waiting to hear about the ultrasound, fingers crossed its at the right time and they can see what needs to be seen!

I had my bone scan today, I made a bit of a fuss about it to be honest which is madness as its a tiny injection and then you lie on table, but I think it was just stress. The (male) nurse was very nice, I asked is any nudity involved, he said only if you insist. Oh we did laugh ! I thought he looked at bit ominous at the end when he saw the scan but maybe just my overactive imagination. I am going to leave it 10 days then call the consultant's secretary and take it from there. I know if its bad news they might call me, so hoping not to get any calls.

BB oh i really hate the 10 day wait. fingers crossed you get no calls. I think though with regard to being stressed/making a fuss, it might not be a huge process, but it is a big deal, and if it has never happened to you before you have no idea what to expect. Good that the nurse helped you relax a bit though

mads hope you don't need the flutter sorted, that it is nothing that needs addressing more than just keeping an eye. How is your DD today? good that she was able to go to school and just missing the swimming, so you could do your hospital appt.

I am returning to work on monday. My med cert runs out on wed, i don't work thurs, and my boss and I have agreed for me to take the 2.5 hours i normally work on friday as leave (mainly as DH cocked it all up thought I was still off on friday so agreed to work, meaning he thought i would be ok to be off sick AND look after DS all day ). Anyway, discussed it with my boss, she had a wobble about OH being ok with me returning without their input, but agreed I could return even if only for a few hours to start with and have a chat about how to manage my cases etc. I feel that even though I am in some pain, that pain can be managed just as well at work now as at home. I have to just get on with life at home, so work has to be the same. I can't be off forever and I really need my routine back (and to hide from the mess I can't sort out!).

I have my US appt for my kidney next week, do you know if they give me the results straight away? like the pregnancy ultrasound? Will they let me see my mutant kidney? I am quite intrigued more than anything?

I am taking a step back wrt my back. It is on the mend from this lapse, and while I suspect it will go again,the acute phase that had me wanting immediate answers, the fear that something more horrendous is going on has subsided a little, and I am just going to wait now for my own GP to come back next week and chew him out have a chat with him about changing direction. He knows more than the other GP, although, she had been lovely regarding giving me another week off, and duplicating the med cert I lost, if I get no luck with my current GP, I will have run that course, and will change to the other gp, rather than just going behind my own gp's back in his absence. I will give him a chance to sort it out properly.

Thanks Pavlov - just came on feeling a bit down so was good to see your message. I am self employed so can manage, but you are amazing trying to work as well. I know what you mean about routine, its what keeps you together.

When you talk about changing GP do you mean you have other GPs within the practice? We have 4 GPs in ours, three of them (female) all have the same attitude (did you read my bit about moving fat) and the the third is a male GP, married to the one I usually see!

BB yes, same gp in the same surgery, he is lovely but old and seems to not want to do much that involves too much actual work, is generally very sympathetic and not much else. Female is ok, bit frosty sometimes but has been very supportive in the past, especially around helping me manage work/work issues/bereavement (when my mum died just after DD was born). I can see either gp, but usually see the male as he is 'technically' my gp, and also he is there more often than she is, so on random appts I often get him, so it has sort of ended that he gets to deal with me a lot and knows me better (esp when pg with DS, had severe HG, he was seeing me so often the receptionists would know my voice without me saying who I was!).

I would think self employed would be harder to manage, as you are completely in charge of your own decisions and if you feel rubbish, you have to force yourself to carry on as your business will suffer otherwise, you don't get paid sick leave. At least in my work, if it is too much, as it has been in the last couple of weeks, I can take that time off and get paid, and not think about work too much when not there. Although by the sounds of it I have a lot to do when I get back!

Hope you are feeling in slightly better spirits now. I tend to find drinking many many cups of coffee helps me

and yes I read the bit about moving fat!!! hilarious! if it was only that simple, there would be a lot of happy people having fat moving elsewhere! you could market it, to have the fat move to a place you want! the things gps come out with sometimes is very funny. Like my gp said 'you cant slip a disc by coughing'.

HI

Mharhi FX that the Ultrasound catches the right point in your cycle.

I hope everyone else is doing good.

I'm doing OK at the moment, I couldn't get a LP done on Friday through Natwest so I'm waiting on my Surgeon's Secretary to call when he can fit me in for another one. He is going on leave on Friday for the next 3 weeks so I don't know when it will be. I'm in quite a bit of pain The Surgeon thinks it is because my body has ran out of the medication I was on before.

I get to see the Anesthetist next Wednesday to see about Surgery and to ask any questions. Which I can't think of any except "Will the baby be ok?" The Anesthetist is my Pain Management DR so he knows me and I know him.

DD is home from Nursery as she fell and banged her head yesterday and split it open. She was rushed to Hospital and I received the worst call I've ever received off her teacher saying "Can you get to the hospital? X has been sent in an ambulance as she has a head ..." The phone cut off then through signal.

DD has got 15 stitches in her forehead and vomiting quite a bit she was discharged at 9am this morning after CT scans which showed all is OK.

We don't know and neither does the School know how DD managed to hurt herself so bad with the distance DD fell onto the soft tarmac stuff the parks sometimes has (I can't think of the name). The School is investigating it to see if anything needs to change.