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...

{{{{hugs}}}} mad.

Thinking of you Mad. Hugs from me too. Busy is good. I am sure you have shaved enough off. Not long and it will be done. Don't you just wish you could press a fast forward button? I know that's what I would like to do right now.

I have been busy with cubs and stuff too funnily enough which has kept my mind off tomorrow. I am about to have a big bowl of spaghetti bolognese to keep me going!

Roll on the weekend!

Thanks OYBBK and Ginger. Busy is certainly good, so maybe that is the problem tonight. I've had a nice day today, watching a Spanish film with some fellow students on a language course (The Motorcycle Diaries - a story of a road trip taken by Che Guevara as a medical student which influenced his political future). Very good film, but we were all extremely happy that it was subtitled .

Ginger, glad you are tucking in to some energy food. Hope tomorrow gives you positive results.

mad sending you all my love and prayers and hugs in the most rebelliously unmumsnetty fashion.

I read an article once about a woman who used to dye her pubes 'unexpected' colours before her frequent medical procedures as an 'assertion of empowerment'. TBH I never quite got the point or value and wouldn't it itch, but it did make me smile, and each to their own and all...

Have you got enough on to keep yourself occupied whilst the DDs are at school tomorrow?

ginger good luck to you for tomorrow too. Hope it's all straightforward and reassuring.

Mad - I will be sedated tomorrow, some IV magic stuff I think. Can I ask how sleepy it made you? Can you remember it all afterwards. I'm scared!

Tomorrow is pretty hectic. I have school stuff to do after lunch, and my morning is busy too.

My pubes have never been neater than tonight, but I've steered clear of fun colours. I would probably end up with an allergic reaction and be covered in hives .

The thing that I hate most is the consent form - being told the risks, and then signing that I have understood them but still agree to the procedure.

There was a thread in chat in January, the gist of which was Where did you go to in 2011 that you never want to return to again? I, along with many others wrote hospital. I knew, of course, that I wouldn't avoid it as an out patient, so I said that what I wanted to avoid was operations and cardiac cath labs. I suppose many new years resolutions are broken long before July. Just a little grumpy, I need bed.

Ginger, I didn't ask what sedation I had which is unusual for me because I normally annoy HCPs with my constant questions. All I know is that I felt relaxed, but could still watch the monitor and do the breath holding that I was asked to. I didn't have the drug that causes amnesia, which I'm pleased about because I'm a control freak.

Tbh, I wondered whether they had given me any because I felt so fine. However, my bp dropped after the sedation, so I knew that I had been given something. If I had to have a TOE again, I wouldn't be scared.

Thank you Mad. Just what I needed. Cup of tea and some cake now and more of a funny film to keep me occupied.

Good luck today Gingerwine :)

Good luck to everyone having procedures done x x x

I had go back into hospital, because I caught another post op infection :-( I'm home now. But I'm doubting whether they will go ahead with surgery in August.
I feel so much more drained than usual :-( every part of my body hurting on top of everything else.
Taking the maximum I can off my pain medication but barely touches it at moment.

Hi, I'm back and thoroughly fed up. The nurses were completely lovely and it didn't take too long. Not particularly pleasant swallowing the probe thing but can't remember anything after that. Shame the spray at the back of the throat tastes of bananas too as I cannot stand bananas!

The good news is that it all looks fine, device not pressing on vital things like aorta or anything!

For some reason though I am just really down. Can't stop crying. Can't face any food. Don't want to see anyone and can hardly bear to talk about things even to DH who is so lovely. I know so many others have much more to deal with than me so why can't I just be happy that the scan was fine? I've just gone to bed to wallow in self pity! I don't think I can cope with feeling like this. And i still have the pain - unexplained and really p**ng me off? Sorry to moan.

And I am thinking of you all really, lots of luck tomorrow Mad, and everyone else.

Sorry Reeny, for self absorbed post. Can't believe your bad luck with post op infections. Still time til August though so fingers crossed it settles.

I am such a wus moaning about my pain when you are in such pain all the time. A very unmumsnetty hug from me. Sorry your painkillers are letting you down. Why when medicine can do such clever things can we not get on top of pain?

I'll come back when I'm in a better mood!

thats really rubbish reeny - I'm sorry, I hope it eases off for you soon and that the infection is properly gone.

gingerwine - thats really natural after your sedation plus you had a big build up and a lot of worry about what it would be like and what they would find. You need to be really really gentle with yourself, its been a rough day on top of a rough time.

mad - hope you are hanging in there ok today. Thinking of you.

Hi everyone,
Reeny, so sorry to hear that you got another infection too, particularly if that means your spinal surgery is put on hold. I know you have been waiting over a year for this, so you must be feeling really down about the not knowing what's next.

Gingerwine, I totally understand why you are feeling down this evening. You must have thought the test result would have shed some light on the pain, and now it must seem like you are no nearer knowing. It is great news that the device is still positioned correctly. It would have been a real bugger if they had to fish the thing out of you. I'm guessing that would be OHS, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but takes two months at least to recover from. Sorry I forgot to mention the banana thing, the question has to be Why? Very odd.

I've had a very busy day. Just got back from a school event, and I ate with the children at 5.30, and then again with dh at 8.30. Why am I now considering toast? I have a Twirl in the cupboard, but unusually for me, don't fancy chocolate.

Thinking of you today Mad. Hope you're plans go ok and you get there at stupid o'clock! Was a bit surreal arriving at same time as all the nursing staff. Hospital was half deserted at that time. If you can get through OHS you will be fine with this but I totally understand. You have just had enough of hospitals!

You weren't to know I have a weird and irrational fear of bananas!!

Just popping on to send all my ((( )))s and prayers and (and possibly a banana?) to mad for today...

ginger I'm sorry you're feeling so down. I think I might have felt similar after my first post-op cardiology appointment... in which I was told that yes all the echo and ECGs and X-rays show that with twice-yearly follow-up for life you'll be fine but no we can't explain the huge amount of pain you're in and you'll just need to learn to live with that. So whereas great you avoided OHS, disappointing that you're no further forward in coping with the pain. I can understand why that upsets you.

(And if it's any comfort, I have an irrational fear of potatoes and onions which have begun to sprout in the cupboard.)

And reeeeeeeeny ouch and [expletive] not another setback :( I'm so sorry about the infection. I really hope it doesn't derail the plans for your big op.

But would some positive news from me enourage this thread?

I had a very, very important work meeting yesterday and it went fantastically well... I know that's a fairly vague thing to say but I'd rather not go into detail here. As I think I conveyed on the last thread, the process of going through and recovering from the surgery has left me utterly divested of confidence and particularly nervous about face-to-face interactions in a work setting... so for me to actually manage and suceed in such a context is a big step forward.

I'm second on the list, so probably being done in less than an hour.

Hospital gown is as horrible as ever, canula a bit sore, but my period has held off. Yippee, so OYBBK, well done for the correct forecast . Slightly bored at the moment.

Maybe an interesting spin-off from the weather forecasting she has there .

Thinking of you, and extending a virtual hand to hold...

Hi Mad - fantastic news about period. The gowns are hideous aren't they? Don't suppose the NHS can stretch to getting white stuff to design some decent ones!

Mine didn't do up properly yesterday! As usual!

BM - well done re: work. I have also lost confidence as have been off for a lot this year what with the initial stroke and then the op. I am not in much over holidays either as I do funny hours in holidays. I am trying to view September as a new start for me work wise.

You have made me smile about the potatoes and onions. First time I have laughed for last 24 hours so thank you. I'll come round o remove the offending vegetables if you will come here and remove any offensive bananas!

I feel really drained today. Still can't face eating. Whether it's because my throat is sore or because it reminds me of swallowing the probe I don't know. Probably a bit of both. I have a GP appointment with a lovely GP later as I need another "amended hours" sick note. I know she will just listen and support, which is probably what I need most.

have skimmed through thread, will have a proper read later. But oopslateagain - are you seeing Professor G? If so he's fab, really not a Big Scary Top Expert type at all. He diagnosed DD2 with EDS - hypermobility the other month, and managed to sort out a referral to someone else who will be able to sort her out (her main problem is fainting rather than joint issues). Plus if you come over to join us here another MNer saw him privately for her DC and was also very impressed.

Anyway, I'm in need of some handholding and lying that it's all nothing reassurance please - I've had what was initially diagnosed as pneumonia, then pneumonia + pluerisy + asthma, then downgraded to "just" a nasty chest infection for over two months. I've had sveeral courses of ABs which haven't done anything, and last week saw the GP again as I'm still very short of breath.

He sent me off for loads of blood tests, a chest Xray, and ECG and spirometry testing, and I see him again next Thursday when all the results whould be back. But I'm trying very hard not to panic that I have heart failure (which is what the majority of the blood tests seem to be for), especially since the tightness in my chest is there all the time rather than just when I breath out, and I've noticed I'm hunching forward a lot rather than sitting up straight. I don't want to see a different GP (my one is on holiday for a few days), and I know nothing can be diagnosed till the results are back, plus if I do go through to the hospital, it's the weekend and they won't do anything till Monday (apparently A&E can't get a patient's file after 5pm on a Friday as the records office is closed ). And i know that the more I worry, the more my chest will tighten up, and various parts of me will start hurting. But I have swollen ankles which won't go down, and hurt a bit, and I've had some pain in my calves, but i can't decide if I have those because Dr Google says they are symptoms of heart failure, or if I do actually have them ifswim.

Anyway, thanks if you made it through my brain dump, I can't really be ill till after Monday in any case as I need to go to hospital with DD1 who is being investigated for EDS, but is very reluctant to go, and would rather suffer in pain . Please tell me I'm OK

Hi midnight I think that, if the GP/A&E really did suspect heart failure, they'd not be faffing about with waiting for the records office. But yes, waiting is a scary, scary thinng... we've all been there. As much, however, as I hope you find this thread helpful and supportive, please don't let some of the experiences on here terrify you... those of us who do have serious heart conditions are very much in the tiny minority of the overall MN population.

Back on the ward, procedure went very well. I need bedrest until 5 pm, then home at 6 .

The local anaesetic stung a little, but no burning in the ablation. It was very quick, about an hour.