Minor rant

[hannahsaunt]

Not being one generally to have a go a doctors have finally reached my straw!

Bear in mind this is the person who grinned and bore it when a dr twice referred to a previous m/c (I was in for a D&C following a blighted ovum pg) as an a abortion when as an SHO she should really know better (forgave her because she was Spanish and was using the proper medical term for such events). Still wasn't v amused at being askd when I had had my abortion. Anyway...

At GP yesterday with rotten ongoing pneumonia thing (complete with bruised ribs from so much coughing). He asked about sweats - I said yes but thought that they may be due to having had a D&C for last m/c and could it be that my body was settling down hormone wise (viz post birth). Then he said, "You had a D&C two weeks ago. What is happening with the pregnancy now?" !!!!!

what a numbskull

are you seeing docs in spain? He could have meant what's happening from the preg with the m/c

oh HA, so sorry.

What an idiot.

What did they conclude about the pneumonia?

He was a fairly useless GP all round - I explained very politely that if I had had a d&c then clearly the pregnancy was no longer ongoing... dh commented that he clearly knew as much about obs & gynae as he does (which is remarkably little for a dr).

The GP kept asking what I thought he should do - your chest may be clear, but it may have crackles, should I prescribe a different antibiotic? You're the doctor! Should we just leave it and see if it clears up spontaneously - well we could, but I have held off 4 weeks since the end of the last course of anti b's and it's getting progressively worse so maybe we should do something! Do you think some cough linctus would help? Again, I don't know - you're the doctor!

So (tassis) essentially - it's stil there but now have the necessary anti b's for atypical pneumonia (in dh's not so humble opinion). Am seeing my own (v good GP) on Monday re d&c pathology and course to take for any future pg.

hope these a/bs do the business and your own GP is helpful and lovely on Monday.

are you back at work full days? hope you're not doing too much...

Can you check that this doctor is actually a medical doctor and not a doctor with a PhD in football chants??

please see another doctor

I had a severe chest infection this time last year ... took 3 weeks to get first antibiotics as kept being diagnosed as asthma .. I was unable to look after my own children and friends rallied round for 6 weeks picking up kids at 9am when DH left for work and giving them back at 6pm

finally needed 5 courses of antibiotics (final 2 courses being referred to as chemical bleach), one trip in flashy ambulance to hospital (with inability to breathe), about 8 nebulisers .. hours and hours on oxygen then 2 weeks convalescence with sister 200 miles away from DH and DS ..and 8 months recovery to finally feel somewhat normal

don't take this easily .. your chest takes ages to recover and your immune system gets shot

Twiglett - so I won't be going running for a while then . Actually, I get breathless going up the stairs and reading too long sentences in ds's story books.

Latest theories from dh (never marry a dr ):

asthma triggered / exacerbated by change in climate (just relocated to cold, dry NE Scotland from hot, wet NE Australia)

pulmonary embolism (small) from doing said relocation with multiple longhaul flights whilst pg (the one for which the d&c was required)

he's thinking of ways he could get me a chest x-ray

Fingers crossed the latest anti b's work and this doesn't linger. It's been over 2 months already.

I couldn't talk at all .. 2 - 3 words at a time .. couldn't climb the stairs without a coughing fit .. couldn't breathe

if you turn up at A&E complaining of shortness of breath they will to an x-ray

please don't take chest infections lightly

if its asthma then prednisolone should be considered if you are unable to complete a sentence and becotide / salbutomal not working

call Asthma UK helpline (staffed by asthma nurses) and ask their advice

don't let it get to the stage mine got to .. I feel like I've lost a good chunk of my life to it

sorry don't mean to be harbinger of doom .. and totally appreciate that our circumstances are different .. feel free to ignore me

Hannahsaunt - welcome to cold, dry North East Scotland. At least the sun is out today! Where are you exactly. I am north of Aberdeen.

Waswondering - didn't know there were any Mumsnetters this far north! I'm out in Newburgh.

Ahem, I work at the 'other place' too but am currently on research leave, hence more frequent mumsnetting (am researching the internet so that's OK).

It is a hideous possibility, but I am at Garthdee, not the town centre. I'm at ABS (she says in code).

Hmmm. You might know some of my supervisees then. Have you been on maternity leave for long? I envy you - the uni brought it the new decent maternity leave six days after I had DS2 and decided that I didn't qualify at all. Just had the standard government one. At the time HR suggested I cross my legs for six days to make sure he appeared the right side of January 1! Mind you, I can't complain, I've just started this lovely research leave care of the wonderful AHRC.

I can't believe that someone got the new maternity leave benefits!!! I was told in no uncertain terms that it was not on.... hmmmm.
I have to admit that I have no idea who you are. Sorry - I said supervisees rather than supervisors. I'm a lecturer not a research student, I have just managed to win a research grant - that's how I have the time off from teaching this year.
Trying to work out how to tell you who I am. I'm the course leader of PDIFTIMPJ (as they say in SITS).