So it's me again with a new litany of complaints lol

[hiddley]

I've posted before (I think), but if not, I was 3 weeks in hospital in Jan (2 weeks in ICU) and have just come out of hospital a week ago after a new wee holiday in hospital (discharged myself).

Anyway, the litany is that I went to gp the 9th with severe pain in upper abdomen. He gave me pain killers.

Ended up in HDU the following day.

Spent 10 days in hospital.

Saw lady GP today who was absolutely brilliantly thorough. She read through every note from the hospital, every blood test and I was in with her at least a half hour. She then gave me a blood test leaflet thing to have done in a week. Last thing she did was lie me down to examine my stomach. Nearly passed out with the pain when she pressed mid ribs and under right ribs. So told me to get the bloods done today, which I did.

Anyway, she hasn't gotten the results back but told me to go to A&E if pain gets worse. In the meantime I'm to double my lansoprazole, take gaviscon and a diuretic (don't know what it's called really, it's to get fluid out of my swollen legs).

Now the thing is, she said I had fluid on my lungs when in hospital and had a chest infection. I also had phlebitis. And apparently I have a cyst on an ovary (I had a ct scan while in - not looking for anything like that). I'm also anaemic.
I was told was that my liver and kidneys were struggling. I was told I had an infection but they didn't know where it was so I was put on antibiotics. This GP could tell me that it was a chest infection.

I was told absolutely NONE OF THIS. None of it.

I am not a fucking idiot. I can understand what people tell me. WHY THE FUCK DID NONE OF THE FUCKERS TELL ME ANYTHING? They were happy to pump drips into me and not tell me what the fuck they were. Is it acceptable?

They told you that your kidneys were failing, wanted u in icu and you discharged yourself.

Not very clever

Surely, what's happening to you now is proof that you were wrong to discharge yourself?

What is your mental health diagnosis?

Why are you so belligerent?

Why were you so keen to leave hospital when you were so sick?

Battleax I'm not sure exactly what my psychiatric health has to do with anything here? Perhaps you can help me with that? Maybe my brain is telling my liver to stop functioning?

I thought alcohol was the connection? You need to stop drinking. If someone's pulled strings to get you in a course that will help with any of the underlying stuff, grab it.

Oh and incidentally, I have a cyst on an ovary and am anaemic according to what the GP read out to me today (I think she was al little alarmed that I'm still kicking too to be honest ha). Needless to say the doctors in hospital never told me a thing.

Hid you discharged yourself against medical advice in the middle of the night. That's bound to have had some effect on patient-doctor communication, isn't it?

hiddley it's all connected, your mental health condition is linked to why you drink to excess. your drinking damages your body slowly but surely, it damages your throat, your stomach, your liver and kidneys.
it's great to hear you connected with a gp that treated you with dignity and answered some of your questions.
now that this gp has all the results it's probably somewhat easier for her to piece together the picture compared to a few weeks ago.

Just try to step back and take a strategic view.

They told me no such thing. They told me they wanted me to go to ICU and I told them that under no uncertain terms would I go into ICU again. Fuckers nearly killed me last time I was in there.

They were not treating me. I was being tortured by nurses (and I mean that literally). I was getting no sleep. My mental health diagnosis is none of your fucking business.

I have never denied being alcoholic dependent Battleax. Perhaps that's all my fault? Lol. You have no fucking idea.

Has the above satisfied the savages who cannot bare to think of an alcoholic requiring medical treatment? I didn't fucking buy a subscription to alcoholism. I didn't ask for it. I have battled it for 15 years. Don't fucking judge me. You don't know the causes, the reasons, my history or anything about me. Just as someone can develop cancer, someone can be unlucky enough to develop alcoholism.
If you can not get your tiny brain around that, then I suggest my brain cells are functioning better than yours. ;)

have never denied being alcoholic dependent Battleax. Perhaps that's all my fault? Lol. You have no fucking idea.

No I know you've never denied it and I'm not in any way at all saying it's your fault.

I just remembered you saying about the course. You were talking about it the night you discharged yourself. It seems like maybe it's part of the jigsaw? Part of the solution.

Okay. Well you were posting about it very late. I got the impression it was recent at the time you posted. Obviously it was earlier.

But whichever way, were telling you that you SHOULD accept all the different treatment on offer (ICU, psych, and whatever else). Nobody is saying that you don't deserve treatment.

hiddley are you asking about the link between alcoholism and anemia? or alcoholism and chest infections?

I don't know what it was called. You were telling us about it. Some acronym starting IN?

Nobody's arguing with you.

Oldwitch, I don't recall asking any such questions? I do know that some people can read one thing and see something else entirely. Perhaps you are one of those people? What do you think?

Ye, it was it's all INYERHEAD.

Okay. Good luck.

I guess your question is why did they not tell you any of these things when you were in the hospital?

Can’t imagine where any communication issues could be coming from.

Perhaps from doctors failing to tell me relevant information to my health?

Sorry - I'm confused. You went into hospital with a condition that might well have killed you 50 years ago or in many countries today throughout the rest of the world. You had scans, IV antibiotics, and HDU care. They successfully treated your original complaint (?cholecystitis ?pancreatitis) as well as chest sepsis, renal failure, and liver failure... You were presumably quite sick for some of this time.

Your complaint now is that you only learned the details of what happened to you (ins and outs of scans and blood tests) a few weeks later?

You presumably could have talked this through with the hospital staff if you'd have asked rather than discharging yourself against advice.

You are clearly very unwell which affects the way you come across. On this thread, you have come across as extremely aggressive and at times incoherent. I am not saying it's your fault, just that it may explain why they didn't go over everything with you in hospital or why they may have thought that you weren't in a position to take it all in at the time. I presume they are also very busy and have not got the time for a really in-depth discussion with all patients.

If you are still unwell, you need to go back to be treated. They are not trying to kill you and they are not torturing you. Failing to get a line in is not torture- it may just mean you have shitty veins (I do too). Also, until you take ownership of the alcoholism, you will never beat it. It may be due to things that happened but you are the only person who can overcome it.

Can you read this thread back and see that the nurses in the hospital probably struggled very much to communicate with you?

I've worked as an auxiliary nurse in an acute/HDU ward. At time I cared for adults with challenging behaviour (as you present with on here), agression or sexually inappropriate (not you). Usually due to history of substance misuse or psychiatric illness, sometimes due to physical illness.

It was often bloody frightening - I have additional post traumatic issues making it a bit worse (autistic sister used to beat me and my mum black and blue) . Physically what happens to nurses can be horrendous and there's not always someone to back you up.

If verbal communication becomes hard , you back off - talk as necessary, don't antagonize the situation, don't upset the patient more. If reasoning doesn't work you don't trigger an argument.. after all the nurses don't know if you could progress to physical violence (you'd be surprised how many will sadly).

In a hospital there's often not much time to sit and chat about things either. I was in and out of gynaecology last year, doped up on morphine every time and only found out diagnoses on discharge letters. GP explained if any diagnosis was life changing or required different treatment I'd have been told there and then. As it is I was later diagnosed with a lifelong condition and was told on the day by a doctor.

I am thinking too if anyone said 'this is what's up, how we help' they'd probably have still upset you somehow.

Your psychiatric history, whether you accept it or not, has a huge effect on how you present yourself, how your physical health is (like it or not, alcohol abuse will make you very physically ill) and it will have an effect on how you are treated by the staff.

No nurse or doctor worth their salary would knowingly and willingly abuse a patient or hurt them. You go into that job to help people and I am sure that they are trying their best with you. Managing your health is your responsibility too , you need to try and accept their suggestions (ICU, urine output monitoring etc, oxygen - a lot of which is standard protocol in critical/life threatening illness and not done to hurt or annoy you). If there are certain things you don't want doing it helps if you prepare a written statement in advance but this needs to be discussed with anyone caring for you. I think in some circumstances it can still be overridden but I'm not sure. There's different laws in Scotland I think.

Your sister if shes a medical doctor is a good place to start as is this GP you've found a connection with, hopefully she can help you understand and get to a somewhat better place physically and emotionally. MN whilst good for lots of day to day stuff isn't the right place for these much bigger problems unfortunately.

Good luck.

Feeling any clearer today OP?

You sound like the worst sort of patient in the world