leanman

My NHS experience

Well as a few will know I had to back to hospital last week, to have my ICD (INCARDIO VERTER DEFIBB) put into correct place. I had it fitted last year supposed to be sunken inside left pec however it was placed directly under the skin, which has caused me no end of pain and hassle.
After over 12 months of complaining I finally went in last week, Tuesday was the day of the op, so I did the usual nil by mouth etc took myself to hospital first thing. I was given a bed at about 11am, I was told I would be going down just 2pm, come 4pm I had an idea what was going on so I asked staff nurse to check what was occurring, lo and behold they wanted to cancel.
This didn’t sit to well with me so I asked him to tell the person who was cancelling to have the manners to come and tell me why themselves.
Back and forth with phone calls then the staff nurse tells me to get ready cos they are taking me down shortly, within minutes the porters came to take me down ( at this point I was a tad emotional started remembering family members who never had the luxury of surgery)
So im waiting to go into the catherter lab for surgery just one thing missing…..the surgeon…I spent the next 40 minutes or so watching/listening to staff trying to locate the surgeon on the phone….even sending staff all over hospital to find him…apparently his mobile phone was switched off (again).
About 40 minutes later he arrived, along with 2 emergencies and proceeded to tell me in a patronising tone that surgery would be cancelled…(this is the man that told me in jan 03 that I needed this device and would do so within 6 weeks).
So in my present mood I was well up for asking him why it’s taken so long etc…suffice to say he was’nt impressed with me complaining and attempted to shout me down and swore at me telling me he had been up since 5am etc poor little lamb!
I ended up telling him to keep hiw work phone on when at work, which didn’t go down very well he stormed off and told all his staff off for allowing me to witness them trying to locate him, think my last words may have been “ I’m done talking to you now, get out of my face and I will see you court”
So imp taken back to the ward where I begin to get dressed to go home, then someone from the ICD department comes to explain that as device is not fitted correctly it is not safe for me leave the hospital!!! Too which the obvious question would be………but ive been walking around with it that way for the last 12months(which they knew) yet no-one deemed it important enough to tell me about.
Staff were instructed to not let me out of bed…..yeah right!!! I was seething at this point, but here the story changes J
In the bed opposite was a guy younger than me (28ish) who had just been down for tests….and had just been told he has to have same device as me, he looked proper devastated so I went over for a chat, after chatting for 5 mins it became obvious we have a lot in common (both have newborn babies) We both had a few tears etc, then he was curious to know about the actual device, so I told him what I knew and left the sugar off J
Within minutes of talking to him I had suddenly become aware of a wave of calmness had hit me and I was no longer angry( prior to this I was begging a nurse to look at me the wrong way J )
After much complaining they said I could go home Wednesday and come back Thursday afternoon for surgery Friday morning, so came home proceeded to eat a whole bargain bucket from kfc and all the trimmings and a bunch of other stuff imp too embarrassed to admit to eating J
Fast forward to Friday morning I was taken down again, lo and behold had the same thing occured with the phone! Finally they found the surgeon who passed me over to another surgeon/butcher, then I was taken in and given all my pre-meds etc.
What followed is possibly the most distressing experience of my life,due to the nature of my condition they don’t knock me right out rather they heavily sedate me and numb the chest area,however It soon became clear I could feel everything (been having flashbacks) at one point I tried to get off the bed cos it was so uncomfortable vaguely remember them grabbing me holding me down while I struggled!! Also have a picture of me looking into surgeons glasses and seeing a reflection of my chest with a great hole with his hands inside!
Throughout they kept giving me more morphine ( 6 shots of 2.5mg in total) which did nothing whatsoever apart from affect my speech, I wanted to tell them to stop but couldn’t get the words out, rather just moaning and groaning ( I think)
They were also supposed to run some other tests( which they ran out of time for !!!)
Back to the ward and within 5 hours they said I could go home, im thinking they wanted to get rid of me asap before I started to remember things???? If I were a cynical man I would say this was my punishment for calling the top dog out?J

Anyway now for the pious/positive bit……. I firmly believe that God put the young man on my ward so we could help each other, I remember the day I was diagnosed with Long-q-t-syndrome and with hindsight what a blessing it would’ve been to meet another young guy in same boat as me that day.
We have now become close friends and plan to meet up often, he has been told he will be having surgery within 6 weeks, poor chap lives for his football and due to his condition he hasn’t played for over a year. I told him this time next year it will be Him and his boy v’s Me and my boy at football!! And ‘team lean’ are going to whoop him J

Funny thing is the device feels like its in exactly the same place as before( beneath the skin rather than the muscle)
This is now the hardest part for me, not being to anything for 6 weeks with left arm including not picking my lil boy
Anyways starting to ramble a bit now J totally humbled by the staff nurses (all they do is care for people) so much so I think I may have finally found my vocation in life, I feel perhaps that I have a big heart and should share it with those that need it.

Thanks again to all the well wishers, big shout to my bro you know who you are, and for anyone that thinks life is tough just remember always someone worse off, something that I now remind myself of often.
Now where did I put that two stone of muscle tissue J

demon

You have had a hard time of it!
That was an amazing post.

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DEMON


"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

hackskii

Wow, that was an interesting read. I could see things as you spelled it out. Kindof gruesome but also uplifting.
Life is truely short and family and friends are very important.
Sorry you had to go through that bro and am impressed how you handled it all.
Take care.

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Scott


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Predator

Wow, that's a heart felt post bro. When I saw the title, I was going to joke about you being end of cycle.

At least some good came out of such a horrible time in your life.
Good luck and I hope evrything works out as best it can.

Predator

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winger

Extremely well written. Very impressed. Leanman I am glad to see you are better now. I just hope they put it in the right spot.
That is radical. I felt very uneasy reading that part. I dont think anybody should go through that.

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leanman

Winger funny you should say that, as the swelling is going down i was able to have a little feel today and it would appear device is in exactly the same place.

Oh boy i gotta laugh....

P.S Thanks for the positive posts peeps.......whole point of this thread is to show through all that ive come out stronger and with lots of positives..it means the world to me to be mates with someone who 'understands' about relying on a chunk of metal to keep us here.Which in the past does ive struggled with

BSF James

Good old NHS eh? I dread the day I'm ever ill enough to have to go to hospital. I had one operation when I was six weeks old and have never needed a hospital since - touch wood. If and when I do, I'll probably go private.

My sister had a bad experience with the NHS - while giving birth they tore part of her inside (not sure of the exact details - some things you dont want to discuss graphically with your sister!). In the operation she needed to fix this, they managed to stop her from ever having children again, collapse her womb and seriously damage her bowel and bladder. She's had problems ever since - eventually needing to have a hysterectomy and in recent years having massive problems with her bladder and bowel. She was only in her late 20s at the time. She looked into suing but because the hospital backed the surgeon she didnt have much chance. They look after their own.

Anyway Leanman - best wishes for a speedy recovery mate and I'm sorry that you've had such a bad experience.

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winger

Dude after reading your post it affected me allot.
It was so graphical. Seeing the hands in the lens is crazy.
Just the fact that you were able to pick up on that makes you aware. Being sedated and noticing that is crazy. PM me please, but only if you want to:o

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Cheater2K

Just over 7 days since my op to, i only had my tonsils out, i had a pretty good experiance , nurses were great, great doc (saved my grandad of throat cancer back in the 70s, let him live 10 yrs longer). Overall, i wasnt to bad, im really worried about anaestic and stuff, dunno why.

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Cheater

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leanman

Lots of ice cream for you the Cheater???

winger

Been there done that.

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Cheater2K

Yeah, lots been trying to eat as normal as i can, pretty hard, only just getting back to normal now like.

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winger

So nice crunchy sugar frosted flakes and corn chips are out of the question?

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Cheater2K

yup, well, i managed to eat some weatabix this morning

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leanman

Sounds like you are coping then cheater??