dormouse1953 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dormouse1953) wrote2011-06-30 05:21 pm
dormouse1953) wrote2011-06-30 05:21 pm
Medical fun - not for the squeamish
Sometime in the early hours of Monday morning, I realised I seemed to be getting up a lot to go to the toilet. No sooner had I got back into bed than a light went on in my head telling me I had to pee. And finally I noticed that I wasn't peeing very much.
Got up, had breakfast, and wasn't any better, so I phoned the doctors' surgery. They couldn't fit me in before two-thirty.
By midday, I phoned NHS direct who couldn't give any more advice over the phone than take some ibuprofen and sit in a warm bath.
I turned up the appointment which was with a locum whose first language was not English. She felt my abdomen and said it didn't feel as if the bladder was distended. She thought it might be an infection and asked me to pee a sample into a tube. I came back with just two drops in the tube, which wasn't enough to test so she asked me to take the tube away and fill it at my leisure. Working on the assumption that it was an infection she prescribed some antibiotics and advised me to take more fluids, but told me to phone the out of hours service if the problem persisted that evening.
By seven, I was feeling much worse. Attempts to pee had filled the tube to about 10ml. I had a pain at the bottom of my back. I phoned the emergency doctor. This had the advantage that the local lot are based at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, which is actually closer than my doctors' surgery, and, of course, is a hospital which would be convenient if I needed admitting.
The out of hours service is called Thamesdoc and when you phone them they take the details and get a doctor to phone you. The doctor phoned back within ten minutes and his response to my story was that I ought to see a doctor. So about ten minutes later, one of the doctors at RSCH phoned me and told me how to get to his department, which is a separate building to the main hospital.
I told the doctor the figure of 10ml since three o'clock and he felt my abdomen the same as the earlier doctor and said my bladder was definitely distended and I needed a catheter inserted quickly. He then had to phone the urology department to find the correct procedure for this, which was to go to A&E, which was just two doors down from where I was. He gave me a letter to hand to the receptionist and off I went.
The receptionist had to take all my details, including, ominously, next of kin. By the time I got to the waiting area, it was about 8:30. There were no seats, but as I was having trouble sitting by then, that was the least of my problems. What was annoying were people asking me if I was OK when it felt to me I obviously wasn't.
I don't think I was waiting very long, but I was in such pain by then that it felt like forever. I was ushered into a cubicle (a proper cubicle with a locking door, not a curtained off area) and told to undress and put on a gown. They took my blood pressure and then did an ultrascan of the bladder, just as if I was pregnant. "It's big," she said.
And in went the catheter. The relief was immediate. A litre container was filled instantly. She took a urine sample and a blood sample away for tests and I was left there for some time. Occasionally someone would poke their head round the door, and the urine container, which by then contained two litres, was emptied.
They seemed to be having some problems with their electricity, and occasionally the lights would go out in the cubicle. "There's nobody on a ventilator, is there?" I heard a voice saying outside. (My house lights went out yesterday. There were heavy thunderstorms here on Tuesday. I don't know if this is all connected.)
About eleven, a doctor came to see me and did a few tests. There were no signs of infection and no neurological causes she could find. My prostate - a prime suspect given my family history - seemed OK. She said I'll have to have further tests later.
Then the first nurse came back and fitted me with a leg bag and gave me a couple of spare bags including a night bag and I was discharged. It was about midnight by then and I had to walk home. Unfortunately, the bag was fitted too low and was a bit loose, so every step was painful. I got home, managed to fit the night bag, and had a good night's sleep, which was more than I'd had the previous night.
The next morning was a matter of adjusting to my new life style. I checked back in with A&E who gave me some more bags and a bit of advice on how to use them. (I might have had the advice the night before, but I was a bit zonked by then.) They said I was going to be referred to the district nurse and they also checked with urology to see when I'd be called in for tests. Apparently, they are going to write to me.
My brother had a similar problem a few years ago and he phoned me Tuesday night so we could swap notes. He did warn me that as the bag fills up while you are walking, it gets heavy (surprise) and starts to slip, which can be disconcerting. He didn't tell me how sweaty it gets.
The district nurse contacted me yesterday, but I still haven't heard from the hospital. But I'm mobile enough now and getting back in to my routine. Even managed to get into London for a talk yesterday and I don't think I'll have a problem getting to the National Theatre to see an Ibsen play on Saturday.
Watch this space.
Got up, had breakfast, and wasn't any better, so I phoned the doctors' surgery. They couldn't fit me in before two-thirty.
By midday, I phoned NHS direct who couldn't give any more advice over the phone than take some ibuprofen and sit in a warm bath.
I turned up the appointment which was with a locum whose first language was not English. She felt my abdomen and said it didn't feel as if the bladder was distended. She thought it might be an infection and asked me to pee a sample into a tube. I came back with just two drops in the tube, which wasn't enough to test so she asked me to take the tube away and fill it at my leisure. Working on the assumption that it was an infection she prescribed some antibiotics and advised me to take more fluids, but told me to phone the out of hours service if the problem persisted that evening.
By seven, I was feeling much worse. Attempts to pee had filled the tube to about 10ml. I had a pain at the bottom of my back. I phoned the emergency doctor. This had the advantage that the local lot are based at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, which is actually closer than my doctors' surgery, and, of course, is a hospital which would be convenient if I needed admitting.
The out of hours service is called Thamesdoc and when you phone them they take the details and get a doctor to phone you. The doctor phoned back within ten minutes and his response to my story was that I ought to see a doctor. So about ten minutes later, one of the doctors at RSCH phoned me and told me how to get to his department, which is a separate building to the main hospital.
I told the doctor the figure of 10ml since three o'clock and he felt my abdomen the same as the earlier doctor and said my bladder was definitely distended and I needed a catheter inserted quickly. He then had to phone the urology department to find the correct procedure for this, which was to go to A&E, which was just two doors down from where I was. He gave me a letter to hand to the receptionist and off I went.
The receptionist had to take all my details, including, ominously, next of kin. By the time I got to the waiting area, it was about 8:30. There were no seats, but as I was having trouble sitting by then, that was the least of my problems. What was annoying were people asking me if I was OK when it felt to me I obviously wasn't.
I don't think I was waiting very long, but I was in such pain by then that it felt like forever. I was ushered into a cubicle (a proper cubicle with a locking door, not a curtained off area) and told to undress and put on a gown. They took my blood pressure and then did an ultrascan of the bladder, just as if I was pregnant. "It's big," she said.
And in went the catheter. The relief was immediate. A litre container was filled instantly. She took a urine sample and a blood sample away for tests and I was left there for some time. Occasionally someone would poke their head round the door, and the urine container, which by then contained two litres, was emptied.
They seemed to be having some problems with their electricity, and occasionally the lights would go out in the cubicle. "There's nobody on a ventilator, is there?" I heard a voice saying outside. (My house lights went out yesterday. There were heavy thunderstorms here on Tuesday. I don't know if this is all connected.)
About eleven, a doctor came to see me and did a few tests. There were no signs of infection and no neurological causes she could find. My prostate - a prime suspect given my family history - seemed OK. She said I'll have to have further tests later.
Then the first nurse came back and fitted me with a leg bag and gave me a couple of spare bags including a night bag and I was discharged. It was about midnight by then and I had to walk home. Unfortunately, the bag was fitted too low and was a bit loose, so every step was painful. I got home, managed to fit the night bag, and had a good night's sleep, which was more than I'd had the previous night.
The next morning was a matter of adjusting to my new life style. I checked back in with A&E who gave me some more bags and a bit of advice on how to use them. (I might have had the advice the night before, but I was a bit zonked by then.) They said I was going to be referred to the district nurse and they also checked with urology to see when I'd be called in for tests. Apparently, they are going to write to me.
My brother had a similar problem a few years ago and he phoned me Tuesday night so we could swap notes. He did warn me that as the bag fills up while you are walking, it gets heavy (surprise) and starts to slip, which can be disconcerting. He didn't tell me how sweaty it gets.
The district nurse contacted me yesterday, but I still haven't heard from the hospital. But I'm mobile enough now and getting back in to my routine. Even managed to get into London for a talk yesterday and I don't think I'll have a problem getting to the National Theatre to see an Ibsen play on Saturday.
Watch this space.
no subject
no subject
Well, actually, I have this thing about needles, and the blood sample was the worst bit.