"Emergency surgery"

I was recently admitted to 4E in the Ulster hospital and booked into theatre to have 2 large ovarian cysts drained laparoscopically. This surgery went ahead as planned and I was also diagnosed with severe endometriosis requiring a further surgery.

I came back to the ward after surgery and felt well. I had tea and toast and was feeling good considering. That night when I was falling asleep around midnight I was woken up by the worst pain I’d ever felt in my life. It felt like my stomach had been torn open. The pain was agonising, there are no words to describe it. I immediately pressed my buzzer and was screaming in pain. I found this embarrassing as I’m usually a very quiet person and hate to cause disruption. However, I needed help as I actually felt like I was going to die.

The nurses came down and asked what was wrong as I was writhing in the bed in pain and I told them. They took my obs which were apparently OK at that time. I was told there was nothing they could do for me as my obs were normal and I’d already had my pain relief for the night. I knew something was wrong but they would not take it seriously. They left me screaming in pain for hours. Multiple times I rang the buzzer because I really could not cope and needed some sort of help even if it was just comforting. I was continuously told the doctors were already busy. The deputy sister on that night even asked me was I sure I needed to see a doctor.

The pain seemed to settle for half an hour or so and I got into a sleep and then was once again woken by the pain and this time I was vomiting. This time I got to see a doctor. By this point the pain was not as severe as when it started but it was still extremely sore. They done their examination and I got some pain relief. I phoned my mum crying to come down because I didn’t know what to do. She came down and I had finally got over to sleep. When I woke up the pain was still there and I was rigid in the bed and couldn’t move.

The consultant that came to see me that day was was an absolute angel. They said from the minute they looked at me they knew something was wrong. They got bloods done on me and a CT scan and an hour or so later they rushed in to apologise and tell me that my bowel had been perforated during my surgery. I was becoming septic very fast with high temperatures and heart rates and inflammatory markers.

Within 2 hours I was down in theatre having an emergency laparotomy to have a small bowel resection done. The consultant could not have been better. They saved my life. They couldn't have apologised enough and it wasn’t even them who done the surgery. They were so comforting and reassuring. They're exactly the type of person you want looking after you.

On the other hand, the staff working that night made me feel completely neglected and made me feel they thought I was making it up. I even started to doubt myself. In my view, no one should be treated the way I was treated that night. I feel it was an absolute disgrace and I hope the staff are aware of how serious what happened to me was, and how they didn't listen to me.

Both of the doctors who did my small bowel resection were an absolute pleasure. One of the doctors phoned my mum after and was so reassuring and comforting, explaining everything thoroughly to her and answering any questions. The anaesthetist was also excellent. The team who performed that emergency surgery on me were outstanding and really calmed me down. I really couldn’t fault any of them. I really felt safe with them and I was so grateful for that after the night I had before on 4E.