"I wasn’t even examined"

I was advised to attend a and e by chemo nurses who were concerned about my pain and potential clots. Upon arrival to a and e I had to have my blood pressure, temperature and medical history taken in a busy waiting room.

The nurse straight away went and got a consultant that asked why I was there as I have terminal cancer, saying they can’t fix me so it was pointless me being there. I said I was in pain and that needed addressing as I was uncomfortable. This Dr then proceeded to ask why I didn’t get my cancer seen to earlier and how rare my cancer is as I’m so young and to then remind me I’m palliative and there was nothing they could do with me.

After having waited for over 30 minutes in the waiting room it was decided I should be isolated due to being in active treatment even though I had made that known upon my arrival.

I was lead to a room with just a chair and left where a Dr then came in and changed their mind about my treatment 4 times. They had prescribed me a pain medication I was never brought, 3 hrs later they wanted to iv me a pain medication I’m already taking. I said there was no point as I was already taking that medication so they decided to write me a prescription for an increased dose and said I could go to Asda to collect it. I have never felt so sad and having stage 4 cancer is hard enough I don’t need to be constantly reminded of my fate.

I went to Asda with my prescription to be told by the pharmacist they could not issue me with my medication as the script had 4 mistakes on including no dosage, no amounts and no frequency in which to take the drug. It also didn’t state on the script that it was a controlled drug. I was informed it would be illegal to prescribe me this drug due to the lack of information on the script.

By this time it’s nearly 9pm and I decide to go home as I don’t want to go sit back in the crowded waiting room of the a and e department for them to rectify their mistake as I was exhausted and still in pain. I then had to call my gp the following morning to get a correct prescription issued. I wasn’t even examined to find the cause of my pain, which might not necessarily be the cancer.

It was almost like I had been written off when I walked through the door. This experience now leaves me hesitant to attend there in the future for any of my care needs. A little sensitivity and respect would be wonderful. I wonder if they would say to an elderly person why are you here don’t you know how old you are and your probably going to die soon anyway because your old. So why as a person in their 30s who could have another 10+yrs with manageable treatment be treated this way?