"Not a good experience at all"

I was sent up to the hospital after experiencing a sudden onset of abdominal pain on Thursday evening, nausea and vomiting, on arrival to out of hours, the doctor arranged for me to be sent to the surgical assessment unit as soon as possible 

On arrival I was asked to sit in a waiting room. After an hour the nurse came and took some bloods and my observations. Within 3 hours a doctor came back and told me that my white cell markers were all off and I would be getting admitted for IV antibiotics, IV fluids and they would arrange further testing 

After being sent back to the waiting room for 4 hours another doctor came and told me that my bloods were fine and I would be sent home. They said if I felt I needed to, I could wait a bit longer and get some pain relief. I opted to stay for a bit as I was extremely uncomfortable, they could see this as I burst out crying when they pressed on my abdomen.

They suggested that I'd been in hospital quite a lot with abdominal pain and that it has never been anything sinister. This really disheartened me, as anyone knows it’s not normal to have ongoing abdominal pain without a diagnosis.

At this point it was in the early hours of the morning and I was given a bed to lie down on due to feeling extremely poorly. A few hours later I was woken up and sent back to the waiting room. After being in there for 7 hours, without any food drink or medication I was admitted into a ward. I asked for some anti sickness medication twice due to continuous vomiting before a doctor finally came to see me.

They came up with a solid plan for further tests, scans etc to try and get to the route of the problem which I was satisfied with, he was extremely helpful. At this point it’s Friday evening and I haven’t managed to eat or drink since Wednesday evening without vomiting. No IV fluids, no antibiotics, nothing. I was sent for a scan and was told everything was fine, hours passed and I continued to ask for anti sickness medication and pain relief due to being in severe distress with my pain. I was told I had to wait until it was due, my throat was burning I was vomiting that much.

Sunday morning comes and I break down to the nurse as I haven’t managed to keep a single thing down since Wednesday. They heard me being sick in the bathroom and walked back out the door, I felt faint everytime I stood up. My blood pressure was 90/40 and I was told to just keep drinking, no IV fluids offered, even though I had repeatedly said I couldn’t keep anything down. Bacterial vaginal swabs were sent off, tests for coeliac were sent off and on the Sunday I was told everything was fine and I could go home, they would give me anti sickness tablets. I was asked to do a bowel specimen but due to not being able to eat I was struggling, so asked for a laxative to help which was completely forgotten about. They then came back and said it was Sunday and pharmacy was shut so I would have to get them myself from the pharmacy and could get them over the counter.

After discharge I went to the pharmacy and was told I wouldn’t be able to get them without a prescription and should never have been discharged home. After reading my discharge letter it states my vaginal swabs hadn’t come back yet, my bloods hadn’t come back yet and because I wasn’t able to do a bowel movement I was just to hand it in to my GP and they would have to investigate it. I would never have gone to the hospital in the first place if I didn’t feel poorly, I am a nurse myself so I know something isn’t quite right.  

It’s been 5 days and I still haven’t managed to keep any food or fluid down. I know the hospital is at capacity and the staff are extremely busy and I am not for once second blaming them but I just feel I was shoved under the carpet and ignored. I don’t feel I got to the route of my problems and I am still in extreme discomfort. I was told so many different stories from different doctors and just feel extremely let down. Not a good experience at all.