"Traumatic Experience"

Following a minor operation I had in summer 2015 I would like to make you aware of my situation.

The operation was for a hemorrhoidectomy and skin tag removal which took place at Mexborough Montague hospital.

I was told there might be some minor bleeding and discomfort following the operation but I should be fully recovered by four weeks.

The Mexborough hospital discharged me in the afternoon, following an operation in the morning, with some co-codamol tablets and some antibiotics to help prevent infection along with some Lactulose. I was told to rest for the remainder of the day and keep the wounds clean after every bowel movement.

Over the next three days I was in horrendous pain and bleeding profusely which was very worrying as there was a lot of blood and clotting therefore my family took me to A & E. The first two doctors I saw said I needed to go back to surgery and prepared me by putting a cannula in my arm and taking some bloods etc. After waiting for over an hour a consultant came to see me and decided I was ok to go home (How he knew this I don’t know as he did not examine my bowel! ) but he gave me some pads etc. to use and told me to keep everything clean.

After a few days I began to struggle to pass urine and went back to A & E (as it was a Sunday) where they prescribed me some antibiotics to treat a water infection, they also prescribed me with some cream to help ease the pain around by bottom.

In the next few days I went back to my doctor as the tablets had given me thrush so he prescribed me with something to get rid of that as well as some liquid morphine to help me with the pain as the co-codamol were not really helping. I had still not properly been to the toilet so I was given some sachets to take with water to loosen the poo and help me to go. By this point I was not sleeping properly and was exhausted and very upset that there had been no real improvement.

The thrush had still not gone later that month and I was not really any better which made me very concerned. I went back to my GP and she said that I should be much better by now as it had been 19 days since the operation. She arranged for me to see my consultant on soon afterwards to get some answers. The consultant saw me and said I just needed more time to heal and that the operation sometimes took people longer to recover. I was not really satisfied with this as I was sure there was something wrong but he let me go home again even though I was not properly examined.

The following week I saw my GP again as I was in agony, who rang DRI as she thought I was impacted and needed help.

I was admitted to hospital in early august and I have had to have an emergency operation to remove a blockage in my bowel and I am now in recovery. If the notes I had been given had been clearer when I originally left the hospital I might not have suffered the way I have. They stipulated not to sit on the toilet for longer than three minutes at a time and not to strain! Obviously I followed these instructions and ended up back in hospital.

I realise that not everybody is the same and sometimes there can be complications following procedures but I don’t feel I was given enough information following the operation. I think it would be beneficial for future patients to be given a list of things that might go wrong and if they do what they can do/ have to help them. The Doctor in the A & E department told me that in the past patients would have been in hospital for two weeks following this operation but as time has gone on people are now discharged the same day. I was also told it can be common to have heavy bleeding following the procedure and quite painful! ... why was this not conveyed at the time of discharge?

It has been very worrying for me and my family and it is very difficult to get hold of people for advice and appointments to receive the correct medication to help with the symptoms. If I had been made aware of potential issues upon leaving the hospital I could have been better prepared and maybe dealt with the situation in a different way.

It has been a very traumatic experience and I would hate for anyone else to have to go through what I have.