"Not very impressed"

I was brought to a&e during the night on the 19th September following a gallstone attack. I have been diagnosed with gallstones a couple of months ago after giving birth to my first daughter.

This attack was my worst one yet & I was brought into the department by ambulance at around 1am. First impressions were great, I was put straight into a room & triaged, had my bloods taken aswel, the nurse was very nice. I was in a lot a pain & had already taken a fair few painkillers before arriving, I am allergic to codeine and morphine so was therefore advised there was no other painkillers I could have.

The doctor took a while to come and when they did I found them rude & condesending & telling me information about my condition which I was already aware of, they also had my blood test results which they referred to as 'boring'. They advised they would get a surgeon to review my case but did not think there was anything else that could be done for me.

I waited another 2 hours before given any more painkillers & when a porter arrived to take me to ward 3 short stay, i was suprised at this as no one had informed me about what was going on.

The porter was nice & explained everything which had been going on to the nurse in the ward, they were very nice & asked if I was okay or needed any further pain killers or blankets. They also explained the reasons why I had been moved & advised the surgeon would be down to see me soon.

The surgeon arrived at around 7am, did a review for me & informed me they had booked me in for an ultrasound at 9am - they advised me that after the ultrasound if it confirmed gallstones (which I had already been diagnosed with) that I would have the operation that day.

I was sent home and advised to come back to the hospital for 9am.

Having a 16 week old daughter & having my first ever operation was a scary thought, however my family agreed it would be the best course of action as I would be feeling better soon after & they would help me until I was feeling better.

I went back to the hospital at 9am, was admitted in SAU taken for my ultrasound very quickly which was excellent and the nurse & sonographers I dealt with were lovely.

It went downhill from there, it took over 2 & a half hours for the surgeon to come & see me, when they did they advised that the operation would Infact not go ahead. They had fears that a stone may be stuck in my bile duct which needed an mri scan. I had a scan on the 16th September at the freeman hospital so I do not understand why they could not access these results. After being told I would be having the operation & building myself up for this to be told I wasn't Infact having it is so so disappointing!! If I had of new this would be the case I would not have sat & wasted another 5 hours.

I also was not allowed a drink of water from 7am, even when I was advised the operation would not be going ahead I was refused water, this caused me to be dehydrated when I got home & being sick, still not feeling 100% today.