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Maintained what little dignity I had left (hee hee)

Posted By That was embarrassing

"Maintained what little dignity I had left (hee hee)"

About: Queen Margaret Hospital / Endoscopy

(as the patient),

Went in, changed into entertainingly weird gown & pants, waited very little time, was chatted to by an attentive and engaged nurse throughout the procedure. Mr Daniel was very nice (as were all the nurses — sorry, his is the only name I have on paper! ). The procedure itself was slightly uncomfortable, but also a bit comic (some epic farting involved), and it was pretty interesting being able to see the video feed too. Care was given to my privacy and what little dignity I had left (hee hee) throughout.

Staff were excellent, procedure seemed to go very smoothly, felt well-looked-after.

A few pretty minor suggestions for improvements:

- I'm not sure if much can be done about this, but more vegan-friendly preparatory diet suggestions would be helpful if you can think of any: practically all I was "allowed" to eat was high-GI sugars and white carbs. For a whole foodsy vegan, I found this a little depressing, particularly since omnivores were still allowed interesting (and low-GI) stuff like poultry, eggs, fish and cheese.

- If it's ok to have a meal on the third day of preparation, just before starting the picolax, please say so (even encourage it): I hadn't eaten in 43 hours by the time I had my procedure. Felt surprisingly fine for all that, but still..

- It's expected (and possibly even necessary, for relief of discomfort) to fart like blazes during the procedure. The nurse let me know this once I started to experience discomfort during the procedure, but I think it might have helped a little if she'd let me know this just *before* the investigation started as well.

- Would be nice to see hooks on bathroom doors: there was nothing to hang things on in any of the bathrooms I used.

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Responses

Response from Nothando Senda-Ndaba, Senior Charge Nurse, Endoscopy Unit, QMH, NHS Fife 6 years ago
Nothando Senda-Ndaba
Senior Charge Nurse, Endoscopy Unit, QMH,
NHS Fife

Submitted on 11/05/2017 at 16:21
Published on Care Opinion at 16:27

picture of Nothando Senda-Ndaba

Dear That was embarrassing

Thanks a lot for taking the time to share your experience in Endoscopy Unit. The team will be really pleased to hear how well you were look after throughout your journey from start to finish. I'll be sure to feedback to them all.

I am however, very sorry about the not so a wide choice of foods that you were advised to select from post procedure. We try as much to accommodate special diet by requesting from our catering service. It would be use to get your suggestions on the kind of food that would cater for vegan diet. I am glad that you fed back on this subject, as we are quite keen to provide holistic care for all patients. I will be pleased to speak to you with regards to your suggestion about the vegan diet, then we can consider proving upon discussing with the catering service.

I can be contacted on 01383 623623 ext. 20272 or by email nothando.senda-ndaba@nhs.net.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Kindest regards

Nothando Senda Ndaba (Sister)

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Update posted by That was embarrassing (the patient)

Hi Nothando, thanks very much for your response!

Just to be clear, what I was talking about wasn't post-procedure (I prepared for that and brought my own food), it was the restricted pre-procedure diet: for three days beforehand you're only allowed to eat white pasta, white rice, white bread, the worst sugary breakfast cereals, white meats, cheese, and a few other things. If you're vegan (no dairy or meat) this leaves you only with very unhealthy (and high GI (glycaemic index)) options. I recognise that it's only for three days, but it would be nice to hear whether the people who designed the pre-procedure dietary restrictions can think of anything better for those who don't eat dairy or meat.

As far as the post-procedure snack is concerned, a tasty vegan alternative to a cheese sandwich might be something like a humous and olive sandwich.

Response from Nothando Senda-Ndaba, Senior Charge Nurse, Endoscopy Unit, QMH, NHS Fife 6 years ago
Nothando Senda-Ndaba
Senior Charge Nurse, Endoscopy Unit, QMH,
NHS Fife

Submitted on 11/05/2017 at 17:24
Published on Care Opinion on 12/05/2017 at 08:41

picture of Nothando Senda-Ndaba

Hi That was embarrassing

Many thanks for clarifying what you were talking about. Just as well we are currently reviewing the pre procedure booklets and mainly looking at including a wider choice of food. I will pass on this to the team reviewing the booklets so they can consider vegan diet as well. Thanks again for your quick response.

I wish you well, please do no hesitate to contact me for anything you wish to discuss.

Kindest regards

Nothando Senda-Ndaba (Sister)

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