"Renal colic at Frenchay"

Anything else?

I arrived at Frenchay hospital early morning with the most terrifying abdominal pain I have ever experienced in my life. Tears streaming down my face I was waiting to give the receptionist my details when I began to vomit violently.

A nurse passing through the waiting area noticed me and took me straight in to the main department where within thirty minutes she had taken bloods, cannulated me and begun the process of controlling my pain and sickness with strong IV drugs. To that nurse, who's name I am so sorry I forgot, Thank you!

With the pain somewhat under control I waited about an hour to see the ED Dr, a time scale that was understandable given the busyness of the department and manageable due to the excellent nursing care I received. I will never forget the patience of the nurse who administered three different drugs to me one by one and slowly until I could comfortably lie still.

When I saw the Dr who explained that they were not sure what was causing my pain but that they were going to order an ultra sound scan to find out. I was given further pain relief while I waited around an hour to have the scan.

Now comfortable I slept, until a friendly and professional porter took me on the trolley to the scanning department, where they performed a scan of my abdomen and were able to tell me there and then that there were no gynecological problems but that I may have a renal calculi.

Back in the ED the doctor updated me and said I would now go for a CT scan of my kidneys they warned me that it would take about 90 minutes for the results of that scan to be available.

After around an hour the pains were returning and I asked the nurse for pain relief, they advised me the doctor would be along soon to see me and in the mean time quickly made sure I was given the analgesia I needed.

When the Doctor did come they kindly explained that I had a kidney stone and that they were known to be very painful. They explained that they had booked me a bed in the South Mead Hospital and I would be transferred there to stay in until my pain and nausea was fully controlled.

As a nurse myself and an ex A&E sister I would like everyone to know how excellent I thought my care at Frenchay Hospital A&E was. Each and every member of staff I met (from porter to nurse to cleaner to doctor to radiographer) was kind , caring and professional.

I am a young, fit and healthy lady who has never experienced pain like this before, and to make matters worse I was miles away from home and family and friends - the morning I was admitted to Frenchay was one of the most terrifying of my life and I can not thank all of the staff enough for what they did to help me.

The quick measures taken to control my pain, the timely investigations, the information I was given about my diagnosis and the friendly and professional nature of the staff are what compelled me to write and say - you all do a wonderful job, please keep it up and Thank you.