I haven't been on this forum for a long time but I was wondering if you very wise and lovely people could provide me with some help!?! Last month, I had my first and probably worst attack I have ever had in the last 2 years. It was my first admission to adults and to be honest adults was awful. I was left in A and E for 3 hours before seeing a doctor and nearly signed out AMA and went to another hospital. I had HR of 160 (which I was told was normal for nebs - which for me isn't I went in on 1/2 hourly!) and my sats dropped to mid 80s and was completely ignored. Anyway after a Doctor came everything moved much faster with lots of IVS as was very hypoxic.
Was moved to CCU and told I was only allowed 4 nourly nebs as nebs can do heart damage with tachycardia! (But as my con pointed out my HR was due too hypoxia) Anyway on ward round I was told that I was heading to ICU if not careful much to the idiot locom doctors surprise....! BUT after this things got gradually worse then better then my mum came and helped me.
My question is that unlike any other attack the care I got deeply disturbed me, especially as thought it was illegal to have a severe adthma attack and a doctor to not assess you within an hour. How do you get over such experiences? And most importantly Im off to uni in Sept what do I do when I cannot speak for myself but I have noone by my side?
My con was horrified but said there was no point righting a plan for the hospital as they clearly wouldn't follow it. What would you reccommend?!?!
Sorry for the long moany msg but could do with some info!
I went through a very similar experience, several years ago. I was taken to hospital by ambulance, and my stretcher was put into a partially curtained bay. Normally, I would have been given O2 straight away, but due to it being 1am on Saturday night/Sunday morning, staff were overwhelmed with drunks, etc. Nobody checked me or gave me any oxygen/medication until 4:30am, by which time I was unconscious, and barely breathing. I was taken to ICU, and because of my trauma in A + E, I was hard to stabilize - I was so agitated, that they were going to sedate me + put me on a ventilator, so that they could get my heart/breathing under control. Thankfully, I managed to calm down, and was taken to a ward, where I remained for a week.
I voiced my concerns to my Consultant, who told me that he was going to put me on a register. This would mean that if I needed to go to hospital, I would bypass A + E, and go straight to the assessment ward, (who would already have a copy of my records) for urgent treatment. This required me to carry a document with me at all times, which stated that I was a very severe asthmatic, who needs urgent treatment, and must be taken to assessment ward instead of A + E. Thankfully, I never had to use this option, and now my asthma is so well controlled, that I don't have to use it. It's worth mentioning to your Consultant about having this safeguard, but obviously when you go to university, your consultant will have to make arrangements for it to be valid in the hospitals, nearest to your campus.
Don't worry, you were just very unlucky, as was I !! Try not to let one bad experience control your future.
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