Urgent referral

[christina1947]

Low HB and fluttering in chest GP said ageing heart (72) may need a pacemaker did an urgent referral to consultant but he said not urgent will be 5 months wait to see him . What I would like to know did he look at my 24 hour ecg results before making his discussion should I be pleased he doesn’t think it urgent what do you think please xxx

[Prada47]

Difficult to say suggest you go back to referring GP, to ask what Consultant has actually said/wrote. That should tell you what he/she thought about ECG results.

[christina1947 in reply to Prada47]

I agree made appt for Thursday at least I will fine out if he looked at the ecg take carexxx

[Casper020918]

The consultant would have looked at your monitor results to have made that decision.

[christina1947 in reply to Casper020918]

Thank you I am anxious and thinking the worse all the time at the moment. Take care xxx

[Sunnie2day in reply to christina1947]

You've just described how I felt - anxious and thinking the worst after seeing the cardiologist even though essentially he had good news for me. I'm female, 62, soon to be 63.

After some chest pain and breathlessness, my GP listened to my heart, did a resting ecg and some blood work, and then sent me on the 'urgent' referral. After about 7 weeks (and some more tests including an exercise ecg and an echocardiogram, I saw the cardiologist.

And like you, was left wondering if he'd read everything as my next appointment with him is not until late October (2019), and he didn't give me any real definitive diagnosis or name for what I have beyond saying the angina, although responding very well to the Bisoprolol (1.25mg+300mg aspirin), will want further investigation if it doesn't go away completely by autumn. Needless to say, I left his office happy he wasn't terribly concerned, but worried (ok, quite anxious and beginning to think the worst despite his seeming to see my situation as not urgent).

Not feeling I had sufficient answers I did book with my GP - took a list of questions I had including 'Did he look at all my notes?'. She answered everything he'd not had time to answer at the 15 minute consultation, and I left the GP exam room feeling like skipping all the way home (hahahahaha - I'm still not fit enough to manage one skip much less the half mile back to my home from the surgery!). She gave me the 'official' names of the four conditions (yes, four, but all of them currently under control), she explained why, if I'm not considered 'urgent' now, I'm booked to see the cardiologist again in October (they're wanting to discover the cause of the angina), told me what to have engraved on my MedicAlert bracelet...she answered completely every question I had, and she got all that information across to me in ten minutes.

Thing is, while I was in the wait area (mid-afternoon) to see the cardiologist a full 15 more patients arrived - and every one of those 15 were there to see the same cardiologist I was there to see! No wonder he didn't have time to really go into things with me beyond the most important bits, and too, I think he sussed I was one of those patients happy to speak with the GP for more information. And perhaps most importantly, the other patients waiting to see him that day (mid-June 2019) were in far worse shape than I was - I didn't exactly pop up from my seat when my name was called but I was definitely more spry than the others.

I'm going to follow your post, I hope you'll update as things go along!

[Hidden]

We humans see such different things in posts for I thought you meant that your GP had given an urgent referral to see a consultant and that even although it was urgent, it could take up to 5 months to see one and he thought that your situation, based upon your ECG, was not an urgent one, but marked it urgent to help jump the queue.

There is one thing that is really clear, without further information that both you and this group do not have no one could even begin to guess the answer - bit like crystal ball gazing

[clarehealsworldwide]

Hallo Christina. I'm the same age as you, different heart problems. Hope you can get seen by cardiologist ASAP.... Could you ask GP to refer you to a different cardiologist for a second opinion? Wishing you all the very best. I'm in Yorkshire, are you? Best of luck, Clare

[WildRose3]

It was only when I had a 7 day ambulatory HR monitor that they made my pacemaker more urgent ( my HR dropped to 30) but even so it still took 2.5 months after that to get it done. I was feeling dreadful for about 5 months altogether. I am the same age and was shocked that this happened having been very fit previously.