Update and even more desperate!

[Danni54]

I'm really here to have another moan ! Sorry everybody! 2 and a half weeks on and I'm still waiting for my ' urgent ' appointment with Orthopaedics for an MRI ! I seem to be getting worse every day though I try to keep going but hardly slept last night because the pain going further down my back is getting worse and spreading. I had to come to bed today at 1.20 p.m. and my husband had to dish up dinner which I had managed to prepare earlier. I am so worried about being in bed so much but the pain is unbearable and even Oramorph doesn't help now . Thank goodness the Buprenorphine helps my feet and legs most of the time though the ice cold feeling and hot needles are still lurking. I did phone Neurology and spoke to a Secretary who is so lovely and kind and advised that I write everything down and ask my Dr. to send that to the Neurologist and he might help to push for the MRI. I did that and am now waiting to see whether my Dr. will agree to do that. The Secretary checked to see whether I was on the MRI list yet and ...nothing! I am so desperate because I have coped with a lot but this is on another level!

Sorry to moan again and thank you for ' listening ' ....again! 💜 Take care everybody.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Have you spoken to your practice manager and told her about your conversation with the neurologist’s secretary and that she has said you are not on the list for an MRI?

I take it you have written everything down and delivered it to your surgery.

My only other suggestions are that you contact your MP and ask them to intervene on your behalf while you are still able to walk - failing that turn up at A&E and just say your bowels and bladder are being affected.

When I fractured my sacrum and was in agony that was the triage question that seemed to decide whether I was seen in A&E or saw the A&E GP - o saw the GP but had my bowels and bladder been affected I would have got onto A&E.

Best to go during the day when the full complement of staff will be around.

Good luck with it all. Nerve pain is no joke.

[Danni54 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Hi and thank you for replying again. My husband put my letter in to my Dr. on Tuesday telling him about the Neurologist and what the Secretary said and I asked my Dr. to pass my letter etc. on to the Neurologist. I have heard nothing back but he's , probably, annoyed with me for contacting the Neurologist! I don't really care if they get annoyed with me for fighting for treatment because nobody else does !Do you mind that I ask what they did when you fractured your Sacrum? Are you still in pain? I hope not . I hardly slept last night and was up 4 times. The pain is exhausting isn't it but having to get up through the night is also exhausting. I wake up with my leg's kicking etc. and I have to get up and go to the bathroom and that helps relieve (!) my leg's till the next time. Weird! As for A. & E. Apparently the waiting time is a minimum of 5 hours and longer at the weekend. Our hospital really is too small now for the amount of people who have moved here.

Take care and good luck.

Best wishes x

[Midori in reply to Danni54]

If you doc Is miffed with you; it's his problem. There is absolutely nothing wrong nowadays in contacting the Specialist if things are dragging out too long!

I was a nurse, and I have never known waiting lists so long. I've been trying to get an appointment with mt GP for nearly 5 years! I have a list as long as my arm of things needing doing! But can I get an appointment; Can I Heck! Some specialists will allow for you to get a cancellation appointment.

Hope you get an appointment soon.

Cheers, Midori

[Danni54 in reply to Midori]

Hi. Thank you. You have been going through hell as well ,as many of us seem to be ! I haven't heard from my Dr. since the letter went in so I'm going to phone him on Monday though I don't think he works on a Monday! I was in hospital a few weeks ago and the Nurses were wonderful and a Junior Dr. was lovely and said that she would organise a scan. The Consultant said no scan...do it through your Dr.! Grrr! It's awful that you are having to wait for so long for an appointment. The NHS was falling apart before Covid but Covid seems to have changed everything for the worse. I really hope that you get help soon. Please let us know how you get on and I hope that you have some support. Take care please. Best wishes x

[Midori in reply to Danni54]

My son is my carer, and even he has problems. He's a Type 2 diabetic, with eye changes that his Optician wants seen by a Neurologist but the GP blocks it and sends him to the hospital eye Clinic!

It's a good job I didn't hang up my knowledge with my Nurse's uniform, or he'd be panicking!

Cheers, Midori

[Danni54 in reply to Midori]

What is going on not just with the NHS but the attitude of the medic's?! It's bad enough that you aren't getting the treatment you need but it must upset you and drive you mad when your son isn't getting to see the right Consultant! As you say, it's a good job that you are a Nurse! I , actually, found that the Nurses have been better and more knowledgeable than the flipping Dr.s and Consultant's but they are more empathetic as well! I spoke to my sister yesterday and she lives at the other end of the country to me and she ,has, also, had cancer and still has health problems and she is having problems accessing her G.P. and nobody seems to care. We both think that it's a lot to do with our age. Wait until they get older and I may be 71 but my head is stuck at 32 . If I haven't given up with everything I have been and am going through, then why do the medic's?

I have close friend's with diabetes and it's a struggle. I just hope that your son gets seen soon...by the right Consultant!

All the best x

[Danni54 in reply to Midori]

BTW. I read your bio and Herman can be a real pain ! 'Scuse the pun!Mine is 10 cm Sliding Hiatal and sometimes pops out to say hello!! Isn't it fun getting older ?! HA !

[Midori in reply to Danni54]

Oh how I empathise! Herman can be a pain in the gut sometimes A slider can be worse!

One day I'm going to go to a fancy Dress Party as a Geriatric Eccentrica Gallumbits! (If you know the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) I'll either get thrown out or get the prize for Best Fancy Dress!

Cheers, Midori

[Danni54 in reply to Midori]

Definitely Best Fancy Dress! 😍 I had forgotten that ? I must read that book again....it's been a while but is such a good read ! Good job we still have a sense of humour! You made me laugh! Thank 😊 you ! xx

[Midori in reply to Danni54]

I love to give folk a giggle!

Cheers, Midori

[Ketchican]

Danni, that sounds just dreadful and I do hope that your appointment comes soon. it is only through this whole osteoporosis experience that we all learn at first hand just how broken our NHS is. Thank goodness your husband is there to support you. Living alone with this is very difficult but my situation cannot be comparied with yours I am very fortunate in comparison. Take care and I send a big hug.

[Danni54 in reply to Ketchican]

Hi . I should have replied before but thing's have been bad . Thank you for your kind words . Our NHS is badly broken and Governments seem to be pushing us towards private health care which most of us can't afford! It's scary that the care and caring has gone. I hope you have good friends and family to support you and it is difficult going through pain and illness on your own. My husband is away a lot as he doesn't want to get older so, has a part time job but is , also, a musician so he's away a lot ! I would never ask him to give up either but sometimes when I feel really ill and I'm in a lot of pain and I'm on my own , I do get a bit scared. We don't have children but I'm lucky with my friend's. Please take care and if you need to offload or get worried then, please, just message me . I don't always moan 😏! All the best x

[fraid]

So sorry you're going through all that. Yes you have to keep pushing for help, he who shouts loudest gets served soonest. Maybe you can get better pain meds from gp? Oramorph did not help me, made me chuck but now on Fentanyl patches which take the worst off though had to keep nagging , luckily new doc said 'let's get your pain under control first' saviour! Good luck, hope things happen for you soon. 🤞😬

[Danni54]

Hi. Thanks for replying. It helps to ' talk ' to people who understand what I'm going through. I really wish that we didn't have to fight for everything these days because I don't have much energy . I hardly slept last night with pain but my legs were so sore and kicking most of the night too. The cat was not amused but my husband seemed to sleep through it all ! I had to get up 4 times so I'm exhausted! Oramorph doesn't do much for me either but the Buprenorphine usually works for my leg's but they make me woozy ! Can't win !I was on Fentanyl patches for a few year's but then the Restless Leg Syndrome kicked in (!) so I then got the Buprenorphine patches but had an allergy to the adhesive so am now on Sublingual tablets which taste revolting but work...mostly!

You seem to have found a sympathetic Dr. which is great. Please take care. All the best x