This is a long post so please be patient.
I had not been feeling good for a couple of weeks, i.e. much tireder than usual, slurry speech, stumbling and short sharp headaches. I had already had 2 blood tests which showed low potassium so I was told to drop one of my BP tablets and get rechecked in 2 weeks. I was due to have my INR check at the doctors and the health assistant commented on my jerky speech. I explained how I had been feeling and asked if I could possibly see a doctor. I was told I would have to make an appointment. My GP surgery operates a call back system so on when I got home I phoned and asked for a GP to call. I was told that they were taking emergency calls only, the call taker didn’t even ask what was wrong, even though she could clearly hear the problem with my speech. I was told I would have to call again the next day. By this time my hubby was not only angry but really concerned because I couldn’t get my words out properly.
I had a same experience earlier in the year but I am terrified of hospitals so it took a week before I saw my GP who sent me straight to hospital with a suspected TIA. Because I had left it so long the MRA couldn’t pick up any evidence of a bleed but I was warned that, should it happen again, I should call 999.
My husband made me call 111 for advice and for them to hear the struggle I was having. I was put on to a health care nurse called Christine who was furious that I had not been able to talk to a GP so she put me on hold while she called him. When she came back she told me my GP was coming as well as an ambulance. She was so lovely and caring. As soon as I hung up my phone rang and it was the doctor saying it was no good him coming as he actually couldn’t do anything so I was to wait for an ambulance. 2 hours later I called 111 because no ambulance had come. When they checked they told me I was supposed to have had a category 2 ambulance which should have arrived within 18 minutes but, for some reason it had been cancelled!
I hung up and the phone rang again. It was Christine calling to check how I was doing and promising me the ambulance was on it’s way.
The ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later but during all this time my speech was returning to normal. They went through the usual checks like squeezing their hands, pushing my legs against them, etc. I told them I had a suspected TIA earlier in the year but it only affected my speech and balance. The two ambulance men didn’t seem to want to hear what I was trying to explain and kept cutting me off.
I was taken to hospital and breathed a sigh of relief that there was only one ambulance outside. We were met at the entrance to A &E by a doctor and when the ambulance man told him my history but that my speech had returned I was amazed to be told to sit in the waiting room to be triaged. What happened about the F.A.S.T. rule?
There were 4 people in the waiting room which included 2 drunks, one with a scratched face and another with a black eye who was indignantly stating he wanted more than f*****g paracetamol!
I sat there for an hour while the waiting room filled up and watching everyone else go before me. While sitting in the waiting room, if someone had given me a blanket, I would have curled up and gone to sleep.
After yet another person had gone in, I had had enough. I wanted to go home. I tried to find a member of staff but couldn’t find a soul so I left, came home and went straight to bed. Half an hour after I got home the hospital phoned to see where I was. I was really peed off after the catalogue of events and told them they were too late, the episode was over and I had received no help at all. All he said was “okay” which made my blood boil even more. We decided that if I became unwell that we call 999 to see if we got any help.
I know I will be jumped on with people saying I should have stayed but nobody was taking me seriously. I hate, hate, hate hospitals so I wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t know my body was not acting normally.
It seemed because my grip and leg strength was normal, that the ambulance men didn’t consider I had a TIA. Whatever happens affects my speech not my limbs or my face! When I told them I was on warfarin they said it was unlikely I had had one but when I told them about my PV (which they hadn’t heard of) they went quiet when I said sufferers were at a higher risk of heart attack/stroke.
I feel really let down by the NHS now. I am going to see my Haemo. Consultant soon so I will have to tell her what’s been happening. Hopefully she will take me seriously.
Sorry for the long post.
I have Covid 19 - I’ m worried about taking my Peg medication. 
