I've had a frustrating arvo/evening!

Avatar for mschiffven
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2003
I've had a frustrating arvo/evening!
6
Sat, 05-14-2005 - 3:06am

Nat is having complications from her op, part of her suture line has come apart and she has an infection going on there. She was released from the hospital with no follow up whatsoever- normally a district nurse would come daily and change her dressings but that hasnt happened and we have had to buy the dressings ourselves. She needs 4 a day changed and they cost $1 each, which is going to add up over the time she will need to have them. We went to A&E (accident and emergency) to see if she should be restitched- she saw a nurse who told her the wait was 7 hours to see a doctor as they didnt consider it urgent, so we went to an after hours GP who said he didnt like to restitch the wound in case the infection was deeper and he didnt want to be stitching it in- he said get hold of the plastics unit or the surgeon. Nat phoned the surgeon who said she should have been seen by a district nurse at least once a day and to phone the plastics unit, the plastics unit told her they considered her the surgeons patient (he doesnt usually do ops at the public hospital) - the surgeon says the op was done at the public hospital and it was up to them to provide the after-care. The plastics unit told Nat if the would was open, it would need attention and she would have to come into A&E so she phoned A&E who had already told her they didnt consider her an emergency and they told her the wait would be at least 7 hours.... so she has decided to leave it until tomorrow after I finish work at 1pm. I feel bad that she has an infection, I have tried to be really clean and careful when changing her dressings, and we have only changed them every 2nd or 3rd day because we cant afford to buy the dressings.... arrrggggghhhhhhh- I know someone who works as a district nurse, her and Nat are not on good terms but I am hoping she will be able to tell me what can we do to get the care Nat should be getting.... and at the very least, score us some free dressings!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2005
Sat, 05-14-2005 - 10:33pm

I'm sitting here, shaking my head in total annoyance at the way Nat is being treated. Unfortunaltely this happens often in the medical field (my mom, aka nursemom, has relayed several similar stories - who is responsible for what? Does anyone really know?).


I wish there was something

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Sat, 05-14-2005 - 11:56pm
Oh My Goodness!.. Thats terrible!.. Talk about passing the buck..
Poor Nat.. I do hope tomorrow

 C  >^. A .

Avatar for mschiffven
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2003
Sun, 05-15-2005 - 2:57am

Thanks for the thoughts Sadie. Nat is on two kinds of antibiotics so any infection should succumb, we hope. We could not face another day like yesterday, pretty much figuring we would get the same response anyway. I have patched her up for now and she will see her own doctor on Monday. He was pretty angry about it all last time and I would say he will get on the phone until something happens this time, at the very least he will give her a referral to someone who will have to do something.

I cant believe they discharged her, only 6 days after surgery, still hardly able to move, still very swollen and have not followed up at all! I had a district nurse come check on me after my csec until the wound dried up and that was minor compared to what Nat has been through


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Avatar for mschiffven
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2003
Sun, 05-15-2005 - 3:11am
it's a bit of a worry eh? Luckily Nat did manage to get antibiotics because I suspect the infection is from the inside out, rather than the other way around. She has pain well below her suture line. Hopefully her doc will sort something out for her tomorrow.

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Avatar for nursepam2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Sun, 05-15-2005 - 12:47pm

(((((Ven)))))


Sending lots of healing angels to Nat.

Avatar for mschiffven
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-25-2003
Tue, 05-17-2005 - 12:02am

thanks for your input Pam. The hospital did send Nat home with some dressings, they just did nothing afterwards. The night I posted this, Nat found her surgeons cellphone number in the phone book and she called him in tears telling him she didnt know what to do and why no one is helping her the way they should.

First thing the following morning Nat got a phone call from the hospital telling her they have been told they have to see her and they made an appointment for her, which she went to yesterday. The sites of infection are where stitches that should have dissolved havent and have pierced the suture line. The antibiotics she is on should clean her system of anything good and bad (the best thing about having my own house to go to is that I also have my own natalie-free toilet lol!) Apart from that, most of her scar is looking really good and healing well. The hospital gave her another 4 dressings but no follow up appointment once again.


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