I blacked out for three hours and woke up with slurred speech and changed cognitive function. Intense headache and confusion to recognise my bedroom.
I phoned the health connect service to ask if I could wait to see GP or if I needed to go to hospital. The phone service nurse called an ambulance. I have chronic nerve pain This was a different type of pain. Emergency staff told me it was important to do tests to look for a bleed in the brain and to look at my heart to see if they caused the blackout. When those tests were normal the staff informed me that they believed it was in the ball park of epilepsy and I need to talk to GP about referral to neurology.
I feel I have been repeatedly bullied by staff at the pain clinic that my symptoms are something I am responsible to treat - I believe suggesting that if I was better at managing my pain I would not need to access the hospital. I had recently changed to a new pain consultant, who was supportive and acknowledged I did have strong management skills and that I did need regular treatment to manage my central nervous system damage post encephalitis. There was a new head of the clinic that U. K. emailed and met with that agreed I had been regularly treated by doctors unfamiliar with my file or my complex symptoms. The new consultant and the head of the clinic were respectful and encouraged me that I would have regular treatment, not every four months to avoid pain overload and to allow more fun time and active engagement.
But today an extra consultant for the pain team told me I should not have accessed the emergency department after blacking out and at a previous visit for shortness of breath for inflammation of the cartilage of the rib cage. That as a pain patient I should not have access to emergency, but again the statement I just have to manage my symptoms.
These two visits were not to emergency to treat pain. One was chest and one was blacking out. I have been diagnosed with pain after the virus attacked my brain for many years. I have the same right as anyone to go to emergency blacking out for three hours is not normal and needs to be investigated.
I also had tendon damaged from a failed cannula. I thought my most recent appointment was for help - to treat it. My consultant was respectful and focused on strategy to treat hand and four monthly treatment for the nerve pain. The new doctor there did not identify their qualification or position, but told me I was not supposed to access emergency, that they did not want that. Then without giving medical assessment the doctor claimed that they did not want it to stay four monthly but go back to six monthly. In my opinion, the doctor was belittling and bullying, that I had no right to access emergency or get other issues treated by hospital. That I just needed to suck it up and stay home. For a doctor to suggest that my treatment needed to be six monthly was not a medical assessment, but in my opinion just their issue about budget. But also my health outcomes are ignored and I am being told that as a pain patient I should not ask for help or access emergency after a three hour blackout. For a doctor to state that then I believe they have no care for my treatment - it left me without trust in any future access to the hospital
Can you help me get the same respect as a patient without chronic pain
"Staff told me I should not access emergency department."
About: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Herston 4029
Posted by Black out (as ),
Do you have a similar story to tell?
Tell your story & make a difference ››