"Feeling dismissed"

Recently I called an ambulance due to severe abdominal pain amongst a host of other symptoms that had been getting increasingly worse for several days. The pain was so severe I couldn't walk. Paramedics tried to take me to another hospital however they were extremely busy so we tried FSH instead. I was given a green whistle in the mean time due to the severity of the pain. As expected, FSH was extremely busy too so they dropped me into the waiting room. I was given a bed after 2-4 hours after escalating my care because of the distress of being in the hospital of where my child died in 2018, citing I was beginning to have suicidal thoughts. Despite mentioning this, no mental health care was ever offered during my visit. 

When I got to a bed, the first nurse I had was lovely and seemed to really care but changeover occurred to the night shift shortly after. The new nurse assigned to me did not provide a pillow or blanket for 2 hours until I managed to catch them and ask despite how cold the ED was, not a big deal initially but it contributed to the tone. I seemed to be forgotten about and not seen for an extended period of time so I ended up also escalating this with the nurse after they'd asked me if I'd been seen yet hours into sitting on the bed.

A doctor came and saw me but it felt like they'd hardly listened to my description of symptoms, seeming very distracted. I believe many people will attest to the fact that it's hard to advocate for yourself in a hospital when you are alone and unwell but it's increased tenfold when you're in a mental health crisis and the staff appear to not care at all. The doctor put an IV needle into my arm after I gave them a stool sample I'd already collected, asking the nurse to give me a bag of fluids and I felt the nurse responded rudely back to the doctor. They both left, the nurse never came back with my fluids so I questioned them after some time. They stated to me that I wasn't meant to have them.

When the doctor returned, they informed me they were discharging me because they assumed I had a severe form of gastro, my bloods looked okay and my pain was being managed thanks to the strong pain relief they'd given me. They asked me if I felt better after receiving my fluids, I told them that the nurse never provided them despite me reminding the nurse. I felt the doctor looked appalled but then quickly said that because my kidney function was good that I didn't need them. I don't think this was correct as I hadn't been able to keep food or fluids down for 5 days at this point.

Despite feeling uncomfortable due to being seemingly fobbed off by the healthcare staff, I attempted to advocate for myself by suggesting this wasn't just gastro because I'd been having episodes like this for about four yearsthat have been getting increasingly violent. The doctor said it may be inflammatory bowel disease but they couldn't do anything for me because I was already on a wait list for a colonoscopy, that my case wasn't severe enough to warrant an escalation. I asked for pain relief to be prescribed for the pain as the initial suggestion was managing pain that I couldn't walk through with only buscopan. They did prescribe this and I left feeling utterly defeated by the experience.

Since this, I have still continued to be extremely unwell to the point of my quality of life diminishing significantly over 2 weeks. I presented to my GP to get the results of my stool sample. My GP showed me that my calprotectin was severely elevated, indicating inflammation in my guts. On top of that, the sample also showed I was not suffering from gastro or parasite as suggested. My GP said that in their opinion, I shouldn't have been discharged. My GP couldn't understand why a GIT specialist wasn't consulted, why I wasn't given fluids or investigated further. My GP themself had to escalate my colonoscopy and I have had to pay out of pocket to get seen privately by a GIT specialist who also agrees that I have so many red flag symptoms and test results now that it's beyond urgent.

I ask that this get reviewed by healthcare staff because it is concerning to me that a young person in their 20s was seemingly fobbed off like this who:

- Had severe levels of diarrhea and vomiting for an extended period of time during this episode.

- Had a history spanning years of these issues.

- Was rectally passing both blood and mucus. 

- Sudden, significant weight loss in less than a week (7KG at this point).

- Stool changes.

- Signs of inflammation like severe itching and pain under the armpits.

- Intense abdominal pain to the point of being unable to walk. 

- Fatigue to the point of sleeping through my days.

- Significantly impaired quality of life to the point of being unable to work and go about my life.

Based on my symptoms, I believe it was very unlikely what I have was just a bug. My GP and the GIT specialist have had to urgently arrange my care because, as I understand it, everything shows that this is either a case of inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. I have again been left feeling not worth the time or concern by our healthcare system being rushed out the door seemingly for the sake of a spare bed. I re-presented to another hospital in the following week due to worsening symptoms again but left after 4 hours without being seen due to my lack of faith in the system caused by the experience by FSH in the week before. 

I really hope the staff do not dismiss another young person then find out later it was something far more serious than suspected due to a lack of investigation.