Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

[di30]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

So sorry about your dad too SXGuy, blimey you have all been through it x

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Thanx Di. I understand I'm the same with threads regarding cancer. Dad died of it some years ago after a long fight so I understand how you feel.

[di30]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I feel for you SXGuy, I really do, I remember going through similar with my beloved dad!

Sorry I have not posted much here SXGuy, I find it painful due to memories, but we are all with you and your lovely mother all the way, fingers crossed all will be sorted out very soon X

[IF]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I have my fingers crossed your Mum gets an earlier appointment SXGuy

[nightwatch]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Hope they can speed things up for you xx

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

So my mother received her appointment for an endoscopy last week.

1st July!!!!

What an F'ing joke, hardly urgent is it!!

Telephoned the hospital, they cant do anything sooner, they said they have loads of referals for an endoscopy every day, and unlikely to find a cancellation.

My mothers community heart nurse visited her yesterday, she somewhat reassured us that it shouldn't take to long to get back on track, said they usually tell you if they see anything while they are doing it, don't tend to wait to long for results. Yeah that's fine IF they see anything.

Anyway they meet up with the cardiologists every fortnight, and is due a meeting next Monday, she said she will put my mothers case to her and see if theres anything they can do to speed up getting the angiogram underway.

So heres hoping!

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I know, it was a battle even getting my mother this far. 3 weeks and 3 different GP's my mother saw, complaining of breathlessness, not being able to walk far, swollen feet and legs. Each one refered her for blood tests, then nothing.

If you read back in this thread, one of them even had the cheek, when my mother asked if there was anything they could do for her, said, if there is, can I have some?

When they finally discovered it was a heart problem, after hooking her up to an Echocardiogram, the GP then said, I don't know enough about it, ill fax a request to see a consultant, it was that same week she had a stroke. If the first GP had said, go to A&E straight away, then she could potentially avoided a stroke, and wouldn't have needed to spend 4 weeks in hospital.

I will be getting her to ring the hospital again next week to chase the appointment letter if it doesn't arrive. And once the endoscopy is done, again chasing for the results. And then again chasing to rebook her angiogram. I knew the NHS was bad, I didn't know it was this bad.

When my dad was first diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago, he literally saw his GP, because he noticed a spot on his cheek, GP said straight away, its cancer get down the hospital now. After that the service was excellent. Since then neither me or my mother have needed the NHS, so we didn't quite know just how bad it was until now.

We knew it wasn't great, but didn't know the most basic tasks like a referral cant even be handled.

[patchouli]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I'm sure there's plenty who don't chase these things up and sit there for months wondering what's happening.

Thats the sad thing.

I feel your anger... Essex hospitals seem to have very slack staff. It took me a few phonecalls to sort out my own tumor removal surgery as the consultant (and my surgeon) kept forgetting to ask his secretary to book me in. Each time I called he'd say yes I'll sort it for next week... then nothing and when I called back he'd say he forgot... oh yeah cheers, I have what we both thought was cancer in my throat and he FORGOT to book the op.

Eventually I spoke to the scretary myself and said I would call back in an hour to confirm she had booked me in for the op.

Then... ha ha.. then when I went to the hospital for the op 4 days before Christmas, they said I wasn't on the system!!! I wasn't booked in... So there was I standing in the ward at Broomfield hospital and all anyone could here was me shout out "MOTHER F*CKER!" before I sat on the floor and burst into tears! lmao ... After I'd told them the story they called my consultant who confirmed HE had me booked in for the op in his private diary.

I mean ffs!!! Talk about drive a person to insanity!! The poor lady on my ward had been to the GP 7 times over a year to complain about difficulty swallowing, she'd gone from 18 stone to 9 stone in that time and it was only when she said she wasn't leaving the surgery that her GP booked her in for tests at the hospital. They found cancer Poor Margaret died a few weeks later.... They COULD have saved her...

As has been said above... Keep on their backs, they get paid regardless of when we are seen so keep on and on until they give you what you want just to shut you up. I mean it took me a visit to the optician before my GP suddenly took notice of the other things I'd been complaining about over the last couple of years... ridiculous!

[patchouli]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I have MS Patch...if you ever need a chat (diagnosed at 23....)

Thank you for that! ((( huG ))) I have my first Neuro on the 4th where he will tell em whats what and look at the MRI.... I may not have it, I may just be falling apart for another reason lol!

I'll certainly grab you if the DX is MS... thank you xxx

[MrsD]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

a good friend who is a very senior nurse with the local health board, would say chase everything, set your own performance standards for them and push them until it all gets done and she's in the system...........................

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I'm sure there's plenty who don't chase these things up and sit there for months wondering what's happening.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

So sorry that they are being so bleddy useless SXGuy. This sort of thing happens frighteningly often. Happened to me with an urgent neuro referral. God knows how anyone who doesn't know to chase things up gets through the system at all.
All you can do is keep at them and play hell

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Mum spoke to the hospital and surgery this morning, both confirmed they have received/done an urgent request for endoscopy, so now just waiting for the letter to confirm the appointment.

No doubt the angiogram after will have to be another referral, so we will need to keep on top of this.

Once its all done, im switching my mother to another surgery, they are useless.

[SXGuy]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

Getting even more annoyed now.

My mothers GP, after calls from us back and forth, finally put in a request for my mother to have an endoscopy at Basildon hospital.

As we hadn't heard anything we telephoned the surgery. The secretary confirmed the request was made on the 15th May. So we telephone the hospital, and are told, sorry no record of a request, if they didn't fax it to a specific consultant then its most likely got lost, they keep faxing just the department, it needs to be addressed to a specific person.

So we telephone the GP again, and explain, the GP said, oh im sure we did fax it to a specific person but ill put you through to the secretary. Mother was on hold for ten minutes before the phone cut dead.

Tried ringing back for 2 hours, phone constantly engaged.

Finally got through again, explained all over again the situation, get through to the secretary. She says, right leave it with me, ill get it sorted, and telephone you back.

Late afternoon, no phone call. So we telephone the hospital, they confirm no one has rang. So we ring the surgery, the secretary is on lunch. Explain were waiting for a phone call, are told they will pass the message on. Still no phone call.

So today, my mother is going to try and ring them again. Got the little one with me all day so cant take my mother anywhere, but tomorrow if things are not sorted, we are going up the GP Surgery to have a go at someone.

This cant go on, this is holding up my mothers angiogram and she is really stressed and worried over this now.

She even telephoned a private hospital to ask what the costs would be. £11,000 per stent, so that's not an option.

Really angry! the most simple task, they cant even get it right!!

[Inca]

Re: Mother been diagnosed with Heart Failure

I'm under Southend University Hospital at the moment as it was discovered in April by my Optician that I had Optical Neurosis so she sent my GP an urgent letter to ask for referral to the Ophthalmologist at SUH... I went to see the GP who read the fax and did a huge gasp, re read through all my notes and realised that the last few months of 'problems' I have had plus the Optical stuff actually look a lot like MS... so I was whisked off there and then for an MRI and tests and ......

..... and now nothing. I have an appointment with the Neuro in June and the Ophthalmologist end of June.. When I said "But the specialist said to prevent more sight loss I need Steroids ASAP" they just said "It's the waiting list, sorry.

Like you say.. when you are rushed in they are hot to trot... but follow up treatments are hard to get and the waiting list is horrendous... not good if you are like your Mother needing treatment NOW.. or like me... a 44 year old sitting here wondering if tomorrow I will wake and not have ANY sight or use of one limb or another.... sucks big time.

One thing I know is my Hg levels are naturally low... throughout all 5 pregnancies they were bleating on about how I couldn't have a home birth unless I got the levels up to 11... they never went above 9 despite taking lots of black crap inducing pills.... I ignored them in the end and had my home births.

However 8 is quite low. Have you tried to raise them naturally with high iron foods and vitamin C rich foods?

I have MS Patch...if you ever need a chat (diagnosed at 23....)