Thank you ladies. I really feel i had to complain kanga, it just kept going around and around in my head.Heres a copy of my complaint....
Dear sirs,
I am writing to tell you about my recent experience on at Rotherham general hospital. On the 17th of October I was diagnosed with Cancer under the hallamshire but also found out I was expecting my second child. My husband and I were both thrilled.
Unfortunately, the pregnancy was not successful, and when I got to 12 weeks I started to bleed. After a trip to A+E and a scan in the EPAU the following morning (7th and 8th December 2011) it was told that there was a sac present but the baby had stopped developing at around 6 weeks.
I was booked in for another scan a week later (15th December) and it was confirmed that the sac had collapsed and I had suffered a missed miscarriage. I spent 5 hours with a lovely lady named Wendy in EPAU where we discussed what options I had, which took all of 30 minutes, the remaining 4 and a half hours were spent waiting for a Dr who only needed to clerk me in.
I opted for surgical management and was put on Saturdays emergency list for surgery. I had been handed a leaflet about miscarriages provided by the trust and read it when I got home. It stated that I would be placed in a side room to give me some privacy due to the sensitivity of the issue. This was not the case however.
When I reached B11 at 8am on the 17th December, I was placed in an open bay with a pregnant lady. Still obviously grieving for the baby I had lost, I instantly felt very alone, sad and vulnerable.
I was booked in, changed into my gown, cannulated and told that I would be going into surgery first thing in the afternoon providing the list went as planned. I sat and waited on my own until 2pm when my nurse asked the surgeon when I would be going down to theatre. She said she wasn't aware she had anyone left on the list but she looked through my notes and came to talk to me. She asked me why I had chosen the surgical management over the medical management of my miscarriage. I told her it was my personal choice as I didn't think I could face the medical option and I had my 10 month old son at home who I didn't want to be away from for too long, and the surgical option was the quickest and easiest way to achieve going home so quickly.
She told me she would rather me have the medical management as the sac that was left in my uterus was only small, I wouldn't be in a great deal of pain and she was confident it would all come away with the use of the pessaries. After this discussion I agreed to go ahead with what the surgeon thought was best, although I am from a medical background, I am no expert.
I waited for a Dr to come to insert the first pessaries from 2pm, they were finally inserted at 8.30pm. Alone again I was constantly reminded of what I had lost and had nothing to think about other than the procedure that was taking place.
I had two lots of pessaries which did nothing and meant an overnight stay. The surgeon came back to see me at 9am the following morning. One of the ladies on the bay had a visitor present at the time. The surgeon asked if she could do a quick examination, to which I agreed. She said she could feel something in the opening of my cervix. So she did a more thorough examination and informed me that she could see the sac and she was going to remove it.
She used a pair of surgical forceps and pulled out the remaining products of what was left of my pregnancy and put it in a kidney bowl to be sent of to the labs to be tested. It was so painful and I was offered no pain relief.Although the surgeon was confident she'd got it all.
I was mortified and deeply upset by what id just witnessed. Id chosen the surgical option in the first place so I wouldn't have to put myself through any more trauma than id already been through, but to have to do it on a bay with other ladies present and their visitors, without the support of my husband, is something I don't think I'll ever forget.
I was told that the surgeon would be back to see me later and if all was well I could go home. Again I was left alone and was obviously very upset.
A different Dr came to see me at around 2pm to do another examination. He said my cervix was still slightly open so that meant there may be something still left in my womb and that I would have to go to surgery if it didn't shut in the next couple of hours and that I had to starve from then on.
I was devastated. It felt like having the medical management was a complete waste of time an emotional effort and I would probably have to go to theatre anyway. My husband came in at the allotted visiting time and we waited for the surgeon to return.
She came at 7.30pm and gave me another internal, told me my cervix was shut and that I could go home. She asked if I had been eating and drinking, so I told her what the other Dr had said. She apologised, looking puzzled and said that was never the plan for me. I felt so tired, drained and fed up that I didn't mention the total lack of communication that had occurred there.
I was told I would need a follow up scan in a week to check that my womb was empty, but the department would get in touch with me with details of the appointment. That was over 2 weeks ago and I am still waiting. I cannot put this ordeal behind me until I know its completely finished.
I am not writing to complain about the members of staff, on the whole they were very good. What has prompted me to email you is that my best friend, attended the hospital last week for a termination. She had exactly the same procedure as me apart from she'd chosen to terminate and I hadn't. I do understand that this issue is just as sensitive as a miscarriage but I feel it should be dealt with in the same manner.
My friend was given her own room, her boyfriend was able to stay with her throughout the entire procedure and she was offered gas and air for pain relief. All the things I feel would have made my experience more bearable and would have meant a far more compassionate level of care had been delivered.
Instead I was grieving, on a ward full of strangers, without my husband and laid facing a lady I would have gladly changed places with. I felt I was treat as a faceless patient, just another number and with total disregard for my thoughts and feelings. My husband was grieving just as much as I was and wasn't included in any of the experience.
A cancer diagnosis and a missed miscarriage in the space of 3 months will take a lot of time to heal, but if one woman can benefit from my experience and email it will be worth it.
Yours Faithfully
Mrs Natalie Evans
xx
nat, you are so strong and have dealt with so much xxxx
