Inactive on MyLot..Very Good Reason For This!
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
April 30, 2010 6:36pm CST
On Wednesday afternoon I was admitted into hospital! It all started when I rang my doctor complaining of a stitch like pain in the heart area and that it was affecting me cleaning the house. I was also very hot.
Do you know what he said?
"Dial 999!"
To say I was shocked was an understatement. 
I didn't think the "pain" warrented getting an ambulance so I waited another half an hour for hubby and he took me to A&E. They took a little blood, then more blood, and I had my blood pressure done. Then the very, VERY nice A&E doctor said that he had to admit me into hospital overnight! Yet again, I was mortified! He said that another blood test had to be conducted at 2am which meant admission onto the assessment ward.
After settling in John drove back home and brought me a bag with more clothes in it.
I was NOT envisaging having 2 nights in there as I was feeling a lot better and even LIKED my time on the treadmill.
Also, my two blood tests were "normal" much to my relief.
Well, the final straw came when I was told I had to stay in hospital a second night because the doctor had not gone over my treadmill results, so I would have to wait until the following morning. This I accepted at the time but what did they do?
Take me to the dementia ward that's what! I have never felt so distressed in all my life. I know the ladies could not help moaning, pooing and being sick everywhere but I felt so out of place (and the only reason I was still in hospital was the fact the treadmill test results weren't available) I signed myself out.
Yes, folks SIGNED MYSELF OUT! They needed the bed anyway. It's all a game of chess they play in hospital wards and I realise how they were stretched BUT I was not prepared to spend my time in the ELM ward as I felt that I would be infected with something horrible, plus the fact my stitch had gone and, thankfully, hasn't come back.
The nurses actually sympathised and told me that they wouldn't fancy a night in that ward either. Now, don't get me wrong, I have NOTHING against people with dememtia but for someone relatively "normal" like myself; to be stuck in there with all that misery..well I just couldn't bear it.
Once home I had the best sleep EVER and I am convinced I did the right thing.
Do you?
I am convinced I was only in hospital as a precaution only but I do respect that decision. However, I would've felt a fraud staying in there for a second night and - judging by the fact no-one has rang from the hospital, the medical staff think so too. I did them a favour leaving like I did.
I didn't think the "pain" warrented getting an ambulance so I waited another half an hour for hubby and he took me to A&E. They took a little blood, then more blood, and I had my blood pressure done. Then the very, VERY nice A&E doctor said that he had to admit me into hospital overnight! Yet again, I was mortified! He said that another blood test had to be conducted at 2am which meant admission onto the assessment ward.
After settling in John drove back home and brought me a bag with more clothes in it.
I was NOT envisaging having 2 nights in there as I was feeling a lot better and even LIKED my time on the treadmill. Also, my two blood tests were "normal" much to my relief.
Well, the final straw came when I was told I had to stay in hospital a second night because the doctor had not gone over my treadmill results, so I would have to wait until the following morning. This I accepted at the time but what did they do?
Take me to the dementia ward that's what! I have never felt so distressed in all my life. I know the ladies could not help moaning, pooing and being sick everywhere but I felt so out of place (and the only reason I was still in hospital was the fact the treadmill test results weren't available) I signed myself out.
Yes, folks SIGNED MYSELF OUT! They needed the bed anyway. It's all a game of chess they play in hospital wards and I realise how they were stretched BUT I was not prepared to spend my time in the ELM ward as I felt that I would be infected with something horrible, plus the fact my stitch had gone and, thankfully, hasn't come back.
The nurses actually sympathised and told me that they wouldn't fancy a night in that ward either. Now, don't get me wrong, I have NOTHING against people with dememtia but for someone relatively "normal" like myself; to be stuck in there with all that misery..well I just couldn't bear it.
Once home I had the best sleep EVER and I am convinced I did the right thing.
Do you?
I am convinced I was only in hospital as a precaution only but I do respect that decision. However, I would've felt a fraud staying in there for a second night and - judging by the fact no-one has rang from the hospital, the medical staff think so too. I did them a favour leaving like I did.1 person likes this
12 responses
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
3 May 10
Just as well you went home, somebody might have come into that ward and tried to medicate you or something.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
3 May 10
Funny you should mention that Dawn! I rang up today (and what a performance) and got nowhere as they couldn't even agree which ward I ended up on.
Anyway, that aside, I also found out that no consultants work on Bank Holiday Mondays so it's a good job I wasn't admitted on Sunday otherwise I wouldn't be seen by anybody until Tuesday. Scandalous!
I will ring up tomorrow as I have the number of the doctor's secretary written down (the guy who examined me properly what seemed an eternity ago) and he was the chap who recommended the treadmill test.
Hopefully, I shall get answers tomorrow.
Cumbria is such a backward county it's in the Dark Ages!
I will ring up tomorrow as I have the number of the doctor's secretary written down (the guy who examined me properly what seemed an eternity ago) and he was the chap who recommended the treadmill test.
Hopefully, I shall get answers tomorrow.
Cumbria is such a backward county it's in the Dark Ages!1 person likes this
@newtalent (1112)
• United States
1 May 10
I can understand that feeling. I do not do hospitals either, especially the waiting game. I know that they have a lot of people to contend and want to make sure everything is good before they release you. I also feel like they are bilking the insurance companies for useless test and extended stays. Glad to hear that you are okay, though. Sometimes things do not turn out so well. I would call and check with the nurses station of the pending results if you can. I cannot sleep well in the hospital anyway with all the picking and probing they do. Sometimes I think they a camera, or a bell goes off when you nod off so they can come and wake you for something or another, lol. Take care.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 May 10
I know for a fact that the only reason I was there was due to no doctors being around to look at the treadmill test results. The porter who bought me back to the original LARCH ward gave them all the information in a big, brown envelope (from the treadmill) but it seems there was no-one around to look at the results, therefore I had no choice - initially but to stay a second night in the hospital. Once I was in the ELM ward though, that was it, my mind was made up. At least I got my blood test results, which proved conclusively that I hadn't had a heart attack at home, which is reassuring!
1 person likes this
@newtalent (1112)
• United States
1 May 10
That is always a very good thing. Hospitals are just so not for me. Needles either for that matter, lol. Lack of physicians does make it harder for all and sometimes are over looked. I remember one time I was in car accident ( was hit from behind) destroyed my passenger side console, pregnant and rushed to hospital for nothing lol. Erratic heart beat, it was like hello, did you not see or hear what happened? Being pregnant on the cardiac unit was not fun at all,lol. Beeps, screaming people, blood people wanting to take blood, pressure. No coordination. I was so tired from just being there. all the crap was done to me for nothing. I even refused a 9.00 Tylenol. Are you kidding me? I was stressed from being in there. I left the next morning as well. I am glad that all is well with you.
@derek_a (10873)
•
1 May 10
What a terrible experience to have! Back in 2006, my wife dialed 999 after me suffering high temperature and having what I thought was indigestion for 6 hours. I had drifted into my Zen meditation and this always eases the pain. I was a little annoyed because I had been around a friend's house who's wife was a registered child-minder and there was this little boy who wasn't well with some gastric infection and that is what I thought I had picked up.
Anyway, they were confused at the A & E because my pulse was steady and slow, my BP was normal, but the pain in my sopar plexus and temperature was still there. Suddenly a nurse decided to do an ECG, and it turned out that I was having a heart attack. There was a huge clot stuck in my heart (this is genetic in our family) and that was causing it. They were amazed that I had survived for 6 hours as that it when heart attacks tend to become critical. The heart guy said it was because I hadn't fought it and just relaxed into my meditation. But I've got to say, just before the ECG, I didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to transcend my discomfort throught meditation. A clot buster and a week's stay in hospital fixed me up though.
As a therapist myself, I have helped many people with stress-related problems, and what they need is time and attention. Unfortunately our hospitals just don't have the resources and staff to do anything more than make them as comfortable as possible. To be exposed to dementia in others though can be very uncomfortable if you are sensitive. But the way I deal with it, is just to meditate and focus on whatever it is that I find disturbing, as I focused on the discomfort of my heart attack. If I had tried to shut it out, it wouldn't have worked. One has to focus totally on something in order to transcend it. 
_Derek
_Derek@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 May 10
You're OK Derek, you're in the right place. You weren't meditating when you were typing were you my friend?
I know I should've been able to cope with the dementia patients better but the fact I am a more anxious person anyway these days made me question why I was placed there in the first place. It's not as though I could've spoken to any of them like I did in the previous ward. I felt so lonely and isolated...scared too..and I wanted to be with my hubby when I realised how bad the ward was.
There has been no comeback from it and I'm sure the spare bed has been put to better use. I can honestly say that if I had been suffering from pain there is no way I would've discharged myself but as it was I wasn't even on any medication so it couldn't have been that serious to warrant staying in hospital a second night. There was no justification in this, it seemed to me.
I will let everyone know what my treadmill results were. Not sure if my doctor has them now but I shall find out at some stage.
I know I should've been able to cope with the dementia patients better but the fact I am a more anxious person anyway these days made me question why I was placed there in the first place. It's not as though I could've spoken to any of them like I did in the previous ward. I felt so lonely and isolated...scared too..and I wanted to be with my hubby when I realised how bad the ward was.
There has been no comeback from it and I'm sure the spare bed has been put to better use. I can honestly say that if I had been suffering from pain there is no way I would've discharged myself but as it was I wasn't even on any medication so it couldn't have been that serious to warrant staying in hospital a second night. There was no justification in this, it seemed to me.
I will let everyone know what my treadmill results were. Not sure if my doctor has them now but I shall find out at some stage.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
11 May 10
hi janey yes you really got the go arouond and why the mental ward, that made no sense. but they did have an idea you might have heart problems so that was why all the tests, but they should have been able to do all that without keeping you as an in patient. wow I would have signed myself out too had I beentreated like that. But you have to understand a doctor really cannot legally diagnose you over the phone and the symptoms were like those of a person with heart problems..
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 May 10
Hi Hatley! The first night I was there I could understand it because the first blood test was taken upon entering A&E, but, unfortunately I had to be admitted due to the fact I needed another blood test at 2am, therefore was admitted into the Emergency Ward. Bit drastic but it had to be done and I accepted it.
The following day, however, I thought that I could be going home after the treadmill test which wasn't conducted until about 5pm. There were no doctors around to discharge me so I resigned myself to stay on Larch ward for a second night, only to be moved (without my consent really, the nurses just moved me without saying where I was going) to Maple Ward that houses Orthopedic patients. However, I know for a fact there was at least one dementia patient in there who had earlier been on Larch ward with me. This could only mean one thing; they needed the space on Larch ward, therefore we were sacrificial lambs so to speak.
I'm glad I'm out of there. Have to wait for a letter to arrive from the doctors which I will give them until Friday afternoon to send me regarding the treadmill rest results. If no sign I shall ring them back.
I'm also due for a Womb Scan (something unconnected) but I haven't been told about an appointment at the hospital for that either. I've been waiting at least 3 weeks and counting.
I love the NHS but in some respects it can be a pain in the backside waiting. Unless you are literally dying of something forget stuff being done immediately, especially in this county, which is short of money for lots of things.
Cameron is Prime Minister now which will be a disaster for the NHS and the Public Sector in general. I wish I could emigrate!!
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
4 May 10
Wow! What an experience you have had. I worked with people that suffered Dementia and that is no joke. I wouldn't have wanted to stay if I had been in your shoes either. I'm glad you are ok but you must follow up. Because you checked yourself out, you have released the hospital from liability as far as alerting you to your diagnosis. Just follow up to be on the safe side. It may be different where you are at but here, releasing yourself means just that.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
4 May 10
Cumberland Infirmary is a University Hospital...which explains a lot when I think about it. Learning on the job lol.
As for my treadmill results. I've been passed from "Pillar to Post" as they say over here and I still don't know where they are.
It does look like, however, that because I discharged myself they will be sent to my doctor so I am leaving it with reception to sort out as they can chase them up!
It's all a bit shambolic whichever way I look at it!
@lelin1123 (15594)
• Puerto Rico
1 May 10
Being in a ward that is so depressing like that I probably would have done the same thing as you. Do you think the pain could have been heartburn or gas? Are you going to find out the result of the treadmill test? I hope that there is nothing seriously wrong with you and by your words you say you haven't felt the pain again. It was good to go and check it out though. Take care of yourself.
1 person likes this
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
1 May 10
Hi Janey... I am sorry for the terrible experience that you've been through... Yes, the hospitals and the doctors tend to act in a way which puzzles, irritates, confuses the patient and their relatives. Moreover, sometimes their actions are full of contradictions with other medics in the same hospital.. Sometimes, the patient suspects that he/she is alright by now and yet has been kept there for some other reason... I have personally experienced these things...
I dont' know how it is in your country, my friend... But here many hospitals and doctors do these things to prolong the stay of the patient in the hospital and as the stay is prolonged the bill increases... In a way, it is profitable to the hospital... Not every hospital acts that way of course, but a few of them do!!!
I sincerely hope you're feeling well now and everything is okay with your health.. Please let me know about it.. Take care...
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
1 May 10
Well, better safe than sorry. Except for being sent to the looney bin you could have treated it as a small vacation. 
Glad to hear that you seem to be okay. Now, stay that way!
Glad to hear that you seem to be okay. Now, stay that way!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 May 10
I really don't want to be so demented that I cannot decide for myself whether or not I should "top" myself, do you know what I mean? I would hate it, realising far too late that such decisions are taken away and I am being kept alive for no reason whatsoever.
No doubt I will find out off my doctor if I need treatment...but don't hold your breath. The communication between hospital and doctors is non-existent in this backward city and I haven't even been given a date for my womb scan yet!
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
11 May 10
a dementia ward for chest pains?
that's weird..i guess maybe they had no room elsewhere.
yea,i would have left too.it would have been terribly depressing.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
11 May 10
I have since found out I was actually on the Orthopedic ward which of course deals in bones, so no doubt a lot of the women there were suffering from osteoporosis. However, I know for a fact that a lady opposite me was definitely a dementia patient as she was in the same ward as me a few hours previously and a nurse said that she had it.
Because all the wards are named after trees i.e. Larch, Elm, Maple it can be difficult actually determining what kind of ward you are in. Why they can't call them what they are; Dementia, Orthopedic, is beyond me. No-one would be offended. At one time such wards were called Geriatric wards..and they were mixed too! Anyway, I'm glad I'm out of there and I am STILL awaiting a letter from my doctors explaining my treadmill results as they aren't allowed to discuss stuff over the telephone. Seriously, it's true!
1 person likes this
@consultrainer (4991)
• India
1 May 10
[b] there is a techincal term called IATROGENIC ..meaning., doctor induced disease.
TO quote you : - It's all a game of chess they play in hospital wards ...
How TRULY said? But, we fear about something worse, and have to believe that the doctor knows everything., and, luckily for you, the delay was because of the non-availability of the doctor.
Anyhow, what was the final result of the TMT -- tread mill test?
I join everyone here, in mylot, as also I bring all my group of distant healers -- in WISHING you complete HEALTH and HAPPINESS.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 May 10
Awww thank you so much for your kind sentiments, that means a lot to me. I've been spoiled out and about today too as we were at the footy match earlier and loads of people asked how I was. So sweet of them to worry about me in that way.
I haven't asked about the treadmill results yet. I will leave it a few days, just in case my doctor has hold of them. We also have a Bank Holiday to contend with so everything stops on that day lol.
I will promise you that I shall obtain the results at some stage and will post them on here.
At least my chest x-ray (which I forgot to mention) was clear and there was nothing untoward in my blood tests either so I am hopeful that I won't have to take pills which is something I want to avoid. I would rather someone advise me on my diet than go down the easy route of prescribing pills, thanks very much!
@charylady (419)
• Philippines
1 May 10
i probably would have done the same thing. since you were already feeling better and since your blood tests were normal, i don't see why they had to keep you there another night and in the dementia ward! they could just have sent you home and asked you to come back the next day for the treadmill results.
have you found out what it was you had? hope you're back to your normal self. take care.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 May 10
I will ring up the original ward I was in tomorrow and see if they have the results yet. No doubt the doctors will have mulled them over. I'm sure if there had been anything bad a telephone call would've ensued. Thankfully, that hasn't happened.
