After taking a two year hiatus I'm back.

Long time no see bloggers, least to say I'm no less angry than I was here last time. To be blunt I am sick of the way this country runs and treats us teenagers. No, I'm not having a go at the government, however I am having a go at the NHS.
Although I never covered this last time I was on blogger I suffer from a long-term illness which occurred after my appendix op in December 2007. Least to say for the past 4 years I am unsatisfied with the way the NHS treated me. Firstly they accused me of lying (I wasn't). Secondly they accused me of being "lala" or "loony" (I'm not that either). Thirdly I don't feel they ever told me the entire truth, and being a ill teenager does not have it's benefits...

I have no clue why the NHS thought at first I was "playing" ill, seriously what kind of teen would do that? (ok, I'm sure there's some out there...) For one thing I missed a lot of my social life and pretty much my whole crowd of friends abandoned me at the start of my illness implying they couldn't "cope" being around a sick person. So for the last four years I haven't exactly had much of a social life. The NHS played the card of "oh your just a silly teenager playing sick" for around 2 years, implying my bowel issues and then pain issues were all in my head or just IBS.

Around September 2008, I was finally referred from my GP to gastro at my local hospital, where I was seen by an unsympathetic asshole doctor who tried to put me back on medication I had already tried which had given me other side effects, and when the CT scan came all clear instead of sending/checking with other tests the asshole doctor (who had made me wait a total of 5 hours in the waiting room that day and even saw a old man whining of being in pain, who hadn't got an appointment that day at all...) told me "Dear, it's all in your head, your just a stupid teenager with attention seeking disorder now sod off and don't come back!" (Ok, he'd didn't exactly say that but inbetween the lines this is what I felt, although the all in your head part is totally true). If my dad hadn't complained to PAL's I don't think they would have worked out what was wrong with me, to this day I don't think the GP's would have referred to the hospital again. Before getting sent to the hospital again, I was sent to a children's Bowel clinic where I saw some lunatic young doctor who obviously never listened to word I said and somehow had managed to get my parent's with the wrong surname and that I ate nothing but meatballs (tbh to this day I'm not sure what she was on).

A whole year later, and a few appointments with the Gastro surgical team, they finally figured what was wrong with me. It seemed as though the pain I was originally accused of being in my head was in fact -dun dun dun- a trapped nerve ending caused by scar tissue from my appendix op, and all it took to fix was one anaesthetist with a giant needle (Who knows if the needle that size was really needed or too see if  I would freak out). They also partially admitted at that point that I had sluggish bowels and not IBS.

Even though I was now pain-free, having been house-bound for 2ish years had affected my self-esteem and confidence, which meant I suffered from panic attacks and bouts of anxiety. My parents had asked for counselling several times before this but the GP's never acted and final did in 2010...where they "accidentally" referred me to the adult section and not the children's. Although the counsellor at the adult section was ok, she didn't understand how I felt and was relatively unsympathetic to me. A few sessions in she told me she would refer me to the children's section. I have no complaints on the children's section (they were fab and understanding).

From 2009-2011 they kept tweaking my medication. In early 2011 I got off my laxatives as I had an all clear on my x-ray shape test thing (no shapes where left inside even though I hadn't taken any laxative's). Until July that is...

In July I had a minor operation, technically I should have been all fixed after it, but unfortunately it seems as though the reason I had sluggish bowels the last time and now this time is due to the fact I was allergic to the anaesthetic and after this operation my bowels and bladder packed in, and I ended up in Emergency. I had to be catheterised (I was holding about 3 days worth of fluid about 1.5 litres, which is more than what your meant to hold, really explains why I was in agony). As I'm at that tricky age they decide to put me on the adult ward, unfortunately it was full and I ended up in the old people's ward. I was placed under the kidney section and it seems like none of those doctor's had read my notes, I was back to square one with them trying to give IBS medication (kinda clear if you read all my notes that they don't work!). I stayed in the old people's ward for one week, I'm kinda disgusted by the fact every other ward I've been at the hospital looks clean and orderly yet the one in the old people's ward had a dicky plug socket and numerous health and safety hazards and hadn't looked like it had been done up much since the early 1990's. Secondly as I was at the end of the ward I never did get what I ordered (seems like the asked again and people changed minds so I was always got the odd mushy food). Thirdly the people on the ward section I was in were really nice as my bell was broken and they had to ring their own bells to summon a nurse when I was in pain (and unlike a time in the children's ward when that happened they never got anyone to fix the bell in the old people's ward, I have a feeling it hadn't worked for some time). At the end of the week they "discharged" me even though I couldn't go at either end still. (Seems they never formally discharged me, I don't think they were meant to send me home...). I was home for all of one day when my I took a funny turn and catheter bag started turning red with blood. I was taken back to hospital in an ambulance (took about wasted money) it turned out they had never sent me home so emergency had to make me married and 111 years old (born in 1/1/1900 anyone?) Sadly I never got to take any photo's of this otherwise I would upload them, they were quickly switched the next morning...They finally sorted me out though not before my IV drip disaster (my IV got dislodged in the night and I thankfully woke up in time to find a very swollen hand- I do have a photo of this...and lucky the bell worked in that ward).

Since then I'm back to how was in 2010-2011 on constant medication that never ceases.
Over and out for now.
Kitty Rose