"Emergency Gall Bladder Removal"

I was diagnosed with gall stones in December 2022 following the birth of my son. I took a two day gall bladder attack in January 2022, just at the turn of the new year. I managed to get an out of hours appointment at the minor injuries clinic at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline. I was in extreme pain from around noon to 9:00pm at night as no one was able to come to the house to offer pain relief.

Upon arrival at minor injuries I was seen by a fantastic nurse who checked me over, gave me a shot of tramadol and managed to get me admitted to the Victoria Hospital to see the surgical consultant. Fortunately my family were with me, and I managed to get to the hospital.

Upon being admitted I was told a stone had moved from my gall bladder into a duct and was blocking my pancreas, causing it to become inflamed. This helped me understand why I was in so much pain, but it made me angry that I had been in pain from a gall bladder attack and pancreatitis for 9 hours, and that I was unable to access appropriate pain relief, or see someone sooner. I appreciated the services were extremely busy, but it was still upsetting.

I was glad to be admitted but before I was told about the pancreatitis I was scared I would be sent home. Unless there was anything seriously wrong with me I would continue to have this level of pain and unfortunately pain is an extremely objective thing. Having given birth only 5 months prior, I felt I was in a good position to understand what is extremely painful and what isn't. This wasn't helped by an earlier trip that year in November to A&E because of the amount of pain I was in due to my (at the time) undiagnosed gall stones. When I was taken up in an ambulance as the medic decided I should be seen, and when I did see the doctor I was sent home with pain medication I already took for migraines, and ended up not helping with the pain at all. 

When I was admitted I was taken to a ward where I was able to stay for the duration of my time in hospital. The nurses were fantastic, and the facilities were kept clean and felt as homely as they could. I was fortunate to have friendly people in my room, however I could sometimes hear patients arguing with staff, and felt sorry for the nurses and doctors having to deal with that. 

My consultant was fantastic. I was aware of some racism towards her from patients when I was there which I felt extremely uncomfortable with. She was straightforward and straight talking which I find to be a good quality, especially when you're dealing with people who aren't well or in pain. I felt involved in decisions relating to my treatment, which in my mind surgery was the only viable option as I wasn't going to live with the potential of this pain coming back. 

One set-back in my treatment was being unable to go for an MRI scan. I had surgery 15 or so years ago to put in a medical device. When the team went back to get details on this to see if it was safe to undergo an MRI scan they couldn't find the model number which means they couldn't verify whether or not an MRI was safe to undergo. I'm concerned my medical records were unavailable when required most and would like to explore if these records even exist. 

I would say it took an extra day and a bit to fully investigate whether or not an MRI was possible, which extended the amount of time I was in hospital and the amount of time I was in pain, although this was now managed with oral morphine which was the only thing that did anything to stop the pain I was in. I was fortunate that the hospital were able to coordinate a piece of equipment to do an additional scan when I was under anaesthetic so they were able to go ahead without the need of the MRI scan.

My recovery was very quick, and I felt like I was able to go home quickly after my surgery to fully recover. To put into perspective the pain difference, I was on hourly oral morphine before surgery, immediately after surgery I took paracetamol to manage the pain. 

I really do thank everyone involved in my care. I know I was admitted to the hospital at a time of extreme pressure. I felt like my case was taken seriously and that I was admitted when I needed to be. 

In terms of follow-up I would recommend better joining up treatments and waiting lists. I had to call to cancel the appointment I had with general surgery to get my gall bladder removed, and then I had to call again to remove myself entirely from the waiting list. Not everyone may take the time to do this so this could help save missed appointments.