Taken to A&E by ambulance after falling on the stairs and being unable to move. Given X-rays and morphine but still in a lot of pain and unable to move unassisted. Told X-rays appeared clear and suspected soft tissue damage to pelvis and hip area. Was told to get dressed and get into wheelchair but tried to explain it was still agony and that I couldn't move so a nurse helped me get dressed and get into the chair. I was still crying a moaning in pain as I sat in the chair and a doctor was called because I was unable to sit and relax into the chair because of the pain. He prescribed oral morph which was given to me whilst I was still in the chair. When my husband returned from,pharmacy with a prescription for co-codamol he asked if I was really ok to be discharged in that state to which the reply was 'well, she either goes home to her own bed and takes pain relief or she gets admitted for pain relief'. Whilst all this was happening there was an ambulance crew waiting outside my cubicle for my bed and I hears them say they had been told it was free to which someone replied it would be in a minute! After being given oral morph I was wheeled I to reception and the wheelchair handed over to my husband with a 'good luck'! All this time I was crying and moaning because I was in so much pain. My husband was then left to try and get me into the car on his own without any offer of help or assistance. He had to try and lift me putof the wheelchair and manoeuvre me into the car while I was crying out in agony. Then when we got home he had to try and get me upstairs whilst all the time I was screaming in his ear with pain. He did manage to eventually get me into bed. I was unable to get to the toilet without screaming in pain every time he tried to move me as I couldn't physically move myself. Then when he eventually got me to the toilet he had to wait so he could get me off again and back to bed. In the end we had to call the doctor out the following day who explained my injuries further and said I could quite possibly be like this for up to 2 weeks and that recovery would take a while. He prescribed Tramadol (as co-codamol didn't touch the pain), diclafenec to help as an anti-inflammatory and diazepam which he said I needed to relax the muscles and that this should have been prescribed at the time as without this the muscles would never relax and therefore not start to heal. When my husband was sent to the pharmacy at the hospital the nurse said she hoped he had some money as there would be quite a lot on the prescription and seemed shocked when she read that only co-codamol had been prescribed. It was only after taking this combination that the pain finally became manageable! In total I was bed ridden for 2 weeks, then on crutches and it was 10 weeks before I returned to work. I felt very let down by the way they discharged me when I was still in such pain with no advice to my husband on how to assist me. Once 4hrs hit....I was out!
"Discharged for A&E in agony"
About: Lincoln County Hospital Lincoln County Hospital Lincoln LN2 5QY
Posted via nhs.uk
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