"Close call"

I presented at Roebourne Hospital one morning last month at 8:00am with lower stomach pain. This pain had first come on a few days earlier, but knowing I was in the early stages of pregnancy I put it down to this.  

The Doctor seen me at 8:30 after examining me I was told to go to Karratha Health Campus. My pain at Roebourne hospital was a 7 out of 10. 

I declined an ambulance & my partner drove me. By the time we arrived at Karratha a 30 minute drive, the pain was worse at a 9. As I presented at emergency, I had to wait 15 minutes in waiting area before a nurse came to take me in. By this stage I needed a wheelchair to assist as my pain was a 10. I arrived at Karratha health campus close to 11:00am, I was booked for an ultrasound at 1:00pm. 

I was given pain relief which did assist in taking my pain level back down to 7. I did not move much as it hurt, I laid still.

When I was taken for my Ultrasound, I struggled to get onto the bed. The tech said I needed an internal scan done. By the time I had changed & came out of the bathroom, the tech had returned & said the surgeons will speak to me. Two nurses wheeled me back to emergency. 

Where a doctor explained that I had bleeding in my stomach. She told me I would need immediate surgery and the surgeons would be speaking with me soon. She asked me was there anyone I wanted her to call, I said my sister and my partner. 

It all happened quickly from there, the surgeon and anethesist came & told me what was going to happen in regards to being put to sleep for surgery. I was told that likely my fallopian tube likely had ruptured due to ectopic pregnancy & I was losing blood in my stomach area. They asked if I consented to receive blood transfusion, I consented & signed papers. 

Then Doctor Rajeev, the Gynaecologist, came to my bedside & told me that he would be doing the surgery, and talked me through it. He was very calm and easy to understand and made me feel comfortable. As did the Anethesist. 

I was taken to prep for the surgery and again was asked by the by nurses if that I had signed all consent forms. I said yes.

In surgery room the anethesist I had spoken to in emergency wasn't there, another one was. I knew him however, had met him in the birthing suite when I had delivered my son a 14 months prior. I felt comfortable with him and he explained again how he would use gas to make me go to sleep and how he would be there to monitor my body as the surgery happened. 

Dr Rajeev again explained the surgery that they would perform and explained the options. As he said they would not know for sure what is causing the bleeding until they see inside my stomach. I agreed that if they need to they can remove the fallopian tube, Dr S did tell me which I needed to hear, that this would not affect future pregnancy. They then gave me the gas. 

I awoke and was very tired, the anetheseit  and nurses were with me and said everything had gone well. 

The next day the anaesthetist I had met in emergency came to see me, he said he wanted to check on me. As I had lost a lot of blood. We spoke about how I was feeling now and I asked him did I really lose a lot of blood and I recall he replied. Yes you're very lucky another couple of hours and you may have bled out. He wished me a speedy recovery. 

When Dr Rajeev came to speak with me. He explained I had lost a lot of blood. About 3 litres of blood had been drained from my stomach area. My fallopian tube had ruptured and they had to remove the right side one. Dr Rajeev told me my pain threshold is very high as from what they found with so much blood loss, he could not believe I had still been speaking with them and smiling before surgery.

This is important to include in my story as my pain threshold, maybe if my pain was worse things would have been quicker. Which would have mattered if Karratha didn't have the surgeons they had that day. If I did have to fly to Perth hospital or Port Hedland, that time to travel. May have impacted my outcome.

Dr Rajeev explained the incisions they had made in my stomach. I had many questions and Dr Rajeev answered them all. He had time to speak with me and did not rush. He explained with the amount of blood loss how my body would feel and recover from this. 

I spent 4 days in the Karratha Health Campus, I had my own room. All the nursing staff were great and attentive.

Each day Dr Rajeev came and spoke with me, always friendly & had time to talk. On my last morning at the hospital Dr Rajeev again told me I was very strong with my recovery and what I had been through. He mentioned that it was lucky he is in Karratha for family matters as he is not based Karratha Health Campus.

I feel very lucky that Dr Rajeev was there at my time of presenting at Karratha Health Campus. After what I have been through I understand the importance of having the specialists available in our Town. The importance of having the specialists on hand and not having a patient have to travel to Port Hedland or Perth in an emergency situation. I hope my story assists in the employment and retention of specialists in remote hospitals.