"Appendicitis misdiagnosis"

After being in constant pain for 48 hours prior to admission to Box Hill Hospital for an emergency appendectomy (4 days later), I was discharged from Maroondah ED where they had made an assumption of gynecological pain.

I was told by the ED doctor that I probably had an STI, which I found funny, and was told by the registrar general surgeon, (who I found to be very condescending, rude and arrogant) telling me it was left over blood from my period which ceased 2 days prior to this constant pain commencing... I felt from the moment I started explaining the nature of pain to both the ED doctor and the registrar surgeon, that they were not listening to me whatsoever, as they went straight to my past history and made an assumption.

I had both an internal and external abdominal ultrasound where they stated on the discharge summary that the appendix had been seen but made no further comment. My CRP (c-reactive protein) levels were 35 and my white blood cell count was elevated. I was then discharged and agreed to leave. I was in the same constant pain, and with the assumption diagnosis of gyno pain and an STI, was glad to leave Maroondah Hospital.

The nurses were lovely in both ED and short stay department with excellent bedside manner. If I had listened to, what I believe was, a pathetic diagnosis of both the registrar surgeon and the ED doctor at Maroondah, my appendix could have ruptured causing sepsis which is life threatening! I will never go back to Maroondah again.