"How I have been treated at our local hospital"

This is the third time I have been to this hospital and I have not had a good experience all three times.

I recently called an ambulance as I had excruciating pain from my neck to my tailbone on my back. The ambulance took two hours to get here, I was crying from being in so much pain. I have psoriatic arthritis and I knew once I got on top of the pain I would be right, I just need a little bit of help whether that be really strong painkillers, morphine or something through the drip - whatever - just needed something to get on top of that pain and then I believe I would’ve been right.

The ambulance guys were great. I had the green whistle; I didn’t particularly like it very much as it made me feel out of it and I don’t like that feeling.

When I got to the hospital they were really busy and I mean really busy and I felt awkward being there. I always feel out of place going to the hospital with pain. I always like to manage it at home; this time I couldn’t manage it. It usually lasts one day when I ache from head to toe. I can’t even pick a coffee cup up, that’s how bad it is. I couldn’t even answer messages on my phone, I couldn’t even see out of my eyes very well they hurt so much, I couldn’t eat properly because I was in too much pain. I was barely drink anything. I tried to force the water down but this didn’t happen. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t stand.

They wanted to put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me out to the waiting room but I refused as I could barely sit up. They finally found a room for me and put me in a bed. I needed to go to the toilet but they wouldn’t get a wheelchair to take me so I had to use bedpans. I couldn’t use the bedpan, it’s just too hard, so they bought a commode in and eventually using that they took a urine sample because I felt like I had to go to the toilet every 10 minutes.

My legs would buckle underneath me every time I tried to walk using my walking stick. If I didn’t have my walking stick I believe I would have hit the ground many times. My right leg hurt all the time, every time I walk it would buckle down. I would have pain in my lower back, was in just in my lower back, then it radiated up to my neck at some point,  then it was my lower back, at another point, it was the middle of the back, the next time it was up in my neck. This happened for the next two days but still, I felt the doctors wouldn’t listen - just listen to me - where the pain was.

They took a CT of my lower back and they came back and said there’s no urine infection and there’s not much to report on the CT so you may need an MRI and by this stage, I was still crying in pain. They gave me Panadol for the pain.

I took an Endone at home and I was still in excruciating pain. I had a 25mg north span patch on as well and it wasn’t doing anything, usually, it does. Usually, I have my pain under control so I’m not sure what was going on.

I hate taking the painkillers but I needed something to get me through. I felt as though they were treating me like a drug addict. I felt as if they had no idea what psoriatic arthritis was.

I believe one doctor that treated me looked very young, it seemed they couldn’t even pronounce psoriatic arthritis. 

I felt so stupid being there and I wished I had of gone. I will never go to the hospital ever again no matter how much pain I am in. I will suffer and suffer and suffer at home like I always do.

So I was there about 2 1/2 hours and once I receive the results of the CT I was finally allowed to have two more Endone but even then, they didn’t even touch the sides. They gave me Lyrica but my stomach was feeling not good after I took the Endone. I hadn’t eaten all day and I have to have medication with food. In my opinion, they basically gave me the Lyrica and kicked me out.

They never kept me there to monitor me to see how my pain went, they never offered me anything else, just basically put me in a wheelchair will be outside to wait for my spouse, lucky they were there. I know they were busy, they had a full house inside the waiting room and out the back.  I am sick to death of being treated like a drug addict when I’m not, I went there because I needed help. I went there because I was in excruciating pain. I went there because I was crying at home. I have tried everything at home before I called the ambulance and I expected to be treated just like anybody else that was in pain.

In my opinion, just because nothing showed up on the CT doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong. I believe if they knew anything about psoriatic arthritis they would realise that my muscles and my ligaments were affected as well.

When the muscles and the ligaments get affected it’s really hard to get that pain back under control. I have no idea how it happened, sometimes it comes on without any reason but I believe this time I was gardening and I may have overdone it.