"Presenting to ED twice"

After two days of suffering severe bouts of abdomen pain, dull ache across broad of back combined with recurring nausea and hot sweaty flushes, around midnight recently, I succumbed to pain and thoughts of heart attack and call 000 for ambulance assistance.

Paramedic was efficient but I gained the impression that as I walked to the ambulance they had decided I was not a serious case. Only my observation.

Triage was quick and efficient and heart, bloods and ECG checked, but about 2 hours later, no diagnosis had been decided and the pain (as was its habit) had subsided. I was declared fit to be discharged. But as taxi service was unavailable I had to remain until early morning to get a cab home.

Within an hour of arriving home and after a coffee and glass of water the pain returned with a vengeance. Feeling angry and confused I drove back and re-presented at ED. Once again the examination began. It was not too long before a different doctor, Dr Casey, informed me that after further blood tests, he was quite comfortable in declaring the problem as Pancreatitis, however, he wanted imaging to confirm. Amazingly the imaging dept said they could do an ultrasound in 45min time. These pictures confirmed Dr Casey's diagnosis. He suggested before he discharged me I may like to eat a sandwich and see if it triggered a reaction. Fortunately, it did not.

In summation, the diagnosis was unfortunate for me but at least I wasn't left in limbo not knowing the cause of this excruciating pain. At least now I can find the correct tools with which to help deal with it.

With the symptoms so clear and precise, I find it puzzling that the first visit failed to pounce on the correct diagnosis. The only thought that comes to mind is that knowing my history of heart disease, they were possibly looking for symptoms to match a predetermined diagnosis (understandable, wrong but understandable).

I have no criticism of any member of the Broome hospital staff. In fact quite the opposite. They are 😻 amazing. All in all the final outcome was a win for all.

Truckloads of thanks to Garth, Casey, Mardi, Emma, Kiara and all the other wonderful staff at Broome Hospital.

Congrats med student Stephanie, I'm proud to have been the patient for your first cannula insertion!