"Pain relief for appendicitis"

I arrived at Armadale Hospital with severe abdominal pain. I was very fortunate that the ED was quiet and I was taken to a room right away, however for the next 3 and a half hours I was left alone in a room in excruciating pain.

The nurse came in regularly to take my obs and my high blood pressure was reflective of my pain level. When a doctor came in around 3 hours later they put a cannula in and said they would be right back with pain relief and never came back. Eventually when I was able to speak to the nurse I asked them why I hadn’t been given any medication and I recall they said the doctor must have charted it and not told them. The nurse then came back and administered ‘pain relief’ which I later found out was just pantoprazole, saline and buscopan.

When I saw the doctor again I asked them twice for more pain relief as I was in an extreme amount of pain. The doctor told me they had asked the intern to chart it but the nurse told me nothing was charted. I then was taken for an ultrasound and diagnosed with appendicitis which I believe is why I was in so much pain and why the medication I was given was not effective at treating my pain. I was taken to surgery shortly after.

My experience on the surgical ward was better, however I still found myself having to constantly ask for pain relief and the nurses appeared puzzled as to why I needed it. The whole experience was very traumatic and frustrating. The post op ward was loud with bright lights over my bed which I was told couldn’t be turned off and I started to develop a migraine and again doctors and nurses dismissed my distress. I also was not given my regular medication (Pristiq) which I normally take in the morning and went into withdrawal. I told nursing staff and my partner even brought it in for me but was told we needed to have it provided by the hospital (I do understand that policy as I am a nurse myself), but I didn’t receive my medication until around the evening. I felt that I was not listened to and not respected. I felt that my rights were taken away from me.