"Fainting, patient care"

I had a thyroid biopsy recently. Since that time my voice has become gravelly sounding, it has become increasingly difficult to swallow and breathing becoming more difficult. The symptoms worsening daily.

I have a long term fainting disorder. Since the onset of the above symptoms my spouse has reported that when I have ‘come to’ from fainting that there is a blue tinge to my skin tone and I take a large intake of breath’

On instruction by my GP nurse and health direct I went to Urgent Care. From urgent care I was given a referral to go to Fiona Stanley as they believed there was a risk of possible damage to the throat from the biopsy.

It appeared to be a very busy day at ED today and I truly empathise for the staff.

I became dizzy during triage and was quickly taken for an ECG due to having a pacemaker and diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and Neurocardiogenic Syncope. (NCS)

I was taken into the ED fairly quickly. The doctor took a patient history. I explained how POTS and NCS affect me. These conditions are managed by my GP and Cardiologist and not the reason I presented at the hospital. However, it is a chronic health condition that I need to continually monitor or it causes fainting. While the doctor took observations, they undertook a test raising my arms over my head and witnessed me fainting as a consequence.

The doctor sent me for a CT to investigate whether the biopsies had caused damage that needed further investigation.

Eventually a nurse came and advised that they needed to move me while waiting for the results of the CT scan to allow another patient to be triaged.

I was taken to what looked like a staffroom turned patient overflow. Due to over crowding the person accompanying me to the hospital was instructed to wait in the waiting room.

I spent a minimum of 60 minutes sitting upright in this room and became increasingly dizzy. There was no call button near me and due to my condition I wasn’t able to stand up and ask for help as this would have immediately caused me to collapse.

I fainted in the chair and a patient next to me was required to fetch a nurse. It took almost 10 minutes for a nurse to finally see me and one of the first things they said to me was to not expect to get a bed just because I fainted.

The patient next to me explained that he had witnessed my eyes rolling back in my head and that he saw a neurocardiogenic syncopal episode. May I point out that basic first aid is to place a person that has fainted in a posture where their legs are raised.

The nurse left me sitting in the chair. As a result of this I fainted three more times in the chair in the next 10 minutes.

Once the doctor had received the CT results they said that there was nothing to see. I felt they inferred that I needed to stop being a baby, told me to soldier up and just learn to swallow past the discomfort.

As I said previously, I empathise with medical staff. However, part of medical care is to investigate. Best case scenario the investigation results in no further action required by the ED and the patient is directed to follow up with their GP.

I felt this doctor could have acted professionally and simply said something like ….There is nothing in the CT that indicates that any further action by the hospital at this time, I recommend that you contact your GP if the symptoms persist or return to the hospital if they worsen. Instead of being unkind and belittling.

I believe there is no excuse for medical professionals treating patients like they’re an inconvenience or a waste of their time.