Be Proactive about your health issues

wishing you a speedy recovery from your operation Franbern.
As you say, GPs are under so much pressure and can miss things.
I had some groin hernias for years, kept putting it off, and at last was put on a waiting list for an op. After 9 months waiting they were getting worse, causing other problems, so I rang the surgeon and he agreed to get it done urgently, ie in 2 weeks.

Cannot agree enough. Husband who was healthy and active complained of pain when urinating aling with a backache. Next day he was passing what can be described as best burgundy. Contacted GP who advised drinking plenty of water, it may be kidney stone. Went out for a couple of hours cane back to find husband with temperature and in agony. Just took him to A & E who did find an infection but queried what had caused it saying rare in males. Antibiotics fixed it but I insisted DH go back to GP to question why as did Dr in A& E. Two years it took to diagnose prostate cancer requiring urgent surgery etc. If I hadn't persevered he wouldn't have had the past 13 years. I know GPs have to follow protocols but we don't, its our body and just in other aspects of life, health doesn't always conform to set patterns.

It is so difficult getting a doctor’s appointment where I live (5 weeks unless an absolute emergency!) that I tend to ignore symptoms as they might be better by the time the appointment is due.

4allweknow. I must congratulate you and your husband for getting his prostate cancer diagnosed in time. My friend, who was a doctor himself! was subject to a mix up concerning the appointment for his scan. He had seen th Consultant who had diagnosed the cancer and had given him a form to take to the Scan department to book his scan. It was just before Christmas a few years ago. As we came out, a nurse came over and said she would take the piece of paper to the scanning department. Strangely my friend did not want her to, but she absolutely insisted. She said he would have a date sent him before Christmas. He didn't. We got to New Year. Nobody answered the phones. He kept trying. Eventually he got the department. They had never heard of him! He tried to phone the Consultant but couldn't even get his Secretary. There was such a long delay while departments tried to disown him. Eventually he had the scan. It was too late by then for him to have the operation! He had treatment but the side effects upset him a lot. He died.
I shall never know if it was because the nurse did not take the appointment request across.
As for us having to look after ourselves, for me this is nothing new. I have seen many different GPs now having lived in different areas. Some superb. Some scoundrels who should be sacked. I never know what to do for the best. One hears so many terrible stories and I have lost so many friends who would be alive if the doctor had treated them properly at the right time. Usually it was with Cancer. My dear Dad was not one to complain and was very respectful towards our Family Doctor, but he never went to the Doctor unless he was forced there. He always said "They won't be able to do anything." His mother had severe arthritis and was in a wheelchair until she died in 1946. I have severe arthritis today in 2019, and am a wheelchair user. Nothing has changed.

Oh, how I wish we had known more and been more pro-active in the last year of DH's life. He kept going to the doctors with niggling little symptoms, and they treated each one separately.
Little did we know that they were signs that his cancer was spreading aggressively. It wasn't discovered until he was admitted to hospital with a massive infection, was scanned and told that the cancer was everywhere. He died three months later.

Sorry to read that BlueSapphire

I’m heartened and quite surprised at the trend of this thread. I remember when Jeremy Hunt made a similar suggestion that the discussion on GN was quite anti looking things up and taking responsibility for your own health. Perhaps an understandable backlash again him as Health Minister.

I went and saw a locum, I had two issues and when I went to discuss the second one I was told I would have to make another appointment, one issue per 10 minute slot!! Another one would not examine me when I went with rectal bleeding, (he said it was not very pleasant for either of us an told me to buy some ointment for piles!). I hope he didn't make it as a doctor! My normal GP's are not like this I hasten to add and have always listened, they are excellent.

Our surgery has the triage system, 9 doctors most work part time . If you want to see a doctor quickly the receptionist decides how urgent your need is.

I had a home visit in July, a very nice GP, his mobile kept bleeping so asking questions was very difficult.

I only got my cancer diagnosis after making an appointment at a private hospital and paying for investigations and procedures. GP treated me for IBS and piles and just dismissed my concerns.
Scans are brilliant but do not always show everything, my scan did not show the full extent of the tumour. Fortunately my surgeon was very thorough and I am here to tell the tale.

BlueSapphire. Oh Blue! I am so sorry.

Anja I didn't know that about Jeremy Hunt, but I'm not surprised. He probably resented that anyone actually used the Health Service. I take issue with his complaint saying people should "look things up". For a non-medically trained person to have to do this about their symptoms, it leads to unnecessary worry. Not everyone has access to the internet or the right books either. It is a terrible thing to say and most irresponsible. But then I am not surprised, given his views on most things.

I have had bad headaches for months and feel they are connected to my stomach, where I am having problems. It's the same old story, though, that the doctor will only talk about one thing on each visit. I despair. How am I going to ever get a diagnosis? Again, I left the surgery in tears, with a prescription for more pain killers.

dotty ask for a referral. Or if he won’t play ball say that you will pay for a consultation. £150 would be worth it if you can resolve your distress

When I suspected breast cancer I had to visit the doctor 3 times to convince them that it needed further investigation.

Persist!

Yes, Whitewave, I think you are right and that I must push and pay for a consultation. The trouble is I'm not very assertive and will probably be walked all over again.

Tillybelle sounds like you disagree with the majority on this thread and don’t agree we should be proactive ?

Take someone with you Dottydots

My mum now 84 been fit healthy all her life.

Over the last maybe 2 yrs she always seem to have this dry cough that would never permanently go away.

On the few occasions she went to the docs (they normally sent for her) not the other way round, she would mention this cough!

Doc (same one) would say ohh don't worry just take Paracetamol which she did.

Moving on to about 10/12 months I mentioned to my mum she sounded bit out of breath when chatting on the phone.

Over last 10 months her weight has dropped, her cough still there and breathlessness.

Because the swimming baths were closed this certain morning she though Oh I will go Docs with this cough (also she had been struggling to swim)

To cut long story short she saw a DIFFERENT DOCTOR who sent her straight away for x ray, asked was she in pain etc.

Turned out she had fluid on her lung!
went in and had 2 litres drained (very painful)

The had to go in again to have further 2 litres drained and biopsies (again very painful for an 84 year let alone anyone else)

The outcome!!!

My mum has MESOTHELIOMA Cancer in the lining of her lung.(this diseases takes years and years to show itself)

Whilst even if this may have been caught earlier there is no cure, I am fuming that the Doc kept sending pissing her off with Paracetamol!

My mum went downhill not eating etc etc but hopefully now picking up a little.

They did send her for scan which also picked up and Aneurysm 7 cms long and 4.2 cm wide!!! if they had sent her for scan earlier then maybe they would have done something about the Anerysm I don't know.so now we don't just have the cancer but also a ticking time bomb!

We know our own bodies and Doctors should stop! fobbing us off, if you think there is something wrong they have a duty! that's what they are paid for to look after us! to look after our! health.

Bikergran that is truly awful. Do you feel up to complaining? Surely you would have a case. I wish your poor mum all the best.

thankyou Gonegirl my mum is very independent likes to sort things herself etc. Over last few weeks she has felt nauseous/bilious . I said I would go to the docs with her on Thursday last week ( only day I had free) but what does she do rings me up on Tuesday saying I decided to go docs this morning, he gave me some anti sickness tabs.

I think my mum thinks if we see this certain Doc I will say something! Because I did say "and when we go Docs I wont! be fobbed off with Paracetamol"! She cant do with any hassle right now. But I do feel angry.

Whilst I respect my Mums feelings.

I would say to anyone who isn't happy with any diagnosis, to pursue things further. We think Docs are right all the time, but lets face it, they can also get a lot of things wrong.

I can understand her not wanting any hassle. Not easy when you get older. I hope she picks up soon.

thats kind of you Gonegirl

I would not advocate 'looking things up on 'Dr Google'. Can well understand and sympathise with any GP or any other Doctor getting fed up with being told by patients that their computer says they have such and such, etc.
Being pro-active does NOT mean this, it means knowing and understanding your own body and this will give you a good understanding of when things are not going right. Then writing down symptoms, etc if necessary keeping food/weight diary, and taking that to GP. The more good information you can give your GP the better it is for them to make an appropriate diagnosis. Yes, it does cost your GP practice for you to be referred to hospital and for scans etc. and these should not be treated lightly or as first recourse.
I was quite okay with having anti-biotics for four weeks, only then was I able to deduce that whatever was wrong was not responding to these and by writing everything down, clearly and concisely, the GP was happy to make an urgent referral to hospital.
I find myself very concerned about people who keep looking things up on the Net, so much of the information out there is totally inaccurate and often downright false.

Our surgery has a triage system too, but when I phoned on a Friday with an asthma attack which had suddenly become bad, and needed a prescription for steroids quickly from either an asthma nurse or the nurse practitioner or a GP, which would only take 5 minutes, (if that) the triage nurse (who sounded about 12) told me to phone 111 or go to A&E because there were no appointments at all, not even a telephone appointment, for 3 weeks. I didn't need an appointment, just the steroid prescription which I have had before.

Clearly he didn't realise that asthma can quickly be fatal with any sort of delay.

However, much as I wanted to report him, I dare not complain in case I am blacklisted.