My afternoon with the NHS

[harmonyhex]

**WARNING - - THE FOLLOWING TEXT CONTAINS A MEGA RANT** !grin!

Yesterday I somehow injured myself! Halfway through the afternoon I noticed my left foot was feeling real cold and a bit painful and it very quickly grew more and more painful and swollen. and I then couldn't put any weight on it. So I sat with it elevated, put ice on it, took lovely painkillers and assumed it would be better this morning, seeing as I hadn't fallen, twisted or banged it in any way.

Well today when I got up it was still the same so I called the NHS direct line who went through the usual diagnosis thing with me over the phone and told me to either go to my GP or go to my nearest walk in minor injuries place (10 miles away). So I go to my GP (who for the first time ever gave me an immediate emergency appointment) and while I'm hobbling up the path to get into the surgery, the only person who offers to help me get inside is some old lady who was smaller than I was despite having loads of men walk past me.

The GP doesn't know what's wrong and tell me that I will have to go to our local A&E dept. and go through to have it xray'd. The local hospital is about 10 miles away in the other direction. Lovely. So I finally get there and am wheeled up to the Xray dept who tell me my foot isn't broken, that they would give my doctor a report in 7 days and that I could go home.

I'm obvioulsy not really able to walk on my own so I go through the the receptionist on A&E to ask her if my auntie (the senior sister of our a&e) is there, which she isn't coz she's away on holiday. So I ask her for some crutches and I'm told I can't have any unless I go and register as a new patient and wait in the waiting room which had a 3 hour waiting time. Obvioulsy wasn't really in the mood for that.

So now I'm back at home, still not knowing what is wrong with my foot and still not able to put any weight on it, and with no crutches meaning I'm stuck sat in one place! GGGRRRRRRRRRR!!

Rant over !happy!

[spunkie]

Dr Spunkie would be happy to take look...id have to ask you to strip from the waist down for me! !innocent!

No seriously I hope you sort it Harmony, wish you a speedy diagnosis - we need to see you back in those thigh highs asap! xx

[Sam Slater]

Doesn't seem like any gait issues if it came on in one afternoon. No injuries either so I've no idea.

The only thing that springs to mind is gout.

Can come on suddenly.
Painful.
Swollen.
Affected area feels cold due to reduced bloodflow (caused by swelling).

Only trouble is, I'd expect your local GP to have diagnosed this straight away as it's not exactly an uncommon problem.

Google 'gout' to look up symptoms and see if they fit (be honest with yourself as it's surprising how many people start to have phantom symptoms once they start reading up on medical stuff !wink!)

Worth a try *shrugs shoulders*

[harmonyhex]

Thanks Sam I will have a read up. My GP said this afternoon when I visited him that he didn't think it was gout. He said he was pretty clueless about what it was considering that I hadn't fallen or knocked it in any way.

[Sam Slater]

Well at least he considered the possibility, which is good.

Stupid as it sounds, it could be an allergic reaction to some insect bite that you've not noticed......anything. My guess is that the hospital/your Doc are hoping it will clear up in a few days, which would indicate something along those lines.

Hope you get better soon!

[Y3MBailey]

Harmony tell me about it similar story happened to me last year sent me home but i couldn't walk on my foot for 2 weeks luckily my gf had some spare crutches from when she broke her legs a few years ago.

To be honest the fact she still had hers is probably why the NHS are so resistant to give them out come to mention it. Hope your foot feels better. It's so irritating not be able to walk plus people treat you really nicely when your on crutches.



Matt

[Pervert]

Hope the foot problem heels up soon, Hexy.

[nikonman]

Harmony,
Hope your foot soon gets better.
It could have been a insect bite . If so the hospital will probably give you some antibiotics
Please keep us all informed how you are getting on with it.

[Johnnyboy 22]

I hope you get it sorted harmony. Bloddy amazing how a doctor doesnt know what it is. And as for the NHS i wouldnt step foot it in one of those places with all the bugs about even if it was a matter of life and death. At a rough guess harm i would say its either an allergic reaction or an insect bite,