hospitals and treatment to deal with distress

[Chrysalis]

Ok I went to the nhs a&e to have someone to look at my eye, the problem is still there so I am not convinced I have been diagnosed right but basically it feels like there is something touching my left eye at the top right of it and was before causing me major pain, the pain is the most severe of anything I have ever had and when it occurs I am borderline throwing a fit. A lot of focus needed to get through it. Also the eye been very sensitive to touch in this state, by touch I mean even touching the eyelid over the eye So I went to the hospital and I asked if they going to examine my eye if possible to have something to calm me down. Got a sarcastic no response in that they dont do such things for minor examinations, I thought it may be minor to them but isnt to me. I have had surgery amongst other things and all less painful than this and for those have been offered anesthetic. So the examination starts he puts yellow liquid stuff in my eye and asks me to keep my eye open, I struggle to do this because I was struggling to keep it open anyway and on top of this I have a liquid that is causing intense stinging, so he tries to force the issue and pushes down on my eyelid whilst trying to open it and I scream out in pain, he dissapears for 5 minutes. By the time he came back I was able to open my eye somewhat and he was able to examine it with a red laser thing however I think he rushed it at this point and just wanted me out. He said he found a scratch and gave me some eyedrops. I asked about having this yellow stuff washed out and he told me to go and do it myself and to leave as was done with me. I will add I did apologise a few times for me been hard to deal with but I did suggest to them at the start to give me something to make it easier. I was also surprised he used no eye wash to flush out the eye.

Now after leaving I realise I have no instructions from him on how much and how often to use these eye drops and the instructions on the label are all blank (supposed to be filled in) so I have so far just used a tiny amount once a day. Did a bit of googling and apparently eye scratches usually heal within couple of days I am now in my 5th day and in some ways its better in others its worse. Currently I have a constant dull but significant pain on my eye surface especially when its dry no tears however I havent had the intense fit causing pain since I been to the hospital. It still feels as if something is lodged under my top eyelid (nowhere near my cornea).

[Maggy J]

I think the only answer you are going to get is that if it still hurts today go and see your doctor.

Eyes are not something to leave or neglect as conditions with them can happen and worsen very quickly sometimes with dire consequences so asking for advice about any eye condition on a forum should get you the response of seeing a doctor as soon as possible.

[Angua]

Would be inclined to visit your GP anyway. They are usually less rushed than ED and will be more aware of you as a person.

[Ramrod]

Go and see an opthalmic optitian. They might shed some light on the matter.

[Kymmy]

Get an emergency appointment at your doctors, just specify there's major pain and they should fit you in today. If need be he'll right you an instant refereal to an eye specialist who should see you almost imediately.. Is there a local eye hostpital? If so then that's probably where he'll contact and send you.

Be aware though that if the eye was severely scratched then it could take weeks to heal and although what caused the scratch isn't there anymore it will still hurt as though something is still scratching away.

At very, very least the doctor will be able to examine the eye and either tell you exactly how to use the drops or prescribe you with some more if he feels it's not serious enough for a direct emergency referal

[Taf]

I had a scratch on the surface on my eye and it was driving me bonkers... eventually caused me to have a panic attack. As with yourself, all I got was a few drops in the eye at Casualty so that they could see the scratch under UV light, then sent home with advice to wear an eye patch for a few days. This was at dawn on a Saturday morning, so no chance of a GP visit until the following Monday.

A couple of days later my GP prescribed antibiotic ointment, 2 days after that I was right as rain.

[Kymmy]

Does seem strange that the A&E didn't recommend that you see your own doctor after a couple of days.. Perhaps they did but along with the eyedrop instructions you were in not fit state to remember them?

[Fingy]

I went to A&E a couple of years ago with an eye problem, they did their best but advised me to come back the next morning when the eye clinic was open as they have their own A&E as part of it. Would your hospital have something like that?

[Chrysalis]

kymmy that is possible as even when I was at the point of leaving and calmer I was still in a shocked state.

I got a GP appointment for tommorow and I had to work really hard to get a doctor not a physician (sorry if spelt wrong). I have not had the eye slamming shut and intense pain since the hospital visit but my eyes (both of them) now keep burning up and stinging, I am really struggling to sleep as well even when tired. The first burn up cold tap water eased it, the 2nd burn up tap water made it worse and after some reading it seems to be due to the chemicals added to tap water.

I also read the nhs website and the proper procedure is supposedbly they give you aneasthetic eye drops before any eye examination to dull the pain. The reason I went to a&e like taf it was a weekend (saturday evening).

I think is a sad state of affairs when they expect you to just wait out the pain. nhs direct told me its gp or a&e. no ambulance visit. In fact I couldnt even speak to a nurse on nhs direct like in the past.

---------- Post added at 20:58 ---------- Previous post was at 20:52 ----------

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I think the only answer you are going to get is that if it still hurts today go and see your doctor.

Eyes are not something to leave or neglect as conditions with them can happen and worsen very quickly sometimes with dire consequences so asking for advice about any eye condition on a forum should get you the response of seeing a doctor as soon as possible.

seems easier said then done, I have already seen a doctor asap, and in the middle of a 2 day wait for my GP.

[dilligaf1701]

HHHmm - I have to agree with the waiting thing. I did and now wish I didn't.

Anyway. Let us know how you get on.

Nowadays if something is amiss I go see my optician as he will refer me to the GP or hospital as appropriate.

Hope you get it sorted

[Chrysalis]

Well right now I am feeling very down and depressed, I have had next to no sleep for half a week. Last night I went to see a out of hours GP, he has written me a letter to take with me to the eye casualty clinic in the same hospital. I will be leaving for it just before 9am.

I am convinced I have a foreign object (as well as the scratch) under my top eye lid somewhere, when I last slept I had tons of fluid in my eye which I think is the trigger of the stinging etc. Even last night when I tried to sleep but failed just lied with eyes shut I felt a few times a spurt of fluid go into my eye. So something is agitating it. It seems even if no object can be found I am going to need help to get to sleep because this is making me go crazy.

[Angua]

One of those Catch 22 situations. The more it irritates the more you react, the more it irritates.

Hopefully the Eye place will sort you out.

[Chrysalis]

ok report.

So I was in the taxi on the way to the hospital and was sunny, very suddenly about halfway there both eyes burned to very bad pain levels and I had to shut both to try and manage the pain. This was still occuring when we got there. So basically I stumbled to the entrance opening an eye split second at a time and got myself in the shade, someone from the nhs I am guessing a security guard decided to help me and let me hold his arm as he guided me inside to a seat, I waited there while he got a buggy, then he told the buggy guy to make sure I got all the way to eye casualty. Both eyes still shut.

By the time I was speaking to the receptionist I had managed to be able to keep my right eye open so had some sight back but was about an hour or so before I was able to keep both eyes open and my left eye still had light burning sensation. Very shortly after been able to open my left eye a nurse called me in so bear in mind it was still very fragile, I was asked to look straight on whilst she examined my eyes, no eye anesthaetic or even a cold eye was used. I was struggling to keep the left eye open, then the dreaded yellow stuff was used on the left eye which made it sting, couldnt keep it open again I warned her last time it made me sting but she insisted. Unlike the a&e doc she gave up very fast and sent me back out, at this point I asked for something to wash out the yellow stuff she refused, I repeated the request more firm the 2nd time and she backed down and used some water eye drops the cold temperature felt very relieving but she put only a tiny amount in and it was about 10 minutes before I could keep the eye open again. About 2 hours later a doctor called me in, annoyingly he asked the same questions the nurse asked and did probably the best eye examination I have had in that he lifted my upper eye lid, at this time things had calmed down and he was able to do this fairly easily. Although my left eye still had light burning. However I was very dissapointed when he offered no new treatment, no advice on how to deal with it and discharged me. Also the nurse said she found a ingrowing eye lash but nothing was done about it, although I not sure if she meant its growing in under my eye lid aka eye contact or something else.

So I was on the way back to the outside and rang my sister, she is very loud and agressive type person when dealing with people and fights for what she wants, I told her what happened and she told me to go back and demand a 2nd opinion, I kept hesitating but when I got outside again still talking to her within a couple of minutes I had to go back inside due to the burning sensation coming back very fast. At this point I told her I am doing what she said but will say it in a different less agressive way. So I got back to the receptionist and told her I was outside for a couple of minutes and had the burning sensation back, I had to go back inside to avoid the scenario where I couldnt open both eyes, also told her I had no proper explanation of the doctor and no advice on how to deal with it. She was surprisingly very cooperative, told me to wait a minute whilst she grabbed my paperwork and told me she will get me back without waiting as there was noone waiting for him at the time. I could hear them arguing and she came out and told me to go in speak to him again.

So we sat down the 2nd time, I told him what I just typed here and that he offered no real explanation as to why I had burning in my right eye when the left eye had the scratch. This time I got a better explanation in that the infection carried over to my other eye, also asked if ok to use tap water to ease it he said yes. This time he also gave me a tube of gel tears saying it would make it easier on me and advised sunglasses. I said thanks and left, but gave my proper thanks to the receptionist on the way out. Obviously is sad that I had to go back a 2nd time to get a better diagnosis and advice.

Luckily when I got outside again it was cloudy and the sun was in so the rest of the day was easier on my eyes. I went to the GP straight from the hospital and he gave me something to help sleep, I think I got about 3-4 hours sleep which is low but better than nothing. I am now taking these eye drops on both eyes every 4 hours.

[Chrysalis]

Is a nightmare, yesterday all day had eye burning and had to keep them shut most of the time the entire day, spent the day round a family member's house as on my own it be even worse. Went back to the hospital in the evening and again got nowhere, no pain relief or relaxation drugs offered. The stinging/burning/itching problem is not even showing signs of easing off and arguably is getting worse.

When I was at my family member's house it was defenitly worse then usual, my family member told me her hayfever is always worse when at home, when I got home (all my windows been shut for days) there was almost immediate relief after shutting the door and managed to get some sleep finally. To me it seems more and more like hayfever but because of the eye scratch they may have got sidetracked. Although right now still at home my eyes are full of fluid and stinging.

In addition I had a 2nd problem yesterday unrelated where I had to call 999 (on gp advice) the woman who turned up wouldnt stop moaning about my gp passing it onto 999 and I didnt get admitted, after she left the sheet she had filled out I seen she had written a few lies down which I presume would justify leaving me at home. As it turns out this 2nd issue has calmed down as the drugs I got are effective but the fact she lied on the sheet is wrong.

[Chrysalis]

Well not sure whether to post this or not as everyone stopped replying but here is the situation now some weeks later.

I went to my parents local hospital and they diagnosed me with a shattered cornea protective layer in left eye, usually a protective layer above cornea. Said right eye is fine. So I started keeping left eye shut all day and just using right eye which seems to restrict but not get rid of discomfort and pain. In the evenings its still very bad with left eye full off fluid and right eye hurting.

My main problem tho is that the ointment I have been given I am supposed to take before bed, I was told if I miss it even one night the healing process resets to day one. As the normal course of sleep rips off whats healed. Entire heal process 2 months. By the time its evening or whatever time I am ready to go bed I cant open my left eye for more then a second or two due to stinging and cannot even see in or out of it due to white fluid covering the eye area. Speaking to my GP since about this he shows a complete lack of interest (my local GP you get some random duty doctor). The difference between healthcare in leics and norfolk/norwich is night and day.

I am also stuck back at home on my own again after my sister decided to only take me back home from my parents and not take me in. I had a nurse from nhs direct telling me I need to get myself back to a&e yet she wouldnt sort out transport, nhs direct really needs to be scrapped now, a shadow of when it started as all they do now is either tell you to goto a&e or out of hours GP and get yourself there. My sister my only local family member with a car is very lazy and a bit selfish saying she couldnt do it.