Deb1steph
09-04-09, 23:20
I have been reading postings on this forum recently as I have been dreading having a flexible sigmoidoscopy today. I was and remain extremely frightened. I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and I have an extreme phobia (emetephobia) fear of being `ill' or others being `ill' so hospitals are very scary places. I have been due to have this procedure done many times but put it off. Then last Christmas I had a bad experience with the preparation which the hospital insisted on which was to consume only clear liquids for two days prior to the procedure and take Picolax a bowel cleansing sachet. I got very ill with violent headaches and feeling extremely nauseous. On the day I couldn't go I was so ill and I told the hospital who then rang to tell me off several times keep ringing even though I told them I as too unwell to talk and totally incapable of getting there. I asked at the time if I could have an enema instead but they refused. They even sent out information relating to colonoscopy when I was having a sigmoidoscopy. I complained about my treatment but got nowhere. They made me a further out patient appointment which turned out to be a cardiac surgeon someone had made in error! They then accused me of cancelling the appointment when I pointed out that the appointment was for the wrong clinic anyway and couldn't count as an appointment.
Finally I got my GP to re-refer me and this time miraculously they could give me an enema after all. I was so scared last night and this morning. The information the hospital had sent out was useless again with two conflicting sets of information. One said it was permissible to take clear fluids up to 2 hours before the procedure the other said nothing to eat or drink after 7.30 am when I pointed this out to them I got the bog standard reply `follow the instructions' even when I pointed out there was in fact TWO set of instructions that is all they would tell me. I arrived at the Programme Investigation Unit I was put on a ward full of old men having their testicles examined and tucking into meat and two veg I was only woman. I was given a phosphate enema and then had to walk down the corridor past all the men in a gown which revealed everything. When I got to the toilet I had to wait a minute before it was free. I went in and locked the door and all the time someone kept pulling at the door handle which was putting me off. I was told by the nurse on the ward the doctor would come and see me as I was afraid the procedure would make me feel `ill' and they had already been informed of my phobia, but she told me the doctor would explain everything to me and I would be taken down to the unit in a chair. In the end the doctor didn't come and I had to walk down to the unit which I didn't mind except for the gown. We got to the endoscopy unit. The nurse told them three times I was nervous but they never acknowledged this or made any kind of response. There were two woman and one man. None of them introduced themselves. One woman just barked at me `any briefs or bra? if so remove them. I was then told to get in a chair which was like a dentist chair and expose my bare bum. They asked if I wanted sedation after first asking how I was getting home. I asked if it would make me feel ill and they just replied `do you want it or not?
They then put the chair back and asked me to get on my side and pull my knees up to my chest. The doctor (I presume he was a doctor) then examined my back passage. It was so painful I cried out in pain he then asked me `do you want this test or not' before adding that he would try again with some lubricant. They then inserted the rubber tube. At no time did any of them tell me what they were doing or try to put me at ease. The two woman were busy engrossed in conversation about hairdressers and were getting quite noisy and I felt I was invisible. The pain was so intense it felt like my insides were been twisted and I was crying and they got exasperated with me and told me abruptly to `stop crying' again saying do you want it or not. I felt like I was being scolded. The doctor had said `I am going to give you sedation anyway' without me agreeing to it and they also gave me oxygen through my nose. I was just crying on my side and tried to bite my hand to cope with the pain but they just shouted at me `put your hands where I can see them'
They wouldn't complete the test. They said `shall we stop the test' and I said `yes' because at that time I was in so much pain and they hadn't told me what they were doing. On this site I have read how some people compared it to driving as the person administering the test had said things such as `we are going round a bend now' `you might feel a bit of pain' or whatever but I was told nothing, if they had informed me what they were doing maybe I would have an idea of how long I had to put up with the pain for and being able to tolerate it. They roughly pulled out the tube and I was bundled on a chair back to the ward. I quickly pulled on my clothes and left immediately . Even though I had been given sedation I was aware of everything and I didn't even have a rest or a drink. I went straight out and caught the bus home, only it was a long journey and tow buses later I had really bad pains and I had a long way to go and I had an accident. I had explosive diarrhoea even though I had been given an enema.
They have now discharged me back to my GP so I have to go through all the hassle again of trying to get re-refried I am so upset about what happed to me I feel really bad tonight and I am so upset I went through all that for nothing. I have had bleeding from my back passage for a long time now and it is probably piles through IBS but it still worries me. For anyone having this procedure I would say the difference between a good and a bad experience is the staff carrying out the procedure and I can honestly say I felt like a piece of meat being butchered. They made me feel like I was nothing, it was like a conveyor belt to get people in and out as quickly as possible and even thought here was no one else waiting they made me feel like I was wasting their time. I am so upset right now and I didn't have any support. I am not saying this to put anyone off at all on the plus side I have eaten pizza for tea and caught two buses home standing all the way so I wasn't at deaths door ( touch wood) but I have just come on here because I am feeling sorry for myself. I am so tired and don't feel like complaining anymore but I deserved better than this shoddy treatment. file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/user/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg
Finally I got my GP to re-refer me and this time miraculously they could give me an enema after all. I was so scared last night and this morning. The information the hospital had sent out was useless again with two conflicting sets of information. One said it was permissible to take clear fluids up to 2 hours before the procedure the other said nothing to eat or drink after 7.30 am when I pointed this out to them I got the bog standard reply `follow the instructions' even when I pointed out there was in fact TWO set of instructions that is all they would tell me. I arrived at the Programme Investigation Unit I was put on a ward full of old men having their testicles examined and tucking into meat and two veg I was only woman. I was given a phosphate enema and then had to walk down the corridor past all the men in a gown which revealed everything. When I got to the toilet I had to wait a minute before it was free. I went in and locked the door and all the time someone kept pulling at the door handle which was putting me off. I was told by the nurse on the ward the doctor would come and see me as I was afraid the procedure would make me feel `ill' and they had already been informed of my phobia, but she told me the doctor would explain everything to me and I would be taken down to the unit in a chair. In the end the doctor didn't come and I had to walk down to the unit which I didn't mind except for the gown. We got to the endoscopy unit. The nurse told them three times I was nervous but they never acknowledged this or made any kind of response. There were two woman and one man. None of them introduced themselves. One woman just barked at me `any briefs or bra? if so remove them. I was then told to get in a chair which was like a dentist chair and expose my bare bum. They asked if I wanted sedation after first asking how I was getting home. I asked if it would make me feel ill and they just replied `do you want it or not?
They then put the chair back and asked me to get on my side and pull my knees up to my chest. The doctor (I presume he was a doctor) then examined my back passage. It was so painful I cried out in pain he then asked me `do you want this test or not' before adding that he would try again with some lubricant. They then inserted the rubber tube. At no time did any of them tell me what they were doing or try to put me at ease. The two woman were busy engrossed in conversation about hairdressers and were getting quite noisy and I felt I was invisible. The pain was so intense it felt like my insides were been twisted and I was crying and they got exasperated with me and told me abruptly to `stop crying' again saying do you want it or not. I felt like I was being scolded. The doctor had said `I am going to give you sedation anyway' without me agreeing to it and they also gave me oxygen through my nose. I was just crying on my side and tried to bite my hand to cope with the pain but they just shouted at me `put your hands where I can see them'
They wouldn't complete the test. They said `shall we stop the test' and I said `yes' because at that time I was in so much pain and they hadn't told me what they were doing. On this site I have read how some people compared it to driving as the person administering the test had said things such as `we are going round a bend now' `you might feel a bit of pain' or whatever but I was told nothing, if they had informed me what they were doing maybe I would have an idea of how long I had to put up with the pain for and being able to tolerate it. They roughly pulled out the tube and I was bundled on a chair back to the ward. I quickly pulled on my clothes and left immediately . Even though I had been given sedation I was aware of everything and I didn't even have a rest or a drink. I went straight out and caught the bus home, only it was a long journey and tow buses later I had really bad pains and I had a long way to go and I had an accident. I had explosive diarrhoea even though I had been given an enema.
They have now discharged me back to my GP so I have to go through all the hassle again of trying to get re-refried I am so upset about what happed to me I feel really bad tonight and I am so upset I went through all that for nothing. I have had bleeding from my back passage for a long time now and it is probably piles through IBS but it still worries me. For anyone having this procedure I would say the difference between a good and a bad experience is the staff carrying out the procedure and I can honestly say I felt like a piece of meat being butchered. They made me feel like I was nothing, it was like a conveyor belt to get people in and out as quickly as possible and even thought here was no one else waiting they made me feel like I was wasting their time. I am so upset right now and I didn't have any support. I am not saying this to put anyone off at all on the plus side I have eaten pizza for tea and caught two buses home standing all the way so I wasn't at deaths door ( touch wood) but I have just come on here because I am feeling sorry for myself. I am so tired and don't feel like complaining anymore but I deserved better than this shoddy treatment. file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/user/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg