Easter Sunday at hospital

Well that didn’t go as planned! What an Easter Sunday. Gavin had his telephone appointment with the GP at BUPA (private insurance) at 9am this morning and after going through his recent medical issues she advised we go straight to A&E as she said there was a chance it could be a stroke or sepsis. Yikes!!

I was about to jump into the shower, so Luke took Gavin to Epsom hospital, and as soon as I was showered and dressed I joined them there where they were still waiting in the reception area. Luke went home to walk Xena.

Gavin was seen shortly after I got there by a lovely nurse who took blood samples. Then he was moved into triage where another nurse took more blood and also a urine sample. He had a temperature of 38.9C (this is after taking paracetamol hours before), so he was put on an intravenous drip of a strong antibiotic together with a large bag of sodium, as his blood tests revealed he had a very low sodium count. It was just slightly above the level whereby it would have been necessary to admit him to hospital. The doctor came over to speak to Gavin while he was on the drips and explained why the sodium was low - due to an infection - and said that as soon as the drips were finished we could go home but he would check him one more time. The drips were finished by 1.30pm and I thought we would get home in time for lunch, but the doctor checked Gavin again after he was off the drips, and like me he was concerned about Gavin’s lack of balance and stability when walking. He did some cognitive tests and said he wanted Gavin to go for a CT head scan. I was very pleased that he was being so thorough as Gavin was clearly suffering with slight confusion, walking unsteadily and much worse than yesterday. I was happy to miss lunch and rather get him checked, so cancelled our Easter lunch booking. The doctor walked us down to the scan department and then we had another hour waiting for the results. It wasn’t good news - Gavin has a brain bleed and they don’t know why, as he has not suffered any head trauma and it's not the type caused by stress/high blood pressure. It was decided to admit him for observation, and he also requires an MRI scan as soon as possible (bank holiday weekend not ideal).

I went home to get his things and Luke returned with me. I expected Gavin to be in the ward on my return, but no, he was sitting waiting in a chair. We waited 3.5 hours for the neurology department at St Georges in London to receive the email of the brain scan and confirm that he could be admitted at Epsom Hospital. Who knew it takes that long to get an email sent and a reply?

It has been a long, long day of just sitting and waiting in the hospital and not eating since breakfast. We were there from 10am and finally at 8.30pm the doctor re-appeared to say he could be admitted to Epsom Hospital but who knew when a bed would be available. Luke and I finally left then, with Gavin sitting in a chair. By 10pm he still did not have a bed, and I suspect he won't get one tonight. The point of being admitted was to be observed through the night with cognitive tests to check if the bleed was getting worse, but nothing is happening so far. It is a shocking state of affairs when a person has paid hundreds of thousands in tax to a system that cannot even provide a hospital bed, it seems unfair doesn't it?

Despite all these administrative and bureaucratic problems of the NHS, the doctor and nurses were excellent, working tirelessly with a smile on their faces all day on long shifts through a bank holiday. The people of the NHS are brilliant, pity about everything else.

No time at all for photos today so this is a photo from my computer screen when I was checking on parking -  the parking is extortionate, I paid £23.50 today.