Health Issues

[D R Oldfield]

I went for my 60 year old man mot in August ( Didnt want to go but my wife insisted ), Glad i did all my blood tests came back normal , but as my dad died a few years ago from Prostrate Cancer my doctor thought it was a good idea to send me for a scan , I am glad they did they have found q 100mm growth on one of my Kidneys , i had no symptoms no pain perfectly normal blood tests , any way going into hospital on tuesday to get the kidney removed , the moral from this tale is dont ignore your health if you get offered a check up or mot take it you never know what they will find







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[Grumps]

Good luck to you, it's always appreciated to be nudged on such matters.
I have been battling the NHS for months for an old returning complaint. It has nearly taken me once and this is the 4th time I've had it. They didn't want to know and now my bloods are through the roof and it's taken me paying out £240 for a private consultation for him to then kick people's arses within the NHS and loan behold i now have 2 NHS hospitals offering me the surgery I need! Incredible!

 

[AleNod]

Jeepers - Good Luck both . . .

 

[Z Victor 1]

Best wishes to both of you. Hope you will finally get somewhere with this Dave.

 

[Shelly]

Hope your operation goes well .
Take care

 

[colb]

Best wishes and good luck to you both, if only we all took care of ourselves as much as we do our cars.

 

[1955Davidr]

I can’t praise our local surgery high enough, I have been having the Old Man Mot’s for a few years now, the issues have been slightly high blood pressure, under control, and pre type 2 diabetes, at 70 I can live with those and adjust my life style accordingly. If you are over 60 get an appointment booked it’s well worth it. Good luck to the original poster, the NHS gets too much slating and from ours and friends experiences it doesn’t deserve it. I have no connection with NHS by the way.

 

[Grumps]

I can’t praise our local surgery high enough, I have been having the Old Man Mot’s for a few years now, the issues have been slightly high blood pressure, under control, and pre type 2 diabetes, at 70 I can live with those and adjust my life style accordingly. If you are over 60 get an appointment booked it’s well worth it. Good luck to the original poster, the NHS gets too much slating and from ours and friends experiences it doesn’t deserve it. I have no connection with NHS by the way.

I have been a huge supporter of the NHS since falling ill in 2015. Upto this time they have been superb. This time they refused to treat me even after being rushed into resus a few weeks ago for emergency treatment. I don't blame the NHS, years of massive unfunding it's on it's arse. But that said, i'm a working class guy and can't afford to go private. Being advised to pay for a private consultation which i did, the consultant i saw was truely astonished I hadn't been dealt with and said "I will not be taking your money for surgery, it's £6000 and you should have been seen long before now"
He got in touch with people he knew within the NHS, amazing what a bit of knowledge can do. I have sadly lost all faith in our health system. We won't be living here by retirement age and have already started the early steps of emigrating when the time comes. The health system abroad is so much better than ours.

 

[Toby]

Good luck guys with the ops The NHS is usually good, However can be let down by the non frontline staff who do their best under the circumstances. It can also be a bit hit and miss depending on your Health Trust and GP. The reform it needs wont happen as the ones running it wouldnt approve.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

The reform it needs wont happen as the ones running it wouldnt approve.

You'll be suggesting next that the ones in charge should have to use the system they're in charge of. That ain't gonna happen.

And I'm using "in charge" in quite a loose sense.

 

[ktnez99]

Good luck to you, it's always appreciated to be nudged on such matters.
I have been battling the NHS for months for an old returning complaint. It has nearly taken me once and this is the 4th time I've had it. They didn't want to know and now my bloods are through the roof and it's taken me paying out £240 for a private consultation for him to then kick people's arses within the NHS and loan behold i now have 2 NHS hospitals offering me the surgery I need! Incredible!

I’m sorry to read this snd I hope you are ok. Can I ask why the hospital refused to treat you, without going into too personal details? Was there a reason, as such?

 

[ktnez99]

I went for my 60 year old man mot in August ( Didnt want to go but my wife insisted ), Glad i did all my blood tests came back normal , but as my dad died a few years ago from Prostrate Cancer my doctor thought it was a good idea to send me for a scan , I am glad they did they have found q 100mm growth on one of my Kidneys , i had no symptoms no pain perfectly normal blood tests , any way going into hospital on tuesday to get the kidney removed , the moral from this tale is dont ignore your health if you get offered a check up or mot take it you never know what they will find







0

I’m sorry to read this and hope the op goes well. Wishing you lots of positivity and a speedy recovery.

 

[Grumps]

I’m sorry to read this snd I hope you are ok. Can I ask why the hospital refused to treat you, without going into too personal details? Was there a reason, as such?

They just said Government have changed parameters and until i show signs of becoming Septic again they wouldn't do the Op. Absolutely appalling in my opinion. I've had Sepsis twice and always been told in the past that if I get any symptons I must go straight in and be sorted. It has already left me with alot of internal damage.

 

[ktnez99]

They just said Government have changed parameters and until i show signs of becoming Septic again they wouldn't do the Op. Absolutely appalling in my opinion. I've had Sepsis twice and always been told in the past that if I get any symptons I must go straight in and be sorted. It has already left me with alot of internal damage.

I am so very sorry to read this. I have my own ideas as to what is happening with the NHS and have witnessed its “policies” up close and personal very recently. My approach now is to do everything I possibly can do to avoid this “institution”. I’m wishing you well with the referral op and let us know how you get on. Sending you positivity.

 

[ktnez99]

They just said Government have changed parameters and until i show signs of becoming Septic again they wouldn't do the Op. Absolutely appalling in my opinion. I've had Sepsis twice and always been told in the past that if I get any symptons I must go straight in and be sorted. It has already left me with alot of internal damage.

What “protocol” did the hospital say drove its decision to not treat you, Dave? And when was it introduced? If you haven’t already, this non-treatment decision/protocol warrants a formal complaint. I’d like to share more but can’t; all I can say is that such protocols can lead to devastating consequences.

 

[Duncodin]

Well done with getting the scan. Good luck with your OP on tuesday @D R Oldfield.

Lots of good and bad comments about the NHS. Things have certainly gone downhill since covid. My GP used to be really easy to get an appointment. Now we have to phone. Last phone call to book a blood test I was on hold for 1Hr 20Mins. At least 30mins of that I was "Your are number one, in the queue'".

Problem is money. We all pay National Insurance but that money isn't earmarked for anything. It just goes into the bigger tax pot. It's basically tax with a different name and the health service simply isn't given enough of it - or maybe the NHS just has layers and layers of managers taking salary without actually doing anything.

In Germany, where I lived and worked much of my adult life, everyone pays from their salary into an insurance fund. It's compulsory. If you're unemployed then the state pays the insurance premium so everyone is insured.

But that fund is not given to government to spend on Jags and wallpaper. It's kept solely for health service.

So it is a private system but controlled by the state. Insurer can't refuse to insure somebody or charge more for preexisting conditions.

Then a GP, dentist or hospital doesn't get a wad of cash to budget the year. They only get paid when they actually treat someone. I remember lying on the table having stitches after a work accident and while the doctor is stitching me up there's a clerk with a clip board asking my name, address and who my insurance company is. They need that so they can send the invoice to the insurer.

So because they only get paid when they actually treat someone there's no incentive in delaying treatment or closing wards. They get people in quick and keep the invoices going. Just like KwikFit

One time I broke my ankle - fell off a ladder on the side of my truck - they stitched up the tendon then kept me in for 2 weeks while it healed. Obviously get more money the longer they keep you. Some might then say the hospital could milk the system keeping people in longer than necessary. Maybe. But it seems to be the complete opposite of what we have in the UK.

NHS is an ideal. It sound great. Free health care for all. But can it really work? But mention the word 'Private Insurance' and there's a knee jerk reaction because in many countries private systems are totally unfair. But in some countries it does work.

 

[Duncodin]

Sorry. More.

Lots of talk on the news at the moment about screening for prostate cancer. Some countries don't. I don't think germany does (or didn't) do routine screening so don't screen unless there's other evidence such as symptoms or family history etc. Screening is not totally accurate without biopsy and that on its own can be dangerous.

I know of three people who've had a prostate biopsy.

1. By older brother. He has ongoing prostate issues. Had a biopsy and then spent two weeks in hospital with Sepsis. He was negative. No cancer but biopsy nearly killed him.

2. Asking a client where his Dad was (he's usually sat in client's office) and told he'd died of prostate cancer. Only later in the conversation did it come out that it wasn't the cancer that killed him. It was sepsis after biopsy.

3. Me.

September 2019 GP suspected prostate cancer but wasn't sure. Booked me in for checkup with specialist. October specialists confirmed doctor's suspicion and booked me in for MRI and biopsy. That was done in November 2019. That confirmed prostate cancer. Gleeson score 7 (4/3).

Biopsy, BTW, is done up your bum and then through the wall of the bowel into the prostate. Not one sample. But 12 - so 12 holes punched, one after the other, through your bowel lining where poop and bacteria leak out.

Anyway. after the biopsy I was given a shed load of antibiotics and sent home in a nappy with a phone number to call if I felt ill.

A week later back at the specialist I was given the choice of (a) observe, (b) Radio Therapy or (c) removal. The specialist recommended removal saying that radio therapy would likely cause more side effects such as incontinence "front and back" he said.

So, 6th January 2020 I went under the knife. Out it came and sent home the next morning with a peebag that stayed in for a month. Couple months later they decided that the cancer had already spread to the local area so wasn't all removed. During 1st lockdown I was in every day for a month having radio therapy. Really quick. Very efficient and very painless.

and no. The radio therapy did not cause incontinence - front or back.

Anyway. I think where I'm going is that once I got in to the NHS system they really are pretty quick to get me sorted.

On the other hand. I'm in Wales where health care is a devolved thing. So maybe it's just better here.

But don't let me scare you out of having a biopsy. Statistics say it is very very safe. But you don't want one unless it's necessary - but how will you know it's necessary unless you have one.

 

[Grumps]

What “protocol” did the hospital say drove its decision to not treat you, Dave? And when was it introduced? If you haven’t already, this non-treatment decision/protocol warrants a formal complaint. I’d like to share more but can’t; all I can say is that such protocols can lead to devastating consequences.

Not dealt with yet, QMC at Nottingham were supposed to give me a phone consultation yesterday and failed to ring!
I have a face to face with Kingsmill at Mansfield on the 9th. I haven't complained as yet, I will see what happens next, if I become Septic again before treatment then a complaint will definitely be going in.

When I said I didn't want to go home they said they had no choice as Government guidelines had changed and I wasn't a bed case, this conversation was being had while I was on a combination of intravenous morphine and hyosine to reduce the horrendous pain in was suffering at the time. The wife was not a happy bunny!

 

[ktnez99]

Sorry. More.

Lots of talk on the news at the moment about screening for prostate cancer. Some countries don't. I don't think germany does (or didn't) do routine screening so don't screen unless there's other evidence such as symptoms or family history etc. Screening is not totally accurate without biopsy and that on its own can be dangerous.

I know of three people who've had a prostate biopsy.

1. By older brother. He has ongoing prostate issues. Had a biopsy and then spent two weeks in hospital with Sepsis. He was negative. No cancer but biopsy nearly killed him.

2. Asking a client where his Dad was (he's usually sat in client's office) and told he'd died of prostate cancer. Only later in the conversation did it come out that it wasn't the cancer that killed him. It was sepsis after biopsy.

3. Me.

September 2019 GP suspected prostate cancer but wasn't sure. Booked me in for checkup with specialist. October specialists confirmed doctor's suspicion and booked me in for MRI and biopsy. That was done in November 2019. That confirmed prostate cancer. Gleeson score 7 (4/3).

Biopsy, BTW, is done up your bum and then through the wall of the bowel into the prostate. Not one sample. But 12 - so 12 holes punched, one after the other, through your bowel lining where poop and bacteria leak out.

Anyway. after the biopsy I was given a shed load of antibiotics and sent home in a nappy with a phone number to call if I felt ill.

A week later back at the specialist I was given the choice of (a) observe, (b) Radio Therapy or (c) removal. The specialist recommended removal saying that radio therapy would likely cause more side effects such as incontinence "front and back" he said.

So, 6th January 2020 I went under the knife. Out it came and sent home the next morning with a peebag that stayed in for a month. Couple months later they decided that the cancer had already spread to the local area so wasn't all removed. During 1st lockdown I was in every day for a month having radio therapy. Really quick. Very efficient and very painless.

and no. The radio therapy did not cause incontinence - front or back.

Anyway. I think where I'm going is that once I got in to the NHS system they really are pretty quick to get me sorted.

On the other hand. I'm in Wales where health care is a devolved thing. So maybe it's just better here.

But don't let me scare you out of having a biopsy. Statistics say it is very very safe. But you don't want one unless it's necessary - but how will you know it's necessary unless you have one.

Thank you for sharing your experiences @Duncodin I’m hoping you are now ok
The instances you mention about other people really makes me, and probably a lot more people, think. I’m assuming, like you, had being in Wales, the NHS policies are different but I don’t know…aren’t all NHS policies set by a central overriding organisation across the whole of the UK that heads it up? I know this name has recently changed and can’t recall the nee name.

 

[ktnez99]

Not dealt with yet, QMC at Nottingham were supposed to give me a phone consultation yesterday and failed to ring!
I have a face to face with Kingsmill at Mansfield on the 9th. I haven't complained as yet, I will see what happens next, if I become Septic again before treatment then a complaint will definitely be going in.

When I said I didn't want to go home they said they had no choice as Government guidelines had changed and I wasn't a bed case, this conversation was being had while I was on a combination of intravenous morphine and hyosine to reduce the horrendous pain in was suffering at the time. The wife was not a happy bunny!

My goodness, Dave, this is very poor that you didn’t receive a phone consultation but then, it’s possibly a positive as how can a telephone call determine what an in-person appointment can? As to you being put on IV Morphine and Hyosine, I’ve seen this happen and these drugs are referred to as End of Life drugs under a particular NHS protocol. It’s a good thing your wife was there. I can’t imagine either of you were happy about what happened and it is appalling that you weren’t treated.