Reflux

Hi ya Les,

i did call out of hours, and they faxed a prescription for diaoralyte, without seeing him, last night we went to out of hours medical enter, where we where told he had hepatitis A.......clever no blood test or anything, no signs of jaundice, sent home, with nothing.

Today been back, given the omperazole, and a blood test.......fingers crossed it now seems to be working, he hasn't been sick since 1.30 this afternoon. He is now able to drink,but not risking food just yet. Xxx

Thats good news Tinx!

As long as hes keeping the fluids down, will be good.  Little sips is better than large gulps....  Light foods maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for getting back to us!

Unfortunately I don't live in U.S (wish I did)........ Things here in the U.K....going down hill hospitals so understaffed. On a brighter note my son seems to be improving. Keeping my fingers crossed. Thankyou

Hi Tinx,

Things are changing here in the UK, the current gov't is currently trialing Personal Care Plans - at the moment only a select few have been placed on the system, but it basically free's up ambulances, paramedics, etc since all your hospital records, prescriptions, all doctors and consultants you have seen. Basically, paramedics and emergency call centres can call up all your details in seconds rather than wasting time on doctors when they're not required. I was put on the plan this week for a trial basis, from what I can see so far hospitals will not be so understaffed and there will be more doctors available.

To me it looks like a good idea, especially when you got a case like your son at this time - pity it wasn't available in your area yet.

Regards,

Les.

It was obvous you are in the UK from what you said. If it is acid reflux then a pinch of bicarbonate in a glass of water three times a day will work quickly to help with no side effects (though not a good idea to do this every day for a long time due to salt content). If that does not work then it is something else. To my mind it is worth a try. The original medicine

ought to work quickly with stomach ulcers etc but takes longer with acid reflux but a week should do it.

Which area are you in?

I live in Eastbourne and attend hospitals there and in Brighton. Twenty odd miles away but different area health authorities.

No access to each others system and I even get echocardiograms at each. One at each in the same week one time.

Consultant at Brighton is now writing to Eastbourne for resuts of tests done there to avoid duplication.

Be great to see this rolled out over the whole country.

i myself have a very rare heart condition, 1 of 40 people in the world they know of, I have been looked after very well. Before I worked as a health care support worker in a palliative care unit, there were so many cutbacks, it made it almost impossible for us to do a good and proper job.

have a good day xxx

Sorry ......I live in portsmouth.

Hi Derek,

I live between Cheltenham and Gloucester, and attend mainly the Gloucester Royal Hospital – on some occasions I do have to attend The Queen’s Hospital in London. All my records are held at Gloucester Royal Hospital, but this only includes paperwork records – my G.P has access to all electronic records on an administrative server based elsewhere for security and should there be a risk of fire. I see Tinx mentioned about cutbacks, the main cutback in my area is after a certain time the Ambulance and Emergency services in Cheltenham are closed off, and diverted to Gloucester Royal Hospital, so you can imagine the mayhem this caused. It is nowhere near so bad now, with the Personal Care Plan in place.

I did have to agree for my records to allow access to and from hospitals, via my GP – this ensures the data is always up to date. Paramedics carry a type of computer which allows access to all my details, so they know my past history and how it was controlled (this was never available before), also which Consultants I see regularly including periods and medication, if any. My records are checked when my wife calls for an ambulance, because they know what to expect in each case.

All blood tests are kept on file, so they can see at a glance when you have had previous tests, and what ‘markers’ were checked at the time. X-rays, MRI’s and CT scans are all available, including any comments made. Since I am in cancer remission for about another 9 months they can see when the next appointment is due. This saves a paramedic time when they can see I have about another 3 appointments coming up shortly. A paramedic must do a lot of checks and leave only if he/she thinks you are stable enough, therefore the Personal Care Plan in my view is a good idea.

My main problem is Generalized Dystonia, not well known and quite often overlooked by doctors as it has similar symptoms to Parkinson’s disease. Most paramedics have quite often asked my wife if I am coming around from a seizure and if the ‘tremors’ and ‘shaking’ is normal because it is a rare condition, of course they used to ask the same questions on every ‘call out’ – especially, when you suffer from ‘uncontrolled Epilepsy’ and ‘Functional Seizures’. But now they can see from my records that it is normal, and an ambulance is not required, therefore in my case it frees up an ambulance, nurses and doctors, when they could be attending someone far worse than myself.

Regards,

Les.

Eventually it will be brought into force all over but we still have people who do not want others to see/share their records.

Brighton consultant said that he should be able to get my Eastbourne scans on his system. He could only get the results but not see the actual scans for himself as he wanted to.

In East Sussex facilities and services are being based at one hospital maternity and orthopaedics are being moved from Eastbourne to Hastings.  Stroke services are now based at Eastbourne.

Hi Derek,

At the moment it on a trial, is also opt-in/opt-out - My doctor assumed it would be a good idea in my case because of my huge case of records, considering my complexity of disorders. Having to cope with 13 medications a day is ridiculous, some meds are to counteract side-effects from others.

I just received a copy of the referal letter to the pain clinic, which will hopefully control the pain I am in 24/7 better. At the moment its a case of no one will touch any of the medications or amounts per day, until I have been to the pain clinic. I personally think the Tramadol is causing more problems,

One day perhaps they will get the correct type of dystonia correct. It used to be Torticollis Dystonia, then they changed it to Focal Segmental Dystonia, then last year it was re-diagnosed as Generalized Dystonia (affecting all limbs) - then last week Cervical Dystonia. I am sticking with Generalized Dystonia since it is now spread over all limbs, originated from Torticollis Dystonia (diagnosed back in the early 90's). There is no known cure for it, only medication to lower the effects, but having muscles cramping everyday is a nightmare. The Epilepsy Specialist put it down to Cervical Dystonia (okay, I maybe in a wheelchair), but I get Botox injected into my neck! Go figure...

Regards.

Les.

Things starting to lookup......not been sick since 1.30 this afternoon x

That's great

An endoscopy can only show any damage that has been done. With acid reflux there is often no damage to see and it is diagnosed by history not by looking there. The person would have had to have had acid reflux for a very long time befrore they can detect any damage there.

And as endoscopies take time to organise and are expensive why do that if it is not necessary or helpful?

Having the pain she's having it will show any damage she needs ppi s at least , not over the counter meds. A visit to gp needs arranging and all treatment including endoscopy are free as yuy know.  Also an endoscopy can be arranged quickly if it's neede