Hugh Laurie as House: great doctor for a TV series but not what you want in real life…
by Lexi Welch
Back in April this year, as my husband was recovering from the first of the 3 operations he was to undergo, I looked up Crohn’s disease on the NHS website. It seemed clear to me, from the brief one page summary, that my husband’s symptoms’ matched this chronic condition exactly. At the same moment my mother called. “I’ve been researching on the internet and I think your husband has Crohn’s”, she said.
Nearly 3 months later and after three late night visits to A&E, two subsequent operations and four hospital stays, I wheeled my now chair bound, morphine taking husband into an emergency appointment with his consultant. “Hmm, there obviously is something wrong.” he muttered. “Let’s check for Crohn’s.” A couple of days later, after an excruciating colonoscopy, Crohn’s was diagnosed. A bit, may I say, bloody late.
I know doctors and consultants must hate it when we roll into their offices with all the answers already gleaned from the net. “I’m suffering from sub-haematoid bronchial congelialitis” we say, brandishing a sore finger. But to dismiss a patient’s gut feeling about what’s wrong with them so consistently must be a professional failing too. My husband had all the classic symptoms (including years of suffering from mouth ulcers and a family history) yet the medical profession wanted only to cut him up and send him home. This wouldn’t have been so bad if they’d been doing the right operation but without the correct diagnosis they were slicing in the wind.
As he had been treated for cancer the year before, we could see how different the quality of treatment is depending on your condition. The cancer pathway wasn’t perfect but at least it existed. The staff were clearly specialists and knew how to care for and manage people going through an awful experience. But the Crohn’s, to be honest, was a million times worse in terms of the deterioration in my husbands health.There are plenty of people diagnosed with Crohn’s who are initially relieved to not have a cancer diagnosis, only to wish, a number of painful years down the line, that it had been cancer after all. Crohn’s won’t kill you but it can take away life as you know it, leaving you in an existence of never ending, excruciatingly painful suspense.
The one thing I really wish is that the medical professionals had truly listened to us. We have been advised to make a complaint, especially about the young, chipper registrar who told me my role was to be ‘a supportive wife’ and let him get on with his job (rather than keep asking questions). But I can’t see how delving into the Kafkaesque hole of NHS beaurocracy will do any good. So instead, I’m going to use this small platform to spread the word; whilst medical staff deserve our respect and always should be treated with good manners, they are not gods and they get it wrong. If Crohn’s teaches you anything, it’s to go with your gut.
This article in The Guardian makes for interesting reading.
