Appendicities Claim

[svenda]

Hi

I am currently in the middle of making a claim to NHS for medical negligance for my nightmare appendicities operation.

In short here is what happened

It took them 2 days to diagnose
I eventually had key hole to remove appendicities
Once back on ward i became very ill
was left like tis for 2 days
surgeons then finally decided to investigate so came a 2nd operation
This time i was cut open and left with a horrendus scar which is approx 8 inches long with huge flap going over
They found they had made a hole whilst removing appendicities, but never saw it
after that long op i was in intensice care, on cafeters etc, couldnt walk and was in extreme pain
also had tubes draining my stomach out due to all the leakage
then after this the scar became infected, staples were removed and 1pint of puss was removed, as it became infected
The scar then had to be left open and packed daily from the inside
was in hospital for a about 3 weeks
was discharged (with drips etc) still in hands
once home had daily visits from nurse to pack my open wound

was very poorly throughout y visit to hospital, lost a huge amount of weight, was off work for months and now have a few defaults as couldnt keep up with payments

After all this, i have had to have plastic surgery to improve scar (done on nhs)

and after last consultaion they are now going to perform liposuction in nov to reduce the flap

Mentally it has ruined my life im a young girl of 22, beach trips and bikini's are my worst fear, the scar has made me lose all confidence.

i also feel the care in general was very poor??

I was just curious to see if anyone else has experienced anything like this and to ask if ppl think its worth claiming!

Please tell me what you think?

[mree]

I understand how you'd be upset - this sounds like an awful experience! But if the doctor was doing his job properly when he completed the consent form for the first operation, you'll have signed to say you accept the risks (these usually include a slight risk of bowel perforation), which might make it difficult to claim.

[GlasweJen]

I'm 21 and had my appendixectomy after my appendix ruptured as NHS 24 said that it was just a sore intercostal muscle so 5 days later i was operated on at 11pm, the anaesthetic didn't work and I experienced what is known as anaesthetic awareness, I could hear the surgeons, the radio and felt what they were doing (though thankfully I couldn't feel pain). I had a secondary infection which spread to my liver and i had to have more surgery. I could have sued the butt off the nurse and doctor from NHS 24 who examined me but not the surgeon because I told him to open me up, yes it was life saving emergency surgery but i read the statistics and i knew the risks. I never sued as at the end of the day i'm alive and i'm all too aware that i could have died of peritonitis though don't get me wrong i complained until they were sick of listening and then some.

[Rooster-UK]

I had an appendectomy when I was 14 (46 years ago). I was admitted to hospital at about 1-30 am and on the table by 2-00am. They didn't use keyhole surgery then.
When they removed the stitches after 7 days they found that the bottom of the incision hadn't healed and immediately opened up. This ws caused by a stitch abcess. It took 5 weeks to heal.

Your experiences are the result of a bum deal. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally someone will be dealt a hand of jokers..

Mentally it has ruined my life im a young girl of 22, beach trips and bikini's are my worst fear, the scar has made me lose all confidence.

Don't worry about bikinis etc. I think that you will notice it more than others will......

Wear your scar with pride. You will see that people will take very little notice of it.

REgards, Rooster.

[GlasweJen]

I was offered keyhole but when they realised they would have to take out more than they thought i had a proper 4 inch appendectomy scar, i don't wear low-risers because of it and it's 5 years old now, almost white but I know it's there. unfortunately we can't sue because they left a scar, if we could then c-sections would be very popular

[mree]

I don't understand why a scar is such a big problem - I have a 10-inch scar on my lower abdomen, but it hasn't changed the way I dress at all, in fact last year was the first time I ever wore a bikini on holiday, although it was also the first time I'd been away since the large scar replaced the 6-inch one which now hides under it. I like my scar, the operation that created it has greatly improved my life and I don't care who sees it. It wasn't a life-saving operation, but a life-changing one, so I don't understand why people who would be dead if they hadn't gotten their scars are so ashamed of them!

[GlasweJen]

I'm not ashamed of it i'm just a modest person in general, it's a great excuse not to have to flash yourself about. It's also not the shape of a normal appendectomy and people assume i've had my ovary removed which leads to some awkward conversations where women are all talking about kids in the future, give me a glance and ask if i can still have them and i'm like duh it's just the appendix!

[johnhill007]

If you are thinking of claiming you may want to check if you have cover in place.

As part of building and contents insurance you often get legal cover thrown in - it was this through this cover that my concerns against the NHS were passed onto solicitors who establised I had better than 50% chance of winning a claim - so they handled the claim at no cost to myself - and won (after 3 years).

It may be worth while initially checking policy documents to see if you have such cover in place - the cost of going it alone could be quite tough (medical reports, examinations, etc, etc).

Hope this is of some help.

[wobbles]

my son had his appendix out in april last year Aged 9, after I took him to GP who said he was pretty sure it was appendicitis but I should take him striaght to the local A & E department, I went straight to A & E where 2 doctors looked at him and said he was constipated, but then went on to say because of his age they could not discharge him and that I would have to take him to a childrens hospital 10 miles away to be discharged. so we put him in the car and drove to the other hospital with the sealed brown envelope they had given us to hand to the other hospital.
When we arrived at the other hospital the peadiatrician comfirmed the GPs diagnose of appendicitis and he was rushed into theatre within an hour.

Im so glad we did make that journey to the childrens hospital, many other parents who dont have transport would probably have took there child home and put the brown envelope in the bin, and given the child calpol for the pain as we were told to do