Thanks everyone. I have survived the night. The more time passes without anything awful happening, the more confident I am that there’s not some dire slow bleed somewhere, that the hospital failed to find. A leaflet they gave me said I should not really be alone for the first 24-38 hours, but it will be 24 hours at lunchtime, so I reckon by the small hours, I can stop worrying - and there’s less risk the nearer we get. I’m not in a v. good state - even worse than usual - but no nausea or loss of consciousness, or any unexplained fluid from any orifice so I think it’s ‘just’ severe bruising, and I did the right thing to come home. I think, if I’d stayed at hospital, I wouldn’t have got any sleep at all, would have got MORE stressed, and they’d probably have found my heartrate still up this morning, and again hesitated to let me go. Eight hours in bedlam was quite enough. I’m sure I’m more comfortable and possibly even safer at home, as I haven’t got anything stressing me out, and causing symptoms I otherwise wouldn’t have,
When I eventually plucked up courage to undress last night (reluctant, as I was so stiff), I found awful bruising I hadn’t even known was there. Slightly more worrying, I don’t think the hospital did either, because, do you know, they NEVER fully undressed me to check if I was hurt under my clothes. And they only X-rayed bits of me I complained about (one elbow and the opposite heel), and - bizarrely - one knuckle. It didn’t look any more battered than the whole set (I’d grazed just about all of them), and I hadn’t complained of pain or loss of use, but for some reason, they had concerns only about the pinky of my right hand, which was no better or worse than anything else - not sticking out at a lurid angle or anything.
Now I’m home, I think the bits of me they didn’t X-ray look far worse than the ones they did. My bum cheek is almost completely black, which must have been what the doctor was referring to, when she asked: “What’s this?” But I reckon she could see only a tiny part of it, because they never asked me to remove jeans or underwear. Upper thighs are also in a bad state. I reckon this must be where the bike actually fell on me, after it hit me. Hospital have not examined this at all!
But I suppose it’s all fleshy areas, not close to any vital organs. I’m guessing you can take quite a battering to the bum, without it being at all dangerous.
I realised the headache that was one of the reasons they were hesitant about letting me go was almost certainly a combinantion of stress and - disgracefully - hunger. As soon as I got home and had tea and toast - too late to cook, and hardly anything else in the house anyway - the headache started to fade. So how ridiculous, that they’re worrying about a patient’s headache, when the cause is that the patient has been there hours and hours, with one cup of tea! I was probably dehydrated as well as stressed. I wasn’t even offered tea at all, until the shift change at 7 p.m. I’d already been there since about 2:00. I know A&E isn’t like a normal ward, and many patients won’t be capable of eating, but since I hadn’t been declared ‘nil by mouth’, and was allowed tea, I don’t know why I couldn’t have been offered a sandwich. It’s an awfully long time to go, when you’ve got an underlying health condition as well
Everyone was unfailingly cheerful and polite, but I didn’t feel I was examined very thoroughly, and it’s not good that I waited 5 hours for X-ray, and nobody paid attention to basic needs, like food or drink! To be honest, if I’d gone all those hours without a cup of tea usually, I’d be feeling a bit dodgy - without being hit by a bike first!
I won’ be going to the doctor unless there’s any dramatic change I’m worried about. I can’t take all the faff of the fight for an appointment, and going there on a jolty bus. I don’t think a GP would do much for bruising, except prescribe painkillers - which luckily (ha-ha, if you can call it that) I have tons in the house anyway, courtesy of MS.
Hospital didn’t give me any painkillers to go away with, so just as well I already have some, isn’t it?
I’m absolutely slathered in arnica, and the few bits of me that don’t have arnica have got Savlon!
Tina
xx