Tuesday morning I speak to the Chief Exec of SIA to discuss how I can get some action for Mark. One suggestion he made was to email the Director of Nursing, copy it to my MP and various other people regarding Marks level of care in the ward he's in because they clearly don't know how to look after a spinally injured person. This I get off around 11am.
1pm Mark goes for CT scan, scan itself doesn't take any time at all, then back to scan waiting room, it took 1hr 45 mins before a porter came to take him back to the ward. We were there so long, he missed his meds so they had to bring them down from the ward because he was starting to go funny.
We get back to the ward and they've just finished changing his mattress for an air mattress and the Matron is there saying she has my email. Wow, seems you only have to copy in an MP and you get some action. We discussed what his immediate care needs were and got a guarantee that they would follow a care regime that I said he needed. A small success. I go home that night thinking all the nurses on the ward are going to hate the site of me for causing so much fuss, but Mark texted me later that evening to tell me they're all really happy cos they've got an extra member of staff overnight that they've been saying they need for some time. Result for everyone.
Wednesday, we meet with the consultant to discuss what the scan showed and it looks like the severe pain has been caused by arthritis in the joint two above the fixture, essentially the bone has a growth which is probably pressing on the disc then on the spinal column.
the vertebrae in the red circle shows an extra piece of bone
Apparently this rapid deterioration of the vertebra is quite common after an injury/repair like Marks. The question is then, why haven't they found it sooner? NHS cutbacks is definitely one reason. His consultant at Pinders requested a CT scan over two months ago, he was told by the scanning department that the MRI scans he'd had were sufficient for his diagnostic purposes. Seems the scanning department can dictate to a specialist consultant when the NHS has spent enough money on a patient. Anyway, are the results enough to get him to Leeds, NO! It's not acute enough, he could be sent home and have his pain managed until such time they might see him. We both reject this option for a number of reasons, first they're constantly increasing his morphine for the pain so if we went home it's difficult to get that changed when necessary, second, I can't look after him the state he's in now and thirdly if he comes home he'll be put on the back burner again. Hopefully if he's taking up a bed they'll do something sooner.
They've also requested another MRI before they'll consider when they might see him. So now he's booked in for another MRI to complete the diagnosis. It's possible that the disc has prolapsed and is pressing against the cord. Then he has to wait again for the spinal surgeon to deem the level of pain and loss of function severe enough to warrant more surgery. In other words, can they afford to fix him, or is it cheaper in the short term (they NEVER look at long term costs) to keep him drugged on morphine and the rest of the barrage of drugs he's on, than to operate. It's a relief to finally know the cause and to see a glimmer of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel for Mark.
So now we wait, probably until next week for the MRI, at which point the consultant here will push harder to get Mark to Leeds.
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