Okehampton Medical Centre

How has treatment at Okehampton shaped my opinion.

I do not like falling out with people, I hate it actually, I was going to send some flowers to the health centre recently, just to say thank you for your efforts, regardless of my challenge towards them concerning my own poor care and rude and belittling treatment (not just from Okehampton) which I will continue to challenge, as it is wrong for anybody to be treated in that way. How has the NHS via GPs, mainly, made me feel about/perceive myself? I read about a pathetically titled book, recently, written by a science writer (whatever that means) - "I made my husband ill with a few words," about the nocebo effect, written by Helen Pilcher - she lied to and deceived and manipulated her husband, to believe her lie, knowing he would trust her, as a result of his loving trust of her, as his wife, his knowledge of her character, and expectation that she would be telling him the truth, and not lying to him - that is what actually happened - she twisted that as much as it is possible for anyone to twist a statement, and put the responsibility for his subsequent belief in and trust of her, and her statement, firmly on his shoulders - if she was honest, and wise, she would not have done that - of course she was able to mislead and manipulate him - he loved and trusted her - if this is science, it is b****y poor science, and a significant reason so many are losing their lives to NHS negligence. We are not all fools, not all hypochondriacs, not all looking for any and every excuse to claim to be ill, and yet, that is how so very many people, young and old, are treated by far far far far too many within the medical profession - and it simply isn't right, it is very very wrong, dangerous, and costing many many lives through an arrogance among GPs, a psychosis of elitism - do you have to be so grandiose, can you not just be, well, just another human. I understand very well the power of the mind, and the power of words, which can do both great good, or great harm - it is no secrete, if it is new to science, then they are lagging very much behind the rest of the world. Am I a hypochondriac, seeking to be ill, or seeking attention, I have certainly been treated as if I am, by some: I was involved in a car crash at the age of thirteen, and had a few broken bones, nothing serious, nose, ribs, foot - I was in Devonport Hospital - the nurses came over and asked me if I wanted to sit up, I said yes, put my arms down by my side, and lifted myself up, to exclamations from the nurses of "No, we will help you," too late, I had it done - did it hurt, too right it did, but it could have been worse. I sat through a root canal, at the dentist (private), the first I had ever had, it wasn't until at the end when I said to the dentist "Wow, it gets hot when the blue light is used to set the filling doesn't it?" when she said "You can't feel that!" that we realised I had sat through the treatment, without the anaesthetic taking - I felt everything, even the detail of the root being removed - did it hurt, too right it did, but I had nothing to compare it with, I thought that was as good as it got as far as pain relief was concerned for a root canal, so endured it. The couch was soaked in sweat. I had a twisted bowel, and the pain was incredible! I went to a Holsworthy doctor at that time, who diagnosed the twisted bowel, and he said he thought it would improve on it's own in a week or so - I continued working (dairy farming) in incredible pain, every step, every jolt was terrible - I cannot remember if I had any pain relief or not, I do remember thinking to myself - "I thought a twisted bowel was a serious thing" - nothing more was done, and eventually, around about the week, it got better. I developed an arrhythmia around 2006, which over the years, got worse and worse, until it got serious for me - 1400PVCs an hour, salvos of six, two/three salvos of six in a thirty second test, I had had a heart rate of 240bpm for a period of 3/4 hour, NHS 111 made nothing of it, so I just carried on as normal, aware that it was very fast. More and more unusual ECG traces as time went by, and I was feeling awful, and missing work. Derriford Hospital were using my own ECG traces to help me, saying "Something is clearly wrong, but we do not know what," Later, Exeter RDE were asking me for more of my own ECGs to work with - I had my own ECG because Black Torrington had messed up an ECG, and lost the information it had recorded, information that caused the nurse to say "Oh, there they are (the irregular traces), you must be feeling awful (yes), we will get you in for an emergency appointment." All the information was lost, and no action was taken, the ECG was not repeated. I got to the point of collapse, when I begged Okehampton for help - didn't get it, was told I was "Perfectly healthy," twice, until I refused to leave the room until Dr Hamilton treated me for the known low thyroid function that I have, discovered ten years earlier, but I couldn't get treatment because it would entitle me to free prescriptions, that is what I was told by the Black Torrington GP, and he laughed as he refused treatment - I said I would pay for the treatment (and I did when I eventually got it from Okehampton, until the pharmacy kept on complaining to me about doing so, telling me that I am entitled to it) and that I am not looking for free treatment, I just need to be well, to be able to do my work - he didn't care I am afraid, he refused to help. Three weeks after I received the treatment with Thyroxin, the arrhythmia had almost completely stopped. I had been on my knees crying out with chest pains - yet never called an ambulance for help, just chewed some aspirin and hoped for the best - how many times am I supposed to call for help whilst trying to get the appropriate help from the GPs? I have been told off by nurses and consultants for not calling for help - yet I never have, and yet I have been told off by GPs for collecting my own ECG traces, and told to stop it, even when the RDE were asking for more, and telling me to collect my own traces - when I told the nurse that I have been doing so for a few years, ever since a trace was messed up and lost, but have been told off for doing so, she said "You were ahead of the curve, and they probably didn't like it, we now tell people to collect their own ECGs, to help monitor their own health, there are some very good machines available." I was advised that I may need a pacemaker - I refused. I was prescribed betablockers - I refused to use them, as not enough information had been collected by NHS equipment, and my pulse would drop to 47bpm at times - I worked at height, and drove machinery, drove a car - I couldn't afford to become at risk of fainting. I just needed the thyroxin - and that had been known for ten years, but had been refused. As well as a misdiagnosis of a rash, indicating the very nature of the infection it seems I am now fighting, a GP misdiagnosed a mole on my back - raised, black, glassy with a flaking top, a red circle around it, bleeding at times, and so very very very very very very itchy, I thought I should have it checked, which I did - the GP had a quick look with his naked eyes, and said he thought it was okay - five years later, never happy that it was actually of no concern, I had a different doctor have a look at it - he used a lens to look at it in detail, said "I do not like the look of that, I will get you in for an emergency appointment to have it removed," which he did. I had it removed and biopsied - thankfully it was not cancerous, but could have become so I was told. The consultant spoke to me about the GP that said he thought it was okay (no, it had not changed in those five years), he was very angry that the GP had said that, saying that the only way to know that such a mole was not cancerous, was to remove it and biopsy it, as it looked like a melanoma, and biopsy was the way to confirm or exclude cancer. At Okehampton, I sought Devon Doctors for help one weekend, feeling ill, and having been vomiting in my sleep a few weeks before, and breathing the vomit in as I slept - they referred me for an endoscopy, and were surprised that I hadn't already had one, as I have suffered (and it really is suffering at times) from GIRD for many years. An Okehampton GP told me that he had cancelled the referral, as he didn't think an endoscopy was necessary, and told me that he wouldn't be sending me, but asked me what I wanted to do - as I had been told by a very good young GP at Holsworthy, nearly forty years earlier, that diagnosed the GIRD, that I might get cancer of the oesophagus as a result, and that I must remember that as I get older, I said the the GP "Let's get it done, do the endoscopy, and at least we can then rule it out." So that is what was done. When I had the endoscopy, the doctor performing the procedure, took a long breath in and said, "You have had this condition for many years," and she then took I think fifteen biopsies, and I am now down to be checked every two years for the progression of the condition - a pre-cancerous condition that I would never have known about if I had listened to the GP - interestingly, the pain I am in now that I have had the condition for so many years, is nothing compared to the extreme pain I used to be in many years previously - therefore, it is very unlikely that I would have sought help now, for the same condition, as I am not in such pain, and can control it - so it would most likely have gone missed! I was badly crushed between two cows, that I feel caused the aggravation of stones in my gall bladder - I was in terrible pain when again I sought help from Devon Doctors one weekend, who told me off for being too stoical, reminding me that they have pain relief to help with such pain - they had seen me walking in from the car park - they told me that it is considered to be more painful than childbirth - I wouldn't know. I refused to have my gall bladder removed, as I was sure it was my being crushed that had led to it, and I have to date, some six/seven years on, never had any problems - the gall bladder must be there for a reason, so let's leave it there. I had a week off work. A cow slipped in the cubicles and her hoof caught my heel, striking it very hard, doing a lot of damage of some kind to my ankle/heel; I was struggling to walk for a very long time, around five years or more now, and I cannot run anymore, I sought help from Okehampton, only to be asked "Why now," and to be given some exercises to do - I had asked for an x-ray (I shall seek help from Julia Young, osteopath). Five years of walking on a damaged foot is surely exercise enough. The lump on my heel was so large that it rubbed on my work boots, some much so, that it rubbed the skin/flesh away, until I could see the tendon beneath - so painful - I used gel plasters to help it heal, kept working though, up to 19,500 steps a day - torture! I have no disc between L3 L4 - BUPA CT scan at Tiverton - after I lifted my niece without bending my knees, after changing her nappy - the vertebrae should be fused together by now I was told - twenty six years since I caused the damage. The GP (Black Torrington) laughed when I gave him the BUPA report, threw it down, and said "That is nothing" - fool! It took two people to help me stand and walk when I did it, and it causes me constant pain. "We need to help make sure you are not crippled when you are older," the male physio at Holsworthy said, Jane said they may have been able to help me if only I had sought help sooner - I let it heal on it's own for six years was it. And now I am struggling and fighting to find help with an infection that started some 14 years ago, that I am now having to treat myself. Exactly how do you expect me to feel? You have worn me down, and worn me out! I know you are trying to contact me, but I want nothing more than a referral, please - I hate confrontation. Till then, I will look after myself as best I can.