An Update For Sqad, Slaney And Whoever.....

[gness]

Evening....I woke up almost completely deaf this morning so I saw another GP.....

He is one I like and trust but a little confirmation never hurts....

I have no wax and very shiny eardrums which would suggest not glue ear. He did lots of tests with a tuning fork and...because he doesn't do this often got out a reference book.....I like that.

The results of the tuning fork pinging told him the problem was conductive and not a nerve problem......I like that too....well conductive seems the better of the two.

He has referred me to E.N.T. ....bypassing audiology if another doctor in the practice agrees....there have to be two signatures for this referral. If a second doctor won't agree I have to go to audiology....that seems to be the usual route.... who will then refer me to E.N.T.

Seems a faff to me...but heyho....I'm used to faff now.....☺

Am I on the right track do you both think?

Thanks Gx

[Psybbo]

I hope so Gness, best wishes from whoever x

[pixie373]

Same from whoever here too xx

[tonyav]

Best of luck, gness.

[Sqad]

No, I don't like it when you first has the problem and I don!t like the sound of it now.
This 2 doctor signature is a nonsense, sudden deafness is an ENT emergency and o doubt the diagnosis of a conductive deafness.

Your GP should ring up the ENT consultant and get an urgent referral for tomorrow.

[EcclesCake]

I am rapidly reaching the conclusion that NICE guidelines are a pain in the butt.

Over the last couple of years I have found GPs and Consultants recommending treatments that do not suit the patient but respect the guidelines :-(

[gness]

Oh, Sqad....now you worry me.....I thought the conductive deafness would mean grommets to solve the problem....No?

[gness]

And thanks for the good wishes....Eccles....I have been so fit and well till the last year or so......I can't believe the hoops needed and the waste of time and money to get where I should be in the first place....
I feel I have entered a crazy world where I don't know which way is up.

[DTCwordfan]

Fingers crossed here, gness, not much we amateurs can do....just get into the system quickly so.

Would this one be worth investing in re being private - just to speed you through?

[petal54]

good luck!

[gness]

No, I won't do that, DTC.....because I did that with my legs and ended up paying a fortune to a crazy consultant who could only rattle on about the patient who was suing him...the demise of the NHS and told me not to worry about the dark area in my tummy.....that he hadn't looked at.

I'll save my money for good wine in which to drown my sorrows.....☺

[gness]

Thanks, Petal.....I'm thinking I need it.....I rarely despair but....fed up now... is becoming my mantra......☻

[leahbee]

So sorry to hear about your problem gness, you always seem so cheerful on An and I look forward to reading your comments.
Please do as sqad says and get it seen to asap.

[gness]

Thank you, Leah...I think I am undemanding of the NHS....but maybe tears and wailing are the way to go....I shall have to consider that....

It's also ironic that I was a sign communicator for years......so few people sign that I am now talking to myself...well signing...which looks quite stupid in Tesco.....☻

[Ann]

Poor you Gness, I would go with what Sqad advises, after all he was an ENT consultant before living the high life in the sunshine! Hope you get it sorted quickly x

[jim360]

Hope it all gets sorted soon. So sad when these things get dragged out, and seems like you might have been misdiagnosed originally too which is obviously not brilliant.

Good luck for getting that second referral... hope things progress quickly from here to ENT.

[jd_1984]

There seems to be little regard for the distress caused to the patient through mis diagnosis and second guessing these days.
You should be at an ENT clinic asap, through your GP without this faffing about, like I said, the faffing often causes as much anxiety as the symptoms, because you just want an answer. Too many patients are kept in "limbo" for my liking but I guess there is clear justification for things like the two signature referral etc.....

Best of luck anyway

[slaney]

I had presumed that the first GP you saw had looked at the eardrums and found them to be dull suggesting glue ear (unusual as that is in adults).
Now it appears the ear drums have a normal cone of light. This puts a different perspective on the diagnosis, and makes expert opinion more urgent.
It also sounds as if the second GP is not experienced with tuning fork tests.

The two signature thing may be something imposed on the GP by the local CCG, but it does suggest the referral is routine.
Do you know whether the ENT referral is routine or urgent? It should certainly be the latter as Sqad rightly says.

[gness]

Morning all...life can be difficult can't it?

The appointment is routine and the first GP examined my ears....I simply trusted her diagnosis...not knowing about shiny eardrums......the doctor yesterday said he was unfamiliar with a tuning fork which was why he read the book as he was using it.

I have tried to choose and book the appointment this morning...asking the receptionist if she could speak up....hearing on the phone is difficult. She said no, she couldn't....because there were other people in the office.

After much repetition I can see someone at the end of March....when I asked if there was any way I could do it sooner she said I was lucky...that's good....it's only two or three weeks away which is nothing really.....a bit of retraining there I think.

I called my surgery....they were happy to shout....to ask about changing it to urgent or even going privately. My GP isn't available til Friday....so one I have never heard of is going to phone me later....I hope he looks at my notes so I don't have to go through it all again....I hope he has a loud voice.....
Can't think of anything else other than rocking up at A&E but that is Kettering. I bear too many scars including widowhood from visits there but I may bite the bullet.....

I told my GP I was hoping to fly at the end of March...in a plane...I'm no Icarus....he hoped we could sort it by then but also said the flight might just pop my ears and sort it......possible??

Thanks for all your concerns and advice.....Gx

[Sqad]

That is a totally unacceptable standard of health care and the NHS should be ashamed it itself.

30 or 40 yrs ago, the GP would have phoned the Consultant in his Op's and the consultant would have seen you within the hour.

I cannot say how ashamed i am.

[anneasquith]

I think id bite the bullet. a gp not familiar with a tuning fork,are you sure he wasn't '' handy man '' G ?