"I thank them for their professionalism and compassion"

I had gallbladder surgery at the end of January. In the evening a few days after surgery, I knew something was very wrong as I was in excruciating pain and sweaty/clammy. My GP sent me to the surgical ambulatory ward. I got there at about 10am and had to sit in a waiting room. I was checked over about 12.30. Unfortunately I then had to sit in a chair and wait until early evening before I could get an abdominal scan. To be in that amount of pain and sat in a chair for 9 hours was incredibly hard.

Once the scan was looked at things moved quickly as it showed a severe bile leak. I was told I would need emergency theatre to wash out my stomach. After midnight I was taken down and Dr Mekhail and the red team took incredibly good care of me throughout my hospital stay. The only other name from that surgery that I can remember is Andrew the anaesthetist but I do recall the whole team were reassuring and kind. A tiny hole was discovered in my abdomen which had caused the bile leak. I had over a litre of bile washed out with 10 litres of saline solution and was left with 3 bile drains coming out of my stomach. That morning the relief I felt from no longer being in the most intense level of pain after about 36 hours was the most incredible feeling. 

I later had to have an ERCP to have a stent placed to redirect & control the flow of the bile. I was well looked after by the team from the start. The team consisted of 

Rachel, Linda, Dr Mukhopadhya, Sonya, Ali & Cathy. They did amazingly! I was so well looked after in what was quite a challenging procedure for them. They struggled to get stent fitted due to the fact they’d been draining the bile.  I was told where they had to position the stent was usually pen sized as the bile runs through it but it was more pin sized for me so it was a tricky one. I was reassured and comforted throughout and I thank them for their professionalism and compassion. My stent was correctly placed and it worked.