Location: Quiron Salud Hospital, Murcia, Spain
Summary: A sudden return of severe leg pain in 2018 led to a frightening hospital stay, where multiple blood clots were finally discovered after an initial misdiagnosis. Twelve days of treatment, scans and injections followed, marking the start of a long recovery and some major life changes.
At the end of August 2018, I was feeling in pain and worried about my leg. I had a clot many years ago and wondered if that was what was causing the pain this time. More of a worry to me was those four years earlier, I had been rushed to a hospital in Barcelona. Close to death, I was treated for Necrotizing Fasciitis and Sepsis, and the thought of a repeat was terrifying.
Quironsalud Hospital
I have private medical insurance, and Miguel, the agent who helped me get the insurance at Liberty Seguros, was able to arrange an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I was taken to Quironsalud as it was on the list of private hospitals I could use.
I was taken in to see a doctor and, after explaining my medical history, including that I had recently been diagnosed and treated for gout, he diagnosed Bursitis, gave me a lot of tablets, sent me home and told me to rest.
Second Visit to Quironsalud Hospital
After five days, I was in agony and really worried. I could hardly move and, unable to make the ambulance service understand my predicament, I managed to get into a wheelchair I have in the apartment and wheeled myself down to the Chiringuito outside my apartment. I went there because I know the owner, Andrew, and he is fluent in Spanish.
After a lot of conversation in Spanish, being transferred from one department to another and back again, Andrew was able to call an ambulance using my private medical insurance. Over two hours after my initial call, an ambulance arrived and took me back to the hospital.
This time, I saw a different doctor who looked at my right leg in horror. I explained that the scars she was looking at were old scars and not on the leg I was suffering pain in. She took note of all my previous medical history and immediately ordered a string of blood tests. I was moved to a triage unit to wait for the results.
After a few hours, the results came back. The doctor returned and told me that I did have a clot, a thrombosis, and that they would be keeping me in the hospital. I was taken to a very nice room for one person.
Within an hour, I was taken for chest and lung scans, as well as scans on my leg. Luckily, my chest and lungs were clear, but the nurse doing the Doppler scan on my leg showed me the screen: two, possibly three clots.
That evening, a consultant came to see me. He told me to stop taking all of the medication I was already on and prescribed new tablets, including twice-daily injections of heparin directly into my stomach to help decrease the clot. He explained that the separate clots had joined up and that I essentially had a clot running the length of my leg.
Along with other clot‑reducing tablets, he prescribed a new tablet for my acid reflux. I did, however, have a problem with the painkiller he prescribed, Nolotil. It has been banned in the UK, Ireland, USA, Australia and many Northern European countries. It is still used in Mediterranean countries and, from what I have been able to find out, it badly affects people from outside the Mediterranean area. I refused it. Luckily, the consultant agreed and prescribed a Tramadol / Paracetamol painkiller instead, which worked okay.
After nine days, the heparin injections were stopped, and daily blood tests began. After twelve days, the consultant said I could go home. He prescribed Sintrom to further decrease the clot (which I would be on for a minimum of three months), Pantoprazole Cinfa for the reflux, and Tramadol / Paracetamol painkillers.
I also had to see my local doctor once a week for blood tests to regulate the amount of Sintrom I needed. My full recovery would be long-term, and I would most probably be on some of the tablets for life, but I was still here, and glad to be here.
Life After Leaving the Hospital
Since leaving the hospital, I sold my car. As most people know, I used to walk everywhere, and the car was left in the garage most of the time. I decided to sell it and buy a full‑size disability scooter. I always knew that one day I might need one, this simply moved the purchase forward.
The sale of the car gave me the ability to get a nice mobility scooter. I am now waiting for a charging point to be installed in the garage at my apartment. I have been using a small scooter that I can charge and bring up to the apartment, but it is not big enough for me and the range is tiny, enough to get to the local shop, but not along the beach and back, as I found out.
Thank You
I want to say thank you to so many people.
Thank you, Miguel, for calling my original ambulance. A huge thank you to Andrew for calling it the second time, I really was ill on that occasion and was very emotional, tired and in a lot of pain.
Thank you to my friend Jan for waiting with me when she saw me waiting for the ambulance, and for taking my apartment keys and checking on it for me.
A big thank you to my friends who took the time to visit me in the hospital. As excellent as the hospital was, it was very dull being on my own in a grey room with no view and no one to talk to. Thank you for bringing underwear, shaving equipment, washing items, fruit, water and lots of naughty crisps, biscuits and sweets.
A big thank you to Angelia, Wayne, Steve, Carol, Jill, Peter, Donna, Alan, Jacquie, Sandra and Pat for making the time pass quicker by visiting me.
A great big thank you to Pat for picking me up from the hospital, driving me to get my tablets, then home, and checking that I was safe when I got home.
I would also like to thank everyone who kept in touch with me via Farcebook once I had my computer, your lovely comments wishing me a quick return to health, and all the beautiful comments from people enjoying “Agent Sharky’s” stories from the hospital. People often abuse Farcebook, but for someone like me, alone in a hospital, it was a lifeline and stopped the boredom.
I was lucky enough to be talking daily to people from my hometown in Los Alcázares, as well as friends and family in England, Wales, America and Australia. I thank all of you for your kind comments.
Last but not least, thank you to Ian, who helped me when I got out and provided me with a mobility scooter to use for a few days. Unfortunately, it wasn’t big enough for me long‑term, but it did allow me to get to the shop without having to ask someone else to go for me.
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