A Patient's Story
Cauda Equina Syndrome Decompression Took Four Weeks
Cauda equina syndrome requires surgical decompression within 24 hours. This patient's condition was left untreated for four weeks. Here she describes the life-changing injuries she has been left with.
“I bent over to pick a hairbrush off the floor and I felt something in my back go. I started to develop worrying symptoms, and after looking them up on the internet I went to my GP and told him I thought I had cauda equina syndrome.
The GP said I didn't have CES and sent me away. He said to wait until the results of an MRI scan I'd had earlier that month were available. After four weeks of waiting, the results came back and it showed I had a prolapsed disc.
The letter said I should be referred for physiotherapy, but I knew something was seriously wrong and I suspected it was cauda equina syndrome. I managed to get an appointment with a consultant for the following day, and when he saw me he became very worried and called in a specialist. Within six hours I was in theatre having decompression surgery.
As for my injuries now, I'm as bad as it gets. I'm doubly incontinent, I can't feel my bottom or the back of my legs, and as for my feet I can only feel my big toes. I get involuntary movements in my legs, so I can be asleep in bed and suddenly my legs will flip my whole body onto the floor.
Until recently I was trying to get around on crutches as much as possible, only using a wheelchair when I had to. But now doctors have said that I must use a wheelchair at all times or I could become paralysed from the chest down.
I lost my job because of what happened. I feel very low and have to take a lot of medication. I take 52 tablets a day, including painkillers, anti-inflammatories and anti-depressants. I take extra anti-depressants because they help to suppress the involuntary leg movements. The pain-killers are so strong that I become withdrawn if I don't take them.
I have lost all my friends. I don't go out anymore unless it's for a medical appointment. If I do have to leave the house, I need to prepare four days in advance because of my bowel medication.
All intimacy with my husband has disappeared, and I've now been told that I can't have children because of the CES. I'm devastated because I always wanted children, but doctors can't be sure what damage being pregnant and giving birth would do to my body.
I have moved to a bungalow which I bought using the compensation settlement. It has got a wet room and my husband is making special adaptations for me, such as lowering the bed, so I can move around more independently.
Along with the house, the money has allowed me to buy certain equipment that I need. I've bought a spare pair of crutches, a motorized wheelchair, and special shoes that I need because I can't feel my feet.
Although making a claim has helped me get these things, I would have liked the GP to have said sorry, and I do feel a bit of anger about that. I haven't fully accepted what's happened and I do feel very miserable about it.
Finally I just want to say how brilliant Chris was. He worked really hard and he didn't have that much time to get things underway before I would have been too late to bring a claim. I really appreciate what he did for me because he changed my life. I don't know what I could ever do for him to say thank you.”
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