A PRESTATYN MAN is living on a knife-edge after two hospitals failed to treat a poisonous abscess.
Michael Kay, 66, developed a lump in his back, which resulted in an emergency MRI scan in Glan Clwyd hospital at the start of December.
The scan showed an abscess near Mr Kay’s spine which needed specialist treatment at Walton Hospital, Liverpool, where he was taken the next day.
But medics there decided the abcess was not on Mr Kay’s spine and sent back to Glan Clwyd Hospital leaving him with a “painful and potentially dangerous condition”.
An unhappy Mr Kay said: “I arrived at Glan Clywd on December 13 ready for surgery, but was told it was not possible as they did not have a spinal unit. They could clean the area of drainage but could not remove the abscess.
“So with one hospital saying it was a spinal problem and one carrying out no treatment as it was not a spinal problem I was ill and trapped. If the growing bulge bursts, I will have blood poisoning.”
Mr Kay, who described himself as fit for his age, has been discharged from both hospitals and said he now felt “out in the wilderness”.
The lump was drained at Glan Clwyd, leaving him with an open wound which needs to be dressed, but the abscess, the source of the toxic fluid, has not been operated on.
Mr Kay spent more than seven days in hospital between Walton and Glan Clwyd and, in preparation for operations which were then cancelled, has spent about three days without food as he was not allowed to eat before the surgery.
He said: “I’m not saying the staff have done a bad job. I think they are doing their best, but I’m sitting waiting for someone to make a decision.
“I feel really grotty. My blood stream is getting fouled with infection. I’m worried if it bursts because if it does, all that poison will be unleashed onto my body in one go.”
A spokeswoman from the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We are sorry to hear of Mr Kaye’s concerns. We cannot discuss individual cases due to confidentiality but have contacted Mr Kaye to discuss his concerns.”