Update on oggbashan's health

[oggbashan]

Ye gods; what chaos !

I have a cunning plan which works if everything else fails. I turn up at the City hospital Pathology department bearing a box of chocolates and ask if they can test me now. So far it has never failed even though they seem to have a week's waiting list...

 

[oggbashan]

Shit!

I fell over in the garden at lunchtime. That was the first time for a couple of months and I only fell to my knees, not a complete fall like previously. It shook me up and I found it very difficult to stand up again. I had to haul myself up by grabbing a full water butt.

All I have is bruised knees, protected by my jeans, but it is worrying that I am still that unstable.

 

[KeithD]

Take it a bit easier, lad.

 

[Handley_Page]

I fell over in the garden at lunchtime. That was the first time for a couple of months and I only fell to my knees, not a complete fall like previously. It shook me up and I found it very difficult to stand up again. I had to haul myself up by grabbing a full water butt.

All I have is bruised knees, protected by my jeans, but it is worrying that I am still that unstable.

Put your feet up, perhaps ?
Fingers crossed

 

[oggbashan]

Blood Test(s)

I had booked a blood test prior to a CT scan in our town hospital at 11.06 today. I arrived at 11 and the test was taken at 11.03.

But my GP had asked for a second blood test I wasn't aware of. Even so the procedure was quick and easy. Why not? The nurse takes blood all day five days a week. She commented that I was an easy patient and could come back any time.

I gave her a large box of Quality Street chocolates. She was surprised and reemphasised that I was a welcome patient...

 

[Handley_Page]

I fell over in the garden at lunchtime. That was the first time for a couple of months and I only fell to my knees, not a complete fall like previously. It shook me up and I found it very difficult to stand up again. I had to haul myself up by grabbing a full water butt.

All I have is bruised knees, protected by my jeans, but it is worrying that I am still that unstable.

It's an event that scares the hell out of me.
Fingers crossed.

I had booked a blood test prior to a CT scan in our town hospital at 11.06 today. I arrived at 11 and the test was taken at 11.03.

But my GP had asked for a second blood test I wasn't aware of. Even so the procedure was quick and easy. Why not? The nurse takes blood all day five days a week. She commented that I was an easy patient and could come back any time.

I gave her a large box of Quality Street chocolates. She was surprised and reemphasised that I was a welcome patient...

I must remember that method, Ogg.
A little bribery seems to work . . . . .

 

[oggbashan]

This morning I had the letter for my next CT scan - 0830 on 31st December.

There are problems with that. Because of my disabilities, I take an hour to get ready to come downstairs. They request that I do not eat for two hours before the scan ie. 0630. If I am to have breakfast - essential because I am diabetic otherwise I will have a hypo - that has to be before 0630. Journey time is one hour so I would have to leave home at 0730 at the latest.

So to arrive at 0830 I have to start getting up at 0515 to allow time for breakfast.


I don't normally wake up before 0900.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

This morning I had the letter for my next CT scan - 0830 on 31st December.

There are problems with that. Because of my disabilities, I take an hour to get ready to come downstairs. They request that I do not eat for two hours before the scan ie. 0630. If I am to have breakfast - essential because I am diabetic otherwise I will have a hypo - that has to be before 0630. Journey time is one hour so I would have to leave home at 0730 at the latest.

So to arrive at 0830 I have to start getting up at 0515 to allow time for breakfast.


I don't normally wake up before 0900.

Oof! That sucks and not in a good way! Made me think of a complaint I had about an early flight several years ago. A 6 AM flight, meant boarding time started around 5:30 AM. I still needed to allow at least an extra hour for checking-in and security. And it was an hour drive to the airport. And, I like to have a few minutes after waking to take care of the three S's - so that added another hour.

Then I was stuck with trying to decide "Am I getting up early for this flight or am I going to stay up extra late for it?"

Hopefully, they'll reschedule!

 

[oggbashan]

Success! I hung on the phone for 40 minutes but before I got to the end of the queue the clerk had gone to lunch.

I tried again an hour later and I got straight through. Re-arranged for 14.15.

 

[Handley_Page]

Success! I hung on the phone for 40 minutes but before I got to the end of the queue the clerk had gone to lunch.

I tried again an hour later and I got straight through. Re-arranged for 14.15.

Shocking, that.

 

[oggbashan]

Shocking, that.

Perhaps. But the clerk starts work at 0730...

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Success! I hung on the phone for 40 minutes but before I got to the end of the queue the clerk had gone to lunch.

I tried again an hour later and I got straight through. Re-arranged for 14.15.

Good, I'm happy for you, Ogg. That original time felt criminal. I just had my annual physical on Monday and I purposely scheduled it for 7:30 because I had to fast beforehand and dreaded the idea. Breakfast truly tasted extra good on Monday and felt more literal than usual.

 

[gordo12]

Success! I hung on the phone for 40 minutes but before I got to the end of the queue the clerk had gone to lunch.

I tried again an hour later and I got straight through. Re-arranged for 14.15.

What a rigamarole! In Canada, the doctor gives you a form. You call a central number for the area and book an appointment at your convenience. Or you can walk into a diagnostic clinic, and if not too busy, they'll take you or arrange an appointment. Staggered lunch hours ensure someone is always available to help you. It does get busy at times, but like you, I call an hour later when I hear the high call volume warning. Clinic waiting time has been under 5 minutes each time.

In the last two weeks, I've had blood tests and a bone density test for a spinal problem. Results are all online for my perusal. I'll call the doctor's office for a convenient appt.

Not a letter to be seen. The time, paper and potential for screwups running a service that the doctor should be doing are endless. Unbelievable waste of time and money your NHS engages in. It reminds me of a paperwork bureaucracy straight out of the 60s. When you hear a cooing at your front door, you know the pigeon is there with your letter!

But I'm happy you're still with us.

 

[oggbashan]

Today, while my wife was rushing around preparing for a family visit, I stayed out of her way sorting paperwork.

My file of medical letters for 2020 and 2021 now fills four A4 folders and we haven't finished 2021 yet. I have six more appointments this month - so far.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Today, while my wife was rushing around preparing for a family visit, I stayed out of her way sorting paperwork.

My file of medical letters for 2020 and 2021 now fills four A4 folders and we haven't finished 2021 yet. I have six more appointments this month - so far.

As long as you're alive and kicking, it's all good, Ogg.

 

[oggbashan]

As long as you're alive and kicking, it's all good, Ogg.

Thank you. I'm still alive and still confusing the medical experts who don't really know what I have. It is a neurological disorder caused by lung cancer but it doesn't fit any recognised pattern.

They thought it was Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome. If it had been, it would have been the first case in the county. (My youngest daughter has seen three cases. She was the first to suggest it.) But my muscles are too strong for that. One of the tests is for arm weakness caused by myasthenia. The consultant asks me to hold my arms out, palms upward while he presses down and I should resist. If it is myasthenia he should be able to push my arms down.

Each time I have lifted the consultant off his feet. Now? They don't know. But steroids seem to work.

 

[KeithD]

Just keep considering that it was LAST Christmas that you once thought you weren't going to be able to get to.

 

[oggbashan]

Just keep considering that it was LAST Christmas that you once thought you weren't going to be able to get to.

And there was doubt about the Christmas before that...

My next targets are my 50th wedding anniversary in March, and my next birthday in April.

 

[Handley_Page]

And there was doubt about the Christmas before that...

My next targets are my 50th wedding anniversary in March, and my next birthday in April.

Thoughts & Prayers, Ogg

 

[oggbashan]

Thank you, HP.

I had a telephone consultation with the Dermatologist today. My ear from which a cancerous growth was excised had healed well, but I will be monitored for the next two years (if I live that long) to watch for a recurrence.

It is probably because when young I lived in Gibraltar for three years and went swimming almost every afternoon from April to the end of September, and then two years in Australia as an evening and weekend surf lifesaver. It didn't help that I fell asleep on deck travelling through the Rea Sea and got severe sunburn.

Which reminds me - In his seventies, my father was travelling for the Ministry of Defence. He had been in Sydney for a week, working twelve hours a day, then Singapore and Hong Kong before Hawaii. He fell asleep on the beach and got sunburn on the soles of his feet. His first chance to visit a doctor was in snowy Ottawa the next day. The Canadian doctor was surprised to be eating sunburned feet when the snow was three feet deep outside.

 

[Athalia]

And there was doubt about the Christmas before that...

My next targets are my 50th wedding anniversary in March, and my next birthday in April.

Best of luck, my friend. May you continue to confound the medical authorities, as you have done most nobly in the past!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Good luck, Ogg!

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks for the good wishes.

The next scan to see if cancer has returned is set for 31st December, - if it isn't postponed because of Omnicron. If it happens then I should know the results in mid-Jan.

 

[oggbashan]

I have just received an appointment letter for the follow up on the excision of the lump on my ear.

It is for mid-April. I am pleased that they think I will still be alive then...

 

[TxRad]

Hospital policies tend to think that the patient will be alive for any and all future appointments. Anything else screws with the planning.