MEDICAL MATTERS

[Tizer]

You've both been badly ill Maz and it's probably just taking more time than usual for recovery. Also it's often the most active and healthy people who feel most affected because they are so used to being full of energy. Be patient, give it time.

Panbiker, the medics must regard you as the ideal patient with all your recording of symptoms, incidents etc. With my science background I tend to record anything medical in detail and objectively and I've been thanked more than once by doctors.

[PanBiker]

Yes Maz good to hear you are over the worst whatever you have had, you cant rush recovery after a proper whacking. Three months to get right after we had proper flu. Sleep is probably the best thing for you, but you probably already know that, your seasons are going the right way to help you along, it will come.

Tiz, I find it therapeutic to write things down, good or bad.

I'm still trying to determine my boundaries, the trip out on town has had no detrimental effect and it was good to get out. I long to be able to tackle a walk round Weets Hill with impunity but that is going to be my recovery gym for a later phase of this journey. One good thing, I know my heart is up to the job when I eventually get back there.

[Big Kev]

I'm still trying to determine my boundaries, the trip out on town has had no detrimental effect and it was good to get out. I long to be able to tackle a walk round Weets Hill with impunity but that is going to be my recovery gym for a later phase of this journey. One good thing, I know my heart is up to the job when I eventually get back there.

The advances in treatments will have you, gazelle like, up and over Weets in no time Ian.

[PanBiker]

Here's hoping, it can be my Winter project.

[Stanley]

Maz, Tiz and Ian are right, you can't imagine how hard your body has been working and still is even though you are recovering, that's where your energy is going. My friend Hargreaves Haworth in Blackburn was an expert in getting milk cows on the road after they had been seriously ill. He said the secret was to work on getting them eating again and he tempted them with all sorts of strange things. You could do worse than do likewise. It may be treat time! My version with Jack is sausages!

[Marilyn]

I can't think of a single thing I fancy!
I did think I might pick up some multi-vitamins next time I go shopping. I don't normally give them much credence, but they certainly can't hurt. Perhaps we have run low on a few trace elements.

[PanBiker]

Game on.

I received a call on my mobile around tea time last night from a private number. Turned out to be our local surgery asking for BP readings. Twice daily for the rest of the week and handed in at the surgery. Not sure if this has been triggered by AAU or Leeds as a precursor for my treatment plan. Reception staff didn't know. Done the first one this morning and I'm relatively chilled.

Another call this morning first on the land line which I just missed picking up and then more or less straight after on my mobile. This was from Tracy on the main desk in the Neurosurgery department at Leeds. Ringing to inform me that I have been booked for an appointment to see a Neurosurgery consultant on 3rd September, the appointment is at Wharfedale Hospital which is at Otley and part of the Leeds Teaching Hospital's Group. It's a relatively new hospital and easy enough to get to just on the outskirts of town. Appointment paperwork to follow.

[Stanley]

Reassuring progress Ian. Best of luck with it......
I'm booked in for bloods and the diabetic nurse on 5th and 10th of September. No complaints about the service!

[PanBiker]

Thanks Stanley.

I have had three transient events since the last one when I was last at the AAU. Latest one this morning after my morning shower, luckily it was after I had got out and got dried, just started to feel the onset coming out of the bathroom. Started at the top in my arm this time and spread downwards but overall no different to any of the others. Previous one was at 7.00am the other morning laid in bed, they seem to be to be totally random and not necessarily linked directly to exertion although I can often feel slight altered sensation on my right side if I push the envelope a bit too much, cant stand for long, noticed it when having half an hour in the kitchen cooking, that seems to be one trigger I have identified.

As long as they don't get worse, I will have to put up with these until I have treatment plan sorted out. Good news, the events don't seem to have any knock on effect on my BP. I took it this morning half an hour after the "event" and it was well within my normal range.

[Marilyn]

Must be quite distressing though...hang in there...try not to panic.
Don't be climbing any ladders !

[PanBiker]

Not panicking Maz, no point.

I am a peeved with temporarily losing function and performance but regard it as part of the journey I am on at the moment. I have been passed to a Neurology team who are widely regarded as the best in their field, Leeds have a worldwide reputation for excellence, can't really ask for anything more. As a family we have had our fare share of trauma and trials and ultimately emerged stronger, this will be no different.

[plaques]

PanBiker, it may be well to pass your latest events down the line and see if they can bring your appointment forward. Does no harm to ask.

[PanBiker]

Already in hand Plaques, that was the deal when discharged for Sally to keep them updated.

[Marilyn]

We have the first of three unavoidable "big energy" events coming up tomorrow. It involves a lot of lifting and carrying upstairs, and as everything had to be organised with military timing and precision, we can't escape it. Just have to dig deep and find the energy! This first event last 2 full days...then we can relax a bit for a fortnight. I say that tongue in cheek, because son's dog is having a second knee op tomorrow and depending how she manages, I may have to dash off to the city to sit with the poor love while my son works. It all depends how she copes with her doggy door and if she is a little too interested in worrying her stitches. Then there is Father's Day looming here, and I am praying I don't end up with house guests (!) but if we do, we just have to cope. After that, we made a promise to fly to Perth to meet up with friends who are caravanning their way around Australia. A few days after that, our English visitors arrive. At the end of September, I shall pull in the welcome mat and lock the front door for a bit!

[Stanley]

Ian, I'd be in full worry mode! It's a lottery isn't it, best of luck for a quick resolution.
Maz, take it easy!

[PanBiker]

Received my paperwork for my consultant referral at Wharfedale, pleased to note that the letter is addressed to Barnoldswick, Yorkshire.

My appointment is at 15.30 but it says to be prepared to allow 5 hours if it is deemed that you need surgery. They role surgical pre-assessment into the same visit, a nice bit of joined up thinking there. Wharfedale have all the scanners which I think may well be a given for me from what I picked up from the AAU medics, they may well need their own data set to work from. I am now officially under the care of the Neurosurgery team.

[Stanley]

Sounds good Ian! Keep us abreast as they say.....
Only a small matter in comparison but the saga of me pills continued this morning. I went to Whitworth's, the system had worked, the prescription filled and it was there on the shelf. Hurrah!! But hold on, their pharmacist hadn't bothered to come in this morning and without a pharmacist I couldn't have the pills. They had no idea when the competent person would arrive. I told them this was unbelievable but they tell me it's the law. To cut a long story short, I told them that none of the alternatives they were suggesting were acceptable as they all meaNT EVEN MO0RE TROUBLE FOR ME AND IN THE END THEY GAVE ME THE PRESCRIPTION AND TOLD ME TO GO ACROSS THE ROAD. i DID SO, EXPLAINED THE POSITION AND THEY (bugger caps lock!) filled the prescription straight away. So, I have my pills at last! I know I'm an irascible old bugger but within reason. All I ask is a reasonable level of competence.

[PanBiker]

Your pharmacist sign off requirement is a bit like King Arthur's claim to Kingship via supreme executive power in the Constitutional Peasants sketch. You can be Dennis in this version.

[Stanley]

I have been dissatisfied with Whitworth's for a while. They treat customers like dirt, I'm not the only one to note this. I shall find out what I have to do to convert to the Well Pharmacy (successors to the Co-op).
On a historical note, for many years pharmacists (previously chemists of course) have been working quietly for years to improve their status as a profession much the same as dentists did. During this progression they have gained more power and even minor consultancy rights. This has led to stupid questions like asking an eighty year old what they want proprietary cough medicines for and warnings about overdosing. Accompanying this has been a rise in the price of common remedies. I for one object to being taken to task by a young girl over being two hours early for a prescription. Bad man management!

[PanBiker]

My current medication was dispensed by the hospital pharmacy but there is a note on my discharge papers for my GP to continue. I will have to organise that. When I have ever had a prescription before I have always taken it to my pharmacist of choice(Coop/Well), is that not still the case? Or do you have to designate the dispenser if on repeat? relatively new to this game but will probably have to learn so a genuine question.

[Tripps]

I get my repeat meds by sending a monthly email request to the surgery's dispensary. They send the prescription to Tesco pharmacy, and I collect it from there. Both the surgery and Tesco have offered to deliver them to me, via a newish scheme, but I said 'why involve a third party in the process' ? Let's keep it simple.

[PanBiker]

I could always get the low down by asking my wife, Sally is on repeat this and that. My doctor has been on holiday and I don't know if he is back yet. Could probably do with a 10 minute slot to discuss my present position. He will have all the notes no doubt but I have to take my BP readings in next week so I will see if I can get a few minutes with him.

[Big Kev]

You can specify your chemist of choice on the Patient Access app, there's an option when ordering repeat meds.

[PanBiker]

Just checked and my current medication is not shown on patient access. The ones that I got from the stroke clinic are but they were knocked on the head by the AAU as I no longer need them. Will have to see some doc even If I cant get access to my own, my meds run out next Thursday.

[Big Kev]

Just checked and my current medication is not shown on patient access. The ones that I got from the stroke clinic are but they were knocked on the head by the AAU as I no longer need them. Will have to see some doc even If I cant get access to my own, my meds run out next Thursday.

It won't show up until it's been registered on the system as a 'repeat'.