MEDICAL MATTERS

[Cathy]

Cath, Nolic and family, my thoughts are with you.

Does anyone know how Moh is doing??

[Stanley]

Perhaps recovering from the operation Cath?

[Nolic]

Bit of a scare yesterday when Caths wound started leaking just before district nurse arrived and hospital was mentioned......I think as a bit of a threat because the nurse saw the pile of tidy ironing as opposed to my untidy ironing. Anyhow later we had some visitors who said how much better Cath is looking than she was. I moved her dad to his new nursing home yesterday and mother in law seems settled in her so fingers crossed for a relatively calm few weeks. Nolic

[Stanley]

Chain her to the bed! Ironing is exactly the wrong thing as it puts strain on the stomach muscles! You must give her the hard word......

[Marilyn]

She must be feeling better if she can manage ironing...

[Stanley]

She may feel she can but her lesions think differently!
Comrade, Mick was enquiring about you. Gave him a sitrep.... He says they are interviewing for 12 new staff and he's off for ten days holiday.....

[Nolic]

Thanks Comrade. Dealing with Cath when she's in that mood is like trying to handle a mini Rottweiler. I'm taking her to see her dad this afternoon as she continues to get better every day.
I'll be over at Mick's place sometime this month. I'll make it after his hols. Nolic

[Stanley]

Comrade, I can just imagine your problem with Cath. Course of obedience training?

[Tardis]

Here is a short presentation about Healthcare : Viva la evidence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUW0Q8tX ... e=youtu.be

and here is possibly one of the best blog pieces I've seen about the issues within the NHS currently

http://www.marknewbold.com/index.php/20 ... mment-4308

[Tardis]

I got sent this too. Lancashire Healthwatch are looking for experiences of visiting Airedale:

[Nolic]

Just when we thought things were on an even keel - Cath's dad is on his way to hospital after a fall - he appears to have hurt his neck and his leg. Great that nurse in the home did not hesitate and had him on his way immediately. Cath's mum appears settled though deteriorating - did not know Cath or Charlotte when they visited yesterday. Nolic

[Tardis]

Free Prescriptions for Organ Transplant Recipients -

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/54439

please sign

[PanBiker]

Signed

[Nolic]

Signed. Nolic

[Tizer]

It's interesting that the National Kidney Federation seems to be sitting on the fence: it's web page has these two sentences:
"It is the view of the National Kidney Federation that prescriptions without charge should be available to both dialysis and transplant patients."
"The Federation’s current position is not to press for exemption to be extended to transplant patients as this may jeopardise the exemption granted to dialysis patients."
So it's view is for and its position is against.
http://www.kidney.org.uk/about-us/polic ... criptions/

[Bruff]

I realise this will be contentious, so I'll note that at the start. Transplant patients do not get free prescriptions. But then neither do cystic fibrosis sufferers, those with lupus, and a whole host of other chronic conditions that require constant medication. There are some with eczema who require cream after cream. Should prescriptions be free here too? If so, where do we stop? And all transplant patients - even those who had a liver transplant due to alcohol abuse (personally, I do not make lifestyle judgments, but I know some do)? What would the cost be? How would it be funded? Within a finite pot, is it better spent on this, or elsewhere?

For what it's worth I would quite happily look to extend free prescriptions to the maximum number possible, but there will have to be choices made as I doubt, sadly, there's appetite for us all chipping in societally so to speak. As there is across all of the public sphere.

Richard Broughton

[Tardis]

I realise this will be contentious, so I'll note that at the start. Transplant patients do not get free prescriptions. But then neither do cystic fibrosis sufferers, those with lupus, and a whole host of other chronic conditions that require constant medication. There are some with eczema who require cream after cream. Should prescriptions be free here too? If so, where do we stop? And all transplant patients - even those who had a liver transplant due to alcohol abuse (personally, I do not make lifestyle judgments, but I know some do)? What would the cost be? How would it be funded? Within a finite pot, is it better spent on this, or elsewhere?

For what it's worth I would quite happily look to extend free prescriptions to the maximum number possible, but there will have to be choices made as I doubt, sadly, there's appetite for us all chipping in societally so to speak. As there is across all of the public sphere.

Richard Broughton

To be fair, I would agree with the sentiments, but even the DWP agree that people on dialysis and transplant should be on ESA permanently, so not even eligible to look for work, though I know of many who do.

The issue is one where things like diabetes is singled out for 'free' even though it is now accepted that type II can be self inflicted. In a system where you favour some, but descriminate against others there will always be tension

[Nolic]

Cath's dad has had another stroke which caused the fall on Thursday morning. He is currently in Blackburn hospital and seems to have lost more of his mental function. Dammed hard for Cath and it seems so unfair for her. Nolic

[Stanley]

It never rains but what it pours Comrade....

[Tizer]

It never rains but what it pours Comrade....

Very true Stanley...and now it's the turn of Mrs Tiz's parents again. She did a day return trip to them yesterday and arrived shortly after her dad had fallen; while on her way home I received a call from the carers to say that her mum had fallen and was being taken to hospital. As I write, Mrs Tiz is on the phone to hospitals trying to find out where her mum is - the carers said a particular hospital but she's not there and dad can't retain such information and is confused. The carers are not allowed to pick up mum or dad if they fall, so they have to call out paramedics at each incident to do it for them. Mum fell from her wheelchair when dad tried to move her from one room to another and the chair caught on a threshold. They should have waited for the carer to arrive and move mum but they've changed the carer's visiting times and got confused, thinking no-one was coming. Dad's already fallen three times again this morning; he's a loose cannon and won't remain sitting down but keeps getting up and trying to do things then falls down. His mental state swings from lucid to very murky in minutes and he said wierd things when he's confused. Mum has mental ability but she's very weak and immobile and sleeps most of the time; she says she wants to end it all. Mrs Tiz and sister are trying to arrange a nursing home but it's extra difficult due to the different locations; sister wants it to be near her in the High Wycombe area and we naturally would prefer them to be in Somerset near us!

Edit...3 hours later and we still don't know where mum has been taken. They live in West London and the carer was told by the paramedics which hospital they were taking her to. But when phoned this morning this hospital says she isn't there and they know nothing about her. Tried other possible hospitals with no luck - very hard getting through to some. The ambulance service won't help. Phoned her GP to ask them to intervene but the person was very unhelpful, said she was busy, perhaps someone might call us back. This doesn't surprise me, mum & dad's surgery has been hopeless, they've never been willing to take any interest in the troubles they've endured and left everything to the hospitals and specialists. Lost, one mother. We don't know where she is or what state she's in and dad's panicking at home.

[Tardis]

Flu jab booked

[Tizer]

Have now found mum...she's in a hospital that she hasn't been to before (there are so many in London and the ambulances take emergency patients to whichever one they are told is next in the list). Unfortunately it means the hospital doesn't have any record of her other emergency hospital visits and that they want to keep her in to do their usual tranche of tests, which she hates as they never find anything and it stops her going back home. We're going to town to see my dad first thing tomorrow morning (he phoned today and says he needs more money!) and then on to a nursing home in another town where they say there is a double room available that might be a possible place for Mrs Tiz's parents. Her sister is visiting four homes in her area on Saturday but they might have long waiting lists. All systems go!

[Stanley]

Tiz, "she says she wants to end it all". That must be the killer for you both. A nightmare. Your story highlights for me the disconnect between official statements about care in the community and the reality on the ground. Is our world really too complicated to manage? Or are the priorities of our masters at the root of this. Meanwhile, the trauma and suffering goes on, unfelt in the centres of power. Am I completely off track here or just old enough to recognise what the really important things in life are.....

[Moh]

Well I am finally home after 5 weeks 5 days in hospital. I have come home with crutches and vac theraphy, which entails a small vacuum cleaner drawing out any impurities from the wound and encouraging it to heal.
I was hanging out the washing in the back garden when Itripped and fell on the patio - I have never known pain like it! I was laid there almost an hour waiting for the ambulance. I had broken the neck of my femure so they decided to do a full hip replacement. After 5 days in Blackburn I was moved to Burnley with a view to home later in the week. The then decided my hg was low so I had to have 2 pints of blood. They also found the wound was infected so they took me back to Blackburn to wash it out. They then decided the anitbiotics were working so they would wait and see what happened. During this time they found I was allergic to Mefix dressing which resulted in the feeling boiling water was being poured over by bottom which then blistered. The wound then felt like it was on fire and and blood poured out apparently from a blood clot - this resulted in 2 more pints of blood. The finally washed it out 2 weeks ago and 2 days later did it again and fit the vac. In all it is an experience I do not want to go through again.
Nolic sorry to hear about your problems - they say ut never rains!!

[Wendyf]

Pleased to hear that you are home at last Moh, we have been concerned about you! What a horrid experience, hope you are on the road to recovery now...take care.