Not the best of weekends.

Perhaps the beginning of the 'new you Lizzie' ?

 

Take the meds, keep positive (hard in the early hours of a sleepless night) and soon you will be pouring water out of his little wellies from a too deep puddle and mopping up ice cream from his teeshirt with a doting grandma smile. But don't forget you have an excuse to pass on the bumper bundle nappy change!
Jenny

 

So lovely to waken up and read all your kind messages Thank you everyone.

It's miserable weather here, raining and dark , but your kindness is cheering. .

I'm going out later to meet a friend which is nice .

I'll get my head round this latest news, it's what we do isn't it?

In a couple of days I'll be more relaxed, seeing my GP for a consultation on Tuesday, and I'll have a prescription for stronger tablets, if they do their job all will be well me thinks!

 

Everyone here is thinking of you, Lizzie. Keep on doing nice things with your friends and lovely grandson and let the medicines do their stuff. The sun has just peeped out here and I hope it has with you too.

 

Mealymoo...Just remember you are among friends here and can vent when you need to . We are all pulling for you and wish you good luck with the new meds.

 

Just read your news - very sorry to hear that, and it must have been a shock to you. But at least you now know what's going on, and doctors can do some pretty amazing things these days.

 

Very sorry indeed to hear that piece of news Mealymoo, I do hope the Medicos get you sorted quickly, like Sandiep I know someone with the same problem, 11 years since diagnosed and still going strong. Unlike Sandiep I can't say he's as fit as me though because he has a bit of Arthritis in his foot . So please stay positive, enjoy your grandson, GS, life in general and do what the doctors tell you.

Some good news, I suspect chocolate will still be OK for you.

 

Bit slow on catching up here, Moo. There's a lot to read after several days of TD deprivation!!

Sorry to hear your latest news, but at least there seems to be some positive hidden in there. And if my reading of these posts is any indication, sheer moral support, friendship and goodwill will go a long way to help you to keep going strong.

Can't add any more to what's been said, but lots of loving and encouraging thoughts are heading your way.

Look after yourself, OK?

 

Dear Lizzy,

Take care of yourself! My F-I-L has the same condition and was diagnosed nearly four years ago now and he is doing very well with medication. It did take him a few weeks to get his head around the diagnosis but once he did, he realised that life continues much the same. It hasn't stopped him from doing very much at all. He has a new 'young' cardiac consultant who has said he should have a defibrillator, which is being put in on Tuesday (day surgery). We have been amazed to realise how many people we know of who have them. There is a lot they can do these days!

Our thoughts are with you. Your grandson needs lots of snuggles from Grandma

xx

 

2 years ago a friend was on a 999 call Highest Priority Response list until his heart surgery. Now he can walk his dogs into the ground and still be able to do gardening or whatever else takes his fancy. He's even offered to come and help me out with any DIY projects should I feel the need.

 

Thanks Mogsy .

I'm no further forward as my GP appointment on Tuesday was a waste of time. Unfortunately my GP hadn't received my scan from the Hospital so he was unable to change the dosage of my tablets (he couldn't just take my word for it that the Dr who did the scan said I needed a higher dosage). He suspected my scan had been sent to the Hospital consultant who referred me, this was a different Hospital to the one where I had the scan but in the same city. My GP said he would fax a letter to the consultant to ask him to contact me and arrange a Cardio appointment, I'm still waiting!

 

I had a Drs visit a few months back & cleverly left the images& notes at home. A phone call by receptionist had them faxed to the Dr. with-in minutes!

 

Oh Moo - that's not good, is it?

It's OK to be patient and wait for what should have happened already to actually happen, but sometimes a controlled tantrum works wonders. 12 years ago when Bill was first hit with his "ailment" he was losing weight at a ridiculously alarming rate, nobody knew why and fear and frustration were making me really angry. One day I went into the doc's surgery and said (loudly) "Bill has already lost 20kg and his weight is still dropping. How long will it be before the medical profession becomes as concerned about this as I am. If something is not done NOW he is going to die!"

Within a very short time we had an appointment with another specialist who diagnosed the problem, put my man on a couple of pills which over a few months halted the weight loss and pretty well changed what was quickly becoming the natural course of history.

It probably helped that I wasn't in the habit of throwing tantrums too, so Moo if things aren't moving quickly enough - give it a go.

Sometimes doctors need to be reminded that part and parcel of that medical problem is a real human being with feelings and emotions which are being affected by their condition. Our doctor certainly wasn't being negligent, he'd referred us to a number of specialists (with no positive outcome) and really was trying to work things out. I think he'd just momentarily stepped back from the people picture and was working on the puzzle picture.

Good luck, my friend. I hope it all comes together soon.

 

Philippa,

Thank you so much for your lovely kind words. I shall heed them and if I don't receive an appointment within the next few days I'll assert myself. My husband is becoming decidedly frustrated by the waiting for action and I am the one saying 'leave it a while longer and we'll see if an appointment is arranged'. The confusion here is my GP is completely in the dark as it wasn't either he or she (we have two favoured GP's) who referred me; I was taken to A&E by paramedics and kept in Hospital for observation and tests, an ecg and chest Xray showed there was fluid on the lungs and heart failure, it was the Hospital consultant who referred me for a heart scan. Apparently the scan is only sent to the referring Dr and not to my GP, my GP's hands are tied as they are out of the loop for now. I will ring the Hospital Department's secretary and if she is dismissive then I'll go to A&E as the consultant there advised me not to hesitate in going there if I had concerns.

I do need a kick up the butt now and again as I am known to be complacent where my health is concerned and don't like to be a nuisance.

We've had a few things going on recently and I've put my health issues on the back burner. We have our beautiful new grandson who is adorable, but there's also unpleasant stuff to deal with - my husband's mother in Italy age 93 has had 24hr live in care for a few years but now needs to be in a Nursing Home and is strongly objecting as doesn't want to leave her home, but it is necessary. This involves my husband having to make a trip to Italy to make arrangements along with his siblings there. They will also have to arrange to sell her home. All very distressing for the family. M-i-L will put up a fight, we know that, but the Nursing Home is in a beautiful location and well run.

Well done you Philippa on being proactive and getting the help Bill needed, you are a strong lady.

Thank you, again.

Lizzy

 

Hang on there Lizzie

 

Understandable to a point, Lizzy, but only to a point. You HAVE to look after you (says she who often has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the doctor's surgery and was known in the past for downplaying symptoms) particularly with those things going on. Go into A&E and see the consultant and tell him/her your GP can't abide by their advice if he hasn't the evidence to go on, ask why a consultant you have yet to see would be given the information when he can't prescribe retroactively, and point out to them the error of their (or their system's) ways. Avoid the Hospital Department's secretary, go straight to the source - this is not a splinter in your big toe, the ramifications are much more serious than that and you have a right ..................

Damn, I think my soapbox just collapsed. No it didn't, my glass is empty so I need to go refill.

Seriously though, don't leave it to them, they had their chance and from what I can see they blew it monumentally albeit unintentionally. Take the plunge and do it yourself, OK?



Best wishes from the world's best user of the degree in medicine found on the back of the Cornflakes packet!!

 

Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, Lizzy. It's not an easy thing to have to deal with, and I hope all goes smoothly over there.

What Philippa says.

Our NHS is pretty wonderful, but the administration is terrible. I was left waiting months for appointments that were never going to happen, because I'd disappeared off the list. Right at the very end, my op was nearly postponed on the day because of poor admin - if I hadn't been on the phone fighting my corner in the days beforehand, the op wouldn't have gone ahead and goodness knows what might've happened. The surgeon's secretary had gone on holiday, they said.

Fight your corner, Elizabeth! I know you're like me... you don't like to make a fuss, but there are times when you need to make your voice heard.

 

Sounds almost like me talking. I like to wait until something burst - or near to - before giving in.
Surgeons here asked who was my local GP & details of my emergency admit & surgery were mailed on to her. Fortunately, because I was on cloud cuckoo land for a week after & not much use to her in passing on details, hey I felt wonderful if 'thick'.

 

Who was it, by the way, who said, "Only a squeaky hinge gets oiled?"