I took my stepfather to an appointment with an ENT specialist yesterday. He had a ruptured ear drum from a vicious ear infection. The resulting vertigo was such that he was hardly able to walk, much less drive. Bless him. I was allowed to go into the waiting area with him after a temp check. It was odd seeing an empty waiting room. Scheduling has become much more precise so as to keep distancing space. It would be nice if realistic scheduling is kept up post pandemic. We were in and out in less than 40 minutes.
Three Good Things:
1. Proper scheduling
2. Living close enough to aging parents to be 'on call'
3. The local NBC TV station is sending a crew to do a story on our soup kitchen tomorrow
Ah good work. I’m feeling the distance at the moment- luckily Nigel is off work this week- I’m not sure I can sustain 5 hour round trips on my own (assuming good traffic).
@peggysirk I think he is - certainly sounding a bit more positive (though my sister says a bit high on painkillers!) though I’m not sure how close he is to being able to walk. It’s quite a small local hospital so a bit frustrating as I’m used to our amazing local university hospital. Dr: ‘He could do to see a neurologist.’ Me: ‘So...?’ ‘But we’ve only got one.’ Dr: ‘He could do with an MRI’ Me: ‘So....?’ ‘But the neurosurgeon has suggested a standing x-ray....though he can’t actually stand.’
They are very busy and clearly don’t have all the services we have here - my next door but one neighbour is the top Parkinson’s specialist in the country and we have great facilities so I can’t help but think he’d be better off here - but no chance of being moved!
@judithg We have the same inequities with health care in small towns/large cities. Maybe after a certain point in recovery you can convince your dad to be evaluated in Cambridge. ?
Oh dear it’s hard if you need any medical care just now. Hope both @judithg dads get the care they need & start to improve.
Harry has been waiting for an X-ray for two weeks now....we’ll four weeks really as he had a letter from the chiropractor to the surgery which they just ignored. Our nurse DIL in NZ says they would just throw it in the bin....health care has to be patient motivated so you have to monitor your own health these days.
I shall have to go in all guns blazing next week as he’s in real pain all the time. We did offer to have a private X-ray & the doctor said...’oh no need for that’ but there is obviously a great need!
@peggysirk@happypat thank you- he’s been moved off the emergency ward now and it’s much nicer and they have the full team of occupational health etc. I’m not sure quite what’s happening because the pain relief has him a bit vague (I suspect the medical staff think he’s fine especially compared to most but I told them he’s definitely not 100%). Anyway-an improvement at least- it was the Covid ward (a shadow crossed the nurse’s face when she talked about it - got to pray it’s over) and they have proper restrictions in place so it’ll be my sister only now bless her. I think private will be quicker Pat! BUT took ages for an x-ray for Nigel’s knee then super fast for an MRI (nhs).
So difficult for us, but even more so for the seniors. We took my 98 year old father in law to the dermatologist this week. He had not been off his floor for a year due to COVID and not out of the residence for more than a year and a half. Thought it was going to be a real ordeal to bring him out. My goodness he came out of the residence with his walker, nearly running, jumped in the car, had skin cancer liasions removed and back into the residence in time for lunch. Didn't miss a beat. I agree with you Peggy, if we could only keep scheduling this way,
May 1st, 2021
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I hope your dad is showing some improvement, Judith. Sending good thoughts to all.
They are very busy and clearly don’t have all the services we have here - my next door but one neighbour is the top Parkinson’s specialist in the country and we have great facilities so I can’t help but think he’d be better off here - but no chance of being moved!
Harry has been waiting for an X-ray for two weeks now....we’ll four weeks really as he had a letter from the chiropractor to the surgery which they just ignored. Our nurse DIL in NZ says they would just throw it in the bin....health care has to be patient motivated so you have to monitor your own health these days.
I shall have to go in all guns blazing next week as he’s in real pain all the time. We did offer to have a private X-ray & the doctor said...’oh no need for that’ but there is obviously a great need!