Author Archive.

Been there, got the tee-shirt

Posted by on April 1st 2019 in Health, or lack thereof
Tags: ,

We've been there before... a few spiked temperatures, raised infection markers, and a CT scan that might indicate that there might be a fungal infection in my lungs.

And here we are again. Despite there being no coughing, no wheezing, no discharge and no audible indication via stethoscope, a couple of days ago they said that they want me to go for another bronchoscopy and they wanted to ply me with IV anti-fungals.

Back in 2016 the fungal infection never revealed itself despite being hunted via x-ray, CT scan and then bronchoscopy biopsies. Maybe we scared it away? Or maybe the anti-fungal pills worked? Or maybe, just maybe, my own body dealt with it as evolution intended. Whatever the reason, the procedure caused irritation of my trachea, larynx and pharynx, and ripped the lining of my nasal cavity. All of that led to increased nosebleeds and at least 2 weeks added to my tariff. Just for good measure, I didn't react particularly well to IV anti-fungals.

I told the weekend docs that I'm not going through all that shit ever again. As a sort of "backstop arrangement" I was put on Voriconazole anti-fungal pills. Another change was how they dealt with the temperature spikes - no more paracetamol, just monitor and let my body try to deal with it.

And now here we are, a couple of days later. Infection markers down, not spiked a temperature for two days.

Go figure.

Gender reassignment

Posted by on March 29th 2019 in Health, or lack thereof, Just for fun
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Ward 41 is a mixed-gender ward with 21 beds - 5 in single rooms, and 4 in each of the 4 bays. Usually the male:female ratio is such that there are 2 male and 2 female bays, but on Saturday the ratio was such that the staff had to do a bed-shuffle. One of the bays usually reserved for females was reassigned to males, and was populated accordingly.

But a few days of being teased for being stuck in such a bay can have strange effects on a man. Much to the amusement of the staff, here's what it had done to us by breakfast-time yesterday:

 

Simone, Andrea and Stephanie. Pink nighties courtesy of Leicester Royal.

 

A bit of slutty lippy, just for good measure.

Sick patient

Posted by on March 22nd 2019 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof

02:20 - I went to the ward desk to ask if there was any sign of one of the meds that I was told would be prescribed on Wednesday night. I wasn't pushy, I could see that the duty doctor was busy so I waited politely, patiently and quietly, standing next to an agency/cover/bank nurse who I've never seen before. I had no idea that they were dealing with a major problem.

From there, the conversation could have gone in many directions, with hindsight the favoured one for the crisis at hand would have been "we're dealing with a critical situation - a patient has gone into cardiac arrest, we can't attend to anything else at the moment".

But no. Instead, it took a different turn.

Without preamble, said nurse piped up with a brusque "Is it a doctor question or a nurse question?"

Unaware of the crisis, I replied with "It's a doctor question, that's why I'm waiting for the doctor. If it was a nurse question then waiting for the doctor while standing next to a nurse would be a really dumb thing to do".

Her simplistic repost of "He's dealing with a sick patient" could draw only one response...

"We're all sick in here, all 21 of us".

Now that morning has broken and the aftermath of the night has been revealed, it's obvious that our conversation could have gone much better. I have made my apology to the duty doctor and have commended him for his actions. The nurse was nowhere to be seen.

Scraping the barrel

Posted by on March 19th 2019 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
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The platelet fiasco continues...

Remember Wednesday, when my platelet count was 14? When I needed an infusion but someone had forgotten to order anything?

Remember Thursday, when they managed to get me a bag from Sheffield, and said that I'd need more within the next day or so?

Well, they didn't give me any on Friday, as Thursday's bag had boosted my count to 32, but they said that I would need some more soon and would order some for Sunday.

On Sunday the count was down to 17 but no platelets were forthcoming.

Monday, and more of the same... count even lower at 13, but still no infusion.

And today, Tuesday, at about 06:30, they took another sample. I wasn't told the results until a full 12 hours later and I think I know why - the platelet count was 6. That was 6 this morning, it could well be down to 3 by now. And again there's no evidence that any timely order was raised. LRI's blood-bank have nothing for me. If we'd had the results by, say, noon, we could have sorted the issue with minimal fuss, if Sheffield had any suitable HLAs then they could have been here and in by now. But no, that would have been too easy.

I fail to see the point of taking samples on a daily basis, testing them on a daily basis, and then ignoring the context of the results on a daily basis. It's a terrible waste of time, effort and funding for everyone involved.

I'm getting testy again. Stern words are being had - I'd bite my lip but that could have disastrous consequences. I'm told that another urgent order has been raised, until then I have to grin and bear it until the blood-biker gets here. They are giving me a dose of TXA to get me through.

Could be an interesting night.

On the move

Posted by on March 19th 2019 in Health, or lack thereof
Tags: , ,

A chair arrived with a porter attached to it. My ride to the heart test. Sadly no ride in the ambulance, they did the test here at LRI.

When I got back my bed, cabinet and belongings had been moved to a different room - they were having a reshuffle. After rearranging everything so that it became possible to run to the ensuite crapper without hitting the pedal-bin and/or the cabinet, I lay back on the bed for a short rest, staring at the ceiling.

Only then did I notice the smoke detector:

 

 

Nobody here knows why it is taped or who did it. They have called the maintenance team.

In the meantime I'm not to start camp-fires, vape, or use the disposable BBQ.

Spoil-sports.

Life moves pretty fast

Posted by on March 18th 2019 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
Tags: , ,

Three associated hospitals sharing the same digital information... I can't believe that "the system" is telling Glenfield Hospital that I'm an outpatient when I'm an inpatient at LRI.

Please stop phoning me, Glenfield. I can't confirm that I will be attending the appointments that you have made for me, and I can't help you to arrange more. LRI took that responsibility from me when they gave me a bed and an ID wrist-band yesterday. It's all "on the system" if you care to look.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
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