Archive for the 'A bit of a rant' Category

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.

Life moves pretty fast

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

As predicted

Posted by on March 17th 2019 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
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Two days ago: "... I suspect that they will find a reason to admit me on Sunday after the check-up results are in."

Sunday: admitted to Ward 41 after a seven-hour wait in the Osborne Assessment Unit, platelet count way down at 17 × 109 cells/L (Normal: 140–400 × 109 cells/L), neither sign nor hint that there are any matched platelets on-site for me.

And now I'm told that I need an MRI scan in addition to the heart test/scan and the breathing test.

Add to that the fact that the Ward Sister can't figure out why I was prescribed Ranitidine pills... as far as we can determine, it was to protect my digestive system from the effects of the steroid treatment that I was having for inflamed heels... but that treatment was Hydrocortisone cream... topical, not oral!!!

This could be a busy week. Plenty of nonsense to get sorted out, plenty of faith in need of restoration, and plenty of rides out in the ambulance. Probably no "blues and twos" though.

Image supplied by CJR.

A tad testy

Posted by on March 15th 2019 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
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Back at Day Ward today, platelet count 32 × 109 cells/L (Normal: 140–400 × 109 cells/L), hopefully they will be enough to see me through to Sunday (yes, Sunday) as they didn't give me any today. I have no idea if they've ordered any platelets in advance, but I'm going to need them.

Throughout the day I've been fielding calls from Glenfield Hospital telling me that I have appointments for tests next week... the first call was for a heart test/scan. It took me a while to realise that this wasn't another periodic follow-up check related to the angioplasty/stent operation that I had a few years back. They wanted me in next Monday for that, but at the time of the call I was still scheduled to be in Day Ward at LRI on Monday, so I asked them to work it out with the LRI Haematology Red Team.

Then another call... a breathing test. They wanted me in next Tuesday for that, but at the time of the call I was still scheduled to be in Hambleton clinic at LRI on Tuesday for "The Big Pre-SCT Chat", so they said that next Thursday would be OK.

Somebody in the Red Team had pressed the Big Red Button to start the ball rolling for SCT, but nobody in the Red Team had bothered to tell me beforehand.

No surprises there, then. Thanks a bunch.

To be fair, one of the Red Team consultants did take me aside a few hours later to explain the situation, but it would have been far better to have been told before the calls started coming in. Forewarned is forearmed. At the moment life is complicated enough without all of these calls out of the blue.

And I still don't know if I have to be back at Day Ward on Monday. I'm only guessing here, but I suspect that they will find a reason to admit me on Sunday after the check-up results are in. If they do, they can have the pleasure of sorting out all of the surprise appointments and arrange transport etc..

Dumpsterkopf

Posted by on March 8th 2019 in A bit of a rant, Name and Shame

Sorry we missed you. Your item is...

in the garden waste bin.

Why?

Because we can't be arsed to visit any of your neighbours to leave it with them, we can't be arsed to find your "Safeplace" (the greenhouse) to leave it there, and we can't be arsed to put it back in the van to take to the collection office... all options as per proper procedure and as detailed on the card.

We also can't be arsed to fill in the "Something for you" card correctly.

What we can do, on your behalf, is break the rules regarding what HBBC say can and can't go in the garden (green waste) bin.

So how does this work when the intended recipients are away from home for a few days and someone else puts their bins out for collection? That someone else won't check what's in the bin, and won't have been "carded". The item wasn't bar-coded and so wasn't scanned before being "dumped", so its delivery wasn't recorded and there is no traceability.

This isn't the service that the customer has paid for.

Royal Mail, you need to step up to the plate rather than wander over to the bin.

And the best bit? I've been in and awake all morning, confined to barracks. I'd have heard if you'd been arsed to knock on the door.

 

 

 

Sloppy work

Posted by on September 17th 2018 in A bit of a rant, In the News, Name and Shame

Since when did a WWII Luftwaffe Ju88 look like this?

Surely the proof-reader or the copy writer at the MailOnline actually looked at the pic and noticed the insignia before approving the web-story for publication?

 

 

 

Hat-tip to CJR for sending me the link. He reads this drivel, and the fact that it IS drivel is why I don't read newspapers.
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