Building My Life Around Hospital Appointments

[davidgillon]

I've just been looking at the mail that piled up while I was away. If you exclude magazines, about 30% of it is for hospital appointments.

Admittedly two of the three are for the same appointment, just one of those was for the date I had to reschedule through not being at the same end of the country. And the final version of that one, tomorrow's appointment to look at my infected toe, is quite likely to lead to further appointments if they don't sort it out on the spot, which I suspect they won't when I point out I had problems with wounds reopening after last year's gall bladder surgery and that hypermobility complicates local anaesthetics. If they do it on the spot, great, but I suspect they won't, and then there's potential follow-ups.

The other is the second wheelchair assessment appointment, and I know that I'm due at least one more after that. The good news is I didn't expect it so quickly, it's for the 26th, and they knew I was unavailable until the 14th, so given I was warned it wouldn't be fast, but it was then upgraded to 'high priority', that suggests that their high priority actually is pretty fast. Of course then they have to build the thing....

It's good these things are getting done, but they are complicating life. I had to shift my fortnight in Durham because of the first wheelchair appointment, which combined with my sister's already booked holiday meant she and I couldn't see a solicitor together while I was there to start the power of attorney process for Dad (which is likely to turn into the Court of Protection process, hence solicitor from the outset rather than doing it ourselves) before the school holidays ended and she's back to being unavailable during the business week. That's the second time it's happened, and I've had to tell her to do it herself when she next has an opportunity, because I just can't guarantee to be available.

Fingers crossed for no more unexpected ones, but my neck and shoulder do show potential signs of being a problem again - the orthopod I'm seeing tomorrow may well be the one I saw about last year's shoulder issue, and he did say it was only a matter of time until I'd be back....

Comments

[lilysea]

It's like having a full time job, isn't it?

and noisy waiting rooms are so exhausting.

and advocating for one's health with condescending doctors is so exhausting.

[maramcreates]

And that's just the being at the appointments bit...don't even get me started on the logistics of getting to and from, follow ups, lab crap, rx pick ups and wrangling, making the appointments, rescheduling the appointments, filling out forms, filling out forms again, and again, and on and on.

blah is right.

[davidgillon]

and noisy waiting rooms are so exhausting.

This, 3 hours waiting in A&E when I had them look at the toe back on the 30th, and by the end of it I was sitting hunched over in the chair with my arms wrapped around my head - sort of a classic neurodiverse and really not enjoying being here posture.

Hopefully today should be significantly less.

[lilysea]

Yeah, I have to wear dark sunglasses, foam ear plugs AND noise-blocking headphones, and even then I can only just cope with hospital waiting rooms...

[jesse_the_k]

I share those hopes.

I look for the very best audio book versions of engrossing sf or fanfic, then plug myself into that in waiting rooms. It's still horrible. My sincerest sympathies, and also wishes that the father-management goes smoothly and without ranco(u)r.

[davidgillon]

The stuff with Dad isn't urgent fortunately, largely because all his care is paid for by the local council. There's more than enough money coming into my mother's accounts for her to live comfortably. But we do need to get it sorted out at some point. I'm perfectly happy to let my sister take the lead, but it adds redundancy if I'm also listed. But because it isn't clear he's able to give informed consent - there are days he probably can, but days he definitely can't, we're likely to end up with us acting as agents for the Court of Protection, rather than having independent power of attorney, which has the same result, but complicates the admin.