I'm learning a lot about style and formatting from other bloggers.
I'm much more used to writing academic style documents that have to be spoken with rhythm and pace in a time slot. If that sounds an odd combination, then go listen to a High Anglican service that has been translated to English from the original Latin.
Done correctly and with insight and imagination, it's quite beautiful. In fact, I'd recommend just going, closing your eyes and whatever their saying, listening to the lilt, ebb and flow. The subject doesn't matter.
Then go and play with what you've learned. Listening to other people isn't for every writer because they either cannot, or worry, about external influences. Personally, I can compartmentalize influence.
Apparently, I'm quite ill. I'm told I'm dropping off unexpectedly and I'm a 'funny colour' Nah, tired.
I slept 8 hours, followed by a stint of 16 hours. I've been a 4-6 man all my life. Not uninterrupted - over the last three weekends the next door neighbors have been out of their heads on something(s) doing Karaoke 80's hits until 3 am with a lot of 14-17 year old's, which is bearable now and again.
But this weekend another neighbour called the police because his van windscreen was smashed, his bathroom window broken, and as I discovered the next morning, my little wireless weather station has been broken, for the second time. I don't think I can repair it this time. I have to find at least £80 to replace it.
Police can't do anything. I have to prove a link, apparently. I Have To Prove? Crikey. Hasn't the police force changed?
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Oh Goodness
I've been gifted another 12 lb of Cooking apples, so it looks like Chutney all round this Christmas.
A neighbour is landscaping their garden, and decided to strip their tree and prune it. Luckily, they waited to towards the end of September - I was given 8 lb in July last year, which is way too early, it really should be October.
However, September is about right for me, because they're just immature enough for me to store them the old fashioned way. I'll beg, borrow, barter or make some wooden boxes, as the total apple count has reached at least 17 lb. In the bottom of each box will go sharp sand, followed by cleaned apples, covered with dry sharp sand, more apples and so on until a final layer of sand.
They'll be stored in Jabba, one of my huts which is cool and dark. Jabba, constructed of floorboards and bitumen served for best part of a hundred years as a farm laborers tea hut in a windswept field at Bolsover.
No way were we going to see that on a bonfire. Grumpy aged father in law replaced the rotten roof with corrugated steel and bitumen, melting his boots in the process. Now it just needs a yearly coat of Ronseal.
The same technique works well with hard fruits and root veg too. Pears, Potatoes, Carrots, Swedes, beets and turnips, and in little pots of sand, seeds.
The fruit and veg I have left will store to at least March. The downside, if you see it like that, is that throughout the winter you won't dig out shiny, firm, waxy looking things. They soften, wrinkle and sweeten, and occasionally ferment a little. Which makes for an interesting chutney.
Catchya x
A neighbour is landscaping their garden, and decided to strip their tree and prune it. Luckily, they waited to towards the end of September - I was given 8 lb in July last year, which is way too early, it really should be October.
However, September is about right for me, because they're just immature enough for me to store them the old fashioned way. I'll beg, borrow, barter or make some wooden boxes, as the total apple count has reached at least 17 lb. In the bottom of each box will go sharp sand, followed by cleaned apples, covered with dry sharp sand, more apples and so on until a final layer of sand.
They'll be stored in Jabba, one of my huts which is cool and dark. Jabba, constructed of floorboards and bitumen served for best part of a hundred years as a farm laborers tea hut in a windswept field at Bolsover.
No way were we going to see that on a bonfire. Grumpy aged father in law replaced the rotten roof with corrugated steel and bitumen, melting his boots in the process. Now it just needs a yearly coat of Ronseal.
The same technique works well with hard fruits and root veg too. Pears, Potatoes, Carrots, Swedes, beets and turnips, and in little pots of sand, seeds.
The fruit and veg I have left will store to at least March. The downside, if you see it like that, is that throughout the winter you won't dig out shiny, firm, waxy looking things. They soften, wrinkle and sweeten, and occasionally ferment a little. Which makes for an interesting chutney.
Catchya x
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Plums, missus?
After most of my little veg crop failed last year because it was so wet, I didn't bother this year.
Instead I concentrated on growing my indoor chilies and capsicums and my fruit trees. All two of them, an apple and a plum.
The chilies and capsicums (peppers) I grow the really, really lazy way. I know I could get someone to fetch me seeds from a garden center. I won't buy seedlings anyway, because they tend to be sickly and pathetic hydroponic things shocked into compost. Besides, they cost money, if only in travel costs.
Nah. You know the peppers you buy from the supermarket? The immature seeds you throw away? Not I. Homemade compost from veg left overs, and seeds that have been left to dry on a tray for a couple of days.
My success rate is about two out of ten seedlings. But that's no problem, when you're chopping up peppers for cooking you get hundreds. This is northern UK, and you'd be lucky to get the 19 - 25 C that they need, so three Chilies per plant is great.
I just water them when their compost feels dry, and use tomato food, about 15 ml per 500 ml water once a week.
These Chilies are 7 inches long and still growing. It takes very little effort. I'd be the first to admit that since you can buy them, why bother?
Because I can. And because it costs me little more than liquid tomato food from the local Nissan shop.
Meanwhile, the Apple tree was planted temporarily under a willow. So no fruit this year.
But The Plums. Oh boy. They are a month early, and we are picking those every day. Often, 5 lbs a day, including windfalls.
So it's plum jam, dried plum, frozen plums, plums preserved in syrup, plum sauce, chutneys and plums I can barter for apples, damsons, rose hips, whatever someone has an excess of. Plum and Chilli Jam, which by the way lasts for a year, seems popular.
Meanwhile, time to dead-head the lavender - which will be eaten or bartered one way or another. Likewise with the rosemary, closely related to and interchangeable with lavender in recipes.
Oh, and those little white flowers you can see behind the plums above to wall on the raised bed? That's garlic that I planted two years ago that a rather planting adverse relative who sharpens trees into pencils, dumped two feet of home made compost on a year ago.
That's going to great in salads and stews, even if we find no cloves beneath.
I'm totally plum'd out. Phew.
Instead I concentrated on growing my indoor chilies and capsicums and my fruit trees. All two of them, an apple and a plum.
The chilies and capsicums (peppers) I grow the really, really lazy way. I know I could get someone to fetch me seeds from a garden center. I won't buy seedlings anyway, because they tend to be sickly and pathetic hydroponic things shocked into compost. Besides, they cost money, if only in travel costs.
Nah. You know the peppers you buy from the supermarket? The immature seeds you throw away? Not I. Homemade compost from veg left overs, and seeds that have been left to dry on a tray for a couple of days.
My success rate is about two out of ten seedlings. But that's no problem, when you're chopping up peppers for cooking you get hundreds. This is northern UK, and you'd be lucky to get the 19 - 25 C that they need, so three Chilies per plant is great.
I just water them when their compost feels dry, and use tomato food, about 15 ml per 500 ml water once a week.
These Chilies are 7 inches long and still growing. It takes very little effort. I'd be the first to admit that since you can buy them, why bother?
Because I can. And because it costs me little more than liquid tomato food from the local Nissan shop.
Meanwhile, the Apple tree was planted temporarily under a willow. So no fruit this year.
But The Plums. Oh boy. They are a month early, and we are picking those every day. Often, 5 lbs a day, including windfalls.
So it's plum jam, dried plum, frozen plums, plums preserved in syrup, plum sauce, chutneys and plums I can barter for apples, damsons, rose hips, whatever someone has an excess of. Plum and Chilli Jam, which by the way lasts for a year, seems popular.
Meanwhile, time to dead-head the lavender - which will be eaten or bartered one way or another. Likewise with the rosemary, closely related to and interchangeable with lavender in recipes.
Oh, and those little white flowers you can see behind the plums above to wall on the raised bed? That's garlic that I planted two years ago that a rather planting adverse relative who sharpens trees into pencils, dumped two feet of home made compost on a year ago.
That's going to great in salads and stews, even if we find no cloves beneath.
I'm totally plum'd out. Phew.
Friday, 6 September 2013
Everyday Disableism
Very frustrating couple of days.
Along one side of a fence in the front garden I have an 20 foot strip, about two feet wide that was originally gravelled. I just topped it up every couple of years. However, due to wind and rain most of it ended up on the neighbours path. They've never complained, but I overheard them grumble to themselves as they swept up.
Fair point I thought, did a quick cost analysis and taking into account how much it was costing me for a relative to fetch me the Yorkshire stone gravel, the price of it, and the work involved - it's cheaper to turn it into a flower bed.
So I went to Jabba (my hut) to fetch my spade and rake. No trace. Upshot is they've been given away because someone decided I didn't need them. It's only 10 days since I used them. I promise, that very quietly, I asked for them to be retrieved. I was met with some very blank looks. "Why?"
Who, I asked, keeps the garden in shape? Prunes, shapes, weeds, plants? "Well, we cut the grass....?" Yup. True I can't do that. But I do potter about and do a little at a time that adds up to a lot. A little pleasure. Gardens are more than a trim. They don't look after themselves.
Any-ways, seemed I wasn't getting through. "But it's always looked like this?" Thank you, I said. I want all the tools back please, meanwhile, dump those grass cuttings on that bed, it'll make a good mulch. "No" I was told. "It's getting gravelled, it's always that way". That's from someone who doesn't live here. They'd decided it was "Best for me" and I could "pay them back at a bit a week if I wanted".
If I may be blunt. Sod That. Unfortunately, I now have to visit those who have been given the garden tools and negotiate their return. Won't be too difficult. It's autumn, it's jam making season, and I'll negotiate with my rather delicious home made preserves on a loan back and exchange and then return basis.
---------
What has happened here is something called Disableism. I'm no stranger to it. It's when people, often with the best of motives - to be kind, to be helpful, do what they think what is best for you, without asking you, and perhaps without realising it, make assumptions and take control.
They don't mean any ill will. It's somewhat complicated. But lets put it this way. I have a mate born with cerebral palsy in his forties who is very demanding and has a habit of getting drunk and crashes into lamp posts on his mobility scooters. At first, he left me scratching my head in bemusement.
Then we had a good chat. Realised I was talking to a chap who is highly intelligent who was rebelling, and as he explained, was going for it. "I'm single, live in my own" he explained. "I'd rather make mistakes my way"
Just like anyone else, if you think about it. :-)
Along one side of a fence in the front garden I have an 20 foot strip, about two feet wide that was originally gravelled. I just topped it up every couple of years. However, due to wind and rain most of it ended up on the neighbours path. They've never complained, but I overheard them grumble to themselves as they swept up.
Fair point I thought, did a quick cost analysis and taking into account how much it was costing me for a relative to fetch me the Yorkshire stone gravel, the price of it, and the work involved - it's cheaper to turn it into a flower bed.
So I went to Jabba (my hut) to fetch my spade and rake. No trace. Upshot is they've been given away because someone decided I didn't need them. It's only 10 days since I used them. I promise, that very quietly, I asked for them to be retrieved. I was met with some very blank looks. "Why?"
Who, I asked, keeps the garden in shape? Prunes, shapes, weeds, plants? "Well, we cut the grass....?" Yup. True I can't do that. But I do potter about and do a little at a time that adds up to a lot. A little pleasure. Gardens are more than a trim. They don't look after themselves.
Any-ways, seemed I wasn't getting through. "But it's always looked like this?" Thank you, I said. I want all the tools back please, meanwhile, dump those grass cuttings on that bed, it'll make a good mulch. "No" I was told. "It's getting gravelled, it's always that way". That's from someone who doesn't live here. They'd decided it was "Best for me" and I could "pay them back at a bit a week if I wanted".
If I may be blunt. Sod That. Unfortunately, I now have to visit those who have been given the garden tools and negotiate their return. Won't be too difficult. It's autumn, it's jam making season, and I'll negotiate with my rather delicious home made preserves on a loan back and exchange and then return basis.
---------
What has happened here is something called Disableism. I'm no stranger to it. It's when people, often with the best of motives - to be kind, to be helpful, do what they think what is best for you, without asking you, and perhaps without realising it, make assumptions and take control.
They don't mean any ill will. It's somewhat complicated. But lets put it this way. I have a mate born with cerebral palsy in his forties who is very demanding and has a habit of getting drunk and crashes into lamp posts on his mobility scooters. At first, he left me scratching my head in bemusement.
Then we had a good chat. Realised I was talking to a chap who is highly intelligent who was rebelling, and as he explained, was going for it. "I'm single, live in my own" he explained. "I'd rather make mistakes my way"
Just like anyone else, if you think about it. :-)
Thursday, 5 September 2013
Mmm. Brains.....
Going through a load of forms, mainly medical related and correcting boxes where it's been prefilled. Mainly where it says 'unemployed'. Because I'm on benefits doesn't mean I've ever claimed unemployment benefits.
It's an anomaly in the system. If you don't claim certain benefits, various Government departments chase you up wanting to know why the heck not. Which would be amusing if it wasn't such a nuisance. So to stave off fighting off bemused office workers with a pointy stick, I go here every few months. Yup, the UK Government has it's own website where you can check. You may well be surprised.
Many people I know - the bloke next door has two jobs - are on one or more benefits, and correctly so. Despite what some in the media would have people believe. In an era of long hours and low pay, that's no great surprise.
Our fuel supplier has just advised us to apply for the Warmhome allowance. Run in conjunction with the Government, and financed by the fuel suppliers, at some levels of benefits, particularly health related, £135 is available this year as a deduction from the first quarter of the 2014 bill.
Every company has it's own policy and implementation. Some, if they know which benefit you are on do it automatically. This is different from age related fuel grants. Warmhome is paid as a credit into your account, even if you use Prepay (so-called 'key') meters, and separate from Cold Weather payments.
--------
The Head MRI scan went ok. It was certainly an experience.
I had been warned they may use a head restraint, maybe some kind of face mask because you have to be very still and that it was quite noisy and claustrophobic and last 30-45 mins.
As it happened, they gave me a little rubber bulb thingy to squeeze in case I needed anything, and a pair of headphones to minimize the noise. I was laid on a table on some tissue stuff, and they rested my head and feet on pillows. Then they slid a semicircular plastic shield with a white stripe across it across my head that was about, I dunno, maybe 6-8 inches above my face.
A voice in the headphones asked if I was ok, then the table slid into the scanner. I didn't feel in the least claustrophobic. There was a lots of buzzing, whirring and clunking, but it wasn't loud. The table moved slightly a few times, so I just closed my eyes relaxed and worked through some maths.
It seemed about 7 or 8 minutes, but as they helped me out I asked whether I was still enough to which they said I was, and when I commented that it took a lot less longer than I expected, they said most people complain 30 mins is too long.
On the way back to Anne I got a sneak preview of a couple of slices of my brain. Yup. I memorised a bit of my brain. It appealed to my Arty side.
Catchya xx
It's an anomaly in the system. If you don't claim certain benefits, various Government departments chase you up wanting to know why the heck not. Which would be amusing if it wasn't such a nuisance. So to stave off fighting off bemused office workers with a pointy stick, I go here every few months. Yup, the UK Government has it's own website where you can check. You may well be surprised.
Many people I know - the bloke next door has two jobs - are on one or more benefits, and correctly so. Despite what some in the media would have people believe. In an era of long hours and low pay, that's no great surprise.
Our fuel supplier has just advised us to apply for the Warmhome allowance. Run in conjunction with the Government, and financed by the fuel suppliers, at some levels of benefits, particularly health related, £135 is available this year as a deduction from the first quarter of the 2014 bill.
Every company has it's own policy and implementation. Some, if they know which benefit you are on do it automatically. This is different from age related fuel grants. Warmhome is paid as a credit into your account, even if you use Prepay (so-called 'key') meters, and separate from Cold Weather payments.
--------
The Head MRI scan went ok. It was certainly an experience.
I had been warned they may use a head restraint, maybe some kind of face mask because you have to be very still and that it was quite noisy and claustrophobic and last 30-45 mins.
As it happened, they gave me a little rubber bulb thingy to squeeze in case I needed anything, and a pair of headphones to minimize the noise. I was laid on a table on some tissue stuff, and they rested my head and feet on pillows. Then they slid a semicircular plastic shield with a white stripe across it across my head that was about, I dunno, maybe 6-8 inches above my face.
A voice in the headphones asked if I was ok, then the table slid into the scanner. I didn't feel in the least claustrophobic. There was a lots of buzzing, whirring and clunking, but it wasn't loud. The table moved slightly a few times, so I just closed my eyes relaxed and worked through some maths.
It seemed about 7 or 8 minutes, but as they helped me out I asked whether I was still enough to which they said I was, and when I commented that it took a lot less longer than I expected, they said most people complain 30 mins is too long.
On the way back to Anne I got a sneak preview of a couple of slices of my brain. Yup. I memorised a bit of my brain. It appealed to my Arty side.
Catchya xx
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Barry White
At my recent hospital appointment I was asked by the consultant what I did for a living.
Before I could answer he started going on about something like how people like me like to toggle on, on benefits while others are begging for whatever it takes to get a better quality of life. My eyebrow must have looked like a wiggly caterpillar.
So I interrupted
And putting on my best Barry White voice, asked what made him say that? It seems he had read somewhere I was on Job Seekers Allowance. I patiently corrected him, and suggested he'd read the wrong record. I do patient (pun intended)
Not that it was any of his damn business.
I've never claimed unemployment related benefits in my life, for instance Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance, (ESA) nor do I intend to. I've never been inside a Job Centre. I'm not allowed to use one either - I'll come to that in a minute.
I've never 'signed on'. Ever. No disrespect to those that do. I just don't see the benefit.
The confusion often arises because even government departments get mixed up between ESA and DLA, which is presumed interchangeable. My experience of ESA only comes from helping people out with their claims, and as far as I'm aware unless you are in the ESA Support Group you are required to attend regular Job Centre interviews and it ceases when you find work.
You can receive DLA whether working or not. It's not means tested and not counted as income. It's there to enable you to be just like anyone else.
There is, a tiny quirk in the system
The government, despite its rhetoric about getting people more productive has failed to address the issue. Unless you are claiming JSA or ESA, Job Centre services are not available.
For instance, if you have a job, and want to change jobs, you can't use a Job Centre.
Daft, isn't it?
That is more than a disadvantage than you may realise. Many of the people I know are in work, with children in low paid or low paid part time jobs, and are willing to take on whatever work they can get their hands on. It's a bit 'old skool' around here. They see the means to getting income is to work hard, and long tough hours if and when the work is available.
But because they are employed they can, the Job Centre told them, use the computers and take notes on a notepad, however other services such as speaking to an advisor, training, educational opportunities, the usage of phones, access to the internet and free postage, getting their bus fares back (for instance) they have to finance themselves. There is a tremendous amount of help available for the unemployed. But if you have employment? Stuffed.
This is my experience too. Meanwhile, one grabs every opportunity.
As for the consultants opinion? I'm well aware of the administrative cycle they get drawn into, and I get thats frustrating, but hey, don't paint everyone with the same brush.
Before I could answer he started going on about something like how people like me like to toggle on, on benefits while others are begging for whatever it takes to get a better quality of life. My eyebrow must have looked like a wiggly caterpillar.
 |
| Cabbage White (Barry White) |
So I interrupted
And putting on my best Barry White voice, asked what made him say that? It seems he had read somewhere I was on Job Seekers Allowance. I patiently corrected him, and suggested he'd read the wrong record. I do patient (pun intended)
Not that it was any of his damn business.
I've never claimed unemployment related benefits in my life, for instance Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance, (ESA) nor do I intend to. I've never been inside a Job Centre. I'm not allowed to use one either - I'll come to that in a minute.
I've never 'signed on'. Ever. No disrespect to those that do. I just don't see the benefit.
The confusion often arises because even government departments get mixed up between ESA and DLA, which is presumed interchangeable. My experience of ESA only comes from helping people out with their claims, and as far as I'm aware unless you are in the ESA Support Group you are required to attend regular Job Centre interviews and it ceases when you find work.
You can receive DLA whether working or not. It's not means tested and not counted as income. It's there to enable you to be just like anyone else.
There is, a tiny quirk in the system
The government, despite its rhetoric about getting people more productive has failed to address the issue. Unless you are claiming JSA or ESA, Job Centre services are not available.
For instance, if you have a job, and want to change jobs, you can't use a Job Centre.
Daft, isn't it?
That is more than a disadvantage than you may realise. Many of the people I know are in work, with children in low paid or low paid part time jobs, and are willing to take on whatever work they can get their hands on. It's a bit 'old skool' around here. They see the means to getting income is to work hard, and long tough hours if and when the work is available.
But because they are employed they can, the Job Centre told them, use the computers and take notes on a notepad, however other services such as speaking to an advisor, training, educational opportunities, the usage of phones, access to the internet and free postage, getting their bus fares back (for instance) they have to finance themselves. There is a tremendous amount of help available for the unemployed. But if you have employment? Stuffed.
This is my experience too. Meanwhile, one grabs every opportunity.
As for the consultants opinion? I'm well aware of the administrative cycle they get drawn into, and I get thats frustrating, but hey, don't paint everyone with the same brush.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Disconboblulated.
It would seem I've done well to get an appointment for an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan, and so quickly.
After doing a quick ask around Stroke survivor friends I was unable to find one who'd had on. All had at some time a CT (Computer Tomography) scan, as have I.
There's a comparison of the two types of scan here at NHS Choices.
As noted in the article, a CT scan is the first choice because of speed. That's because it takes about five minutes, as far as the patient is concerned, and isn't affected so much by patient movement. The actual scan process itself actually takes about 30 seconds.
The only thing I note from that article is that they inject a dye, which I didn't have.
An MRI scan on the other hand can take upto 30 minutes, which explains the interesting stuff in the questionnaire they sent me about taking along a music cd of my choices. They can also be quite claustrophobic.
They also requires one to declare any metal implants or medical devices, shrapnel, metal dust in the eyes and remove any jewelry except wedding rings. Further, as means of avoiding metal, they suggest jogging bottoms and a T-shirt, otherwise they require you to change into a hospital gown.
Urgh no. I'm a very private person. The first time my wife saw me unattired was after our first 10 years of marriage and after three children, and that's only because I was having trouble dressing myself. So I'll have to acquire a tracksuit. Much to the family's amusement!
----------
I've spoken to a GP friend - not my GP - a super intelligent mega being (poor soul) who has given me a telling off. Which offended me not at all. If you can't take a telling off when you are in your fifties there's no hope for you. He went on to explain that in my area Stroke services since I had my first stroke have been reorganised at least twice in a bid to improve services over 12 years.
Part of those reorganisations was computerisation of records that has been fraught with problems and abandoned schemes and budget cuts, and not specific to Stroke services. Part of that problem has been that paper records have been scattered around various GP's, Hospitals et. al. for many, many decades.
--------
Secondly, there's a very British attitude towards the medical profession. Members of the medical profession are in constant education, constant advancement and respected for it. Rightly so.
Us Brits respect that, and look up to them as authority figures. This leads, I'm told, to not only expect not only medical, but clerical expertise - and when that fails, and in the heretical expectations of authority perception, it's the Medics fault.
And that part of the medical profession that deals directly with diagnosis has become accustomed to that. But thats not something I'm party to. There's no criticism of me there. The problem I'm having, I'm told, is that I have failed to perceive socio-perceptive model as it exists.
In English, my consistent view that the medical profession is a resource to enable me to make informed (informed by them) decisions about my well being is a total pain in the arse when coupled with my habit of sitting quietly and listening to what I see as advice.
The doctors, from long experience think they are saying 'that the way it is' and this is what I'm going to do. Thats what they're used to doing. Which never occurred to me. So when I pop up later and start asking questions it's seen as an, to quote Terry Pratchett, an Embuggerance.
What I should be doing I'm told it is be up front, on the spot with queries, questions. Great if you can think that fast.
But medical records are not the preserve of the medic. They are the responsibility of the administration.
I think that's fair.
Reinforces my view though that if I have the capability to chase up my paperwork I will. My life may depend on it. Can't wait around for some admin somewhere.
xx
After doing a quick ask around Stroke survivor friends I was unable to find one who'd had on. All had at some time a CT (Computer Tomography) scan, as have I.
There's a comparison of the two types of scan here at NHS Choices.
As noted in the article, a CT scan is the first choice because of speed. That's because it takes about five minutes, as far as the patient is concerned, and isn't affected so much by patient movement. The actual scan process itself actually takes about 30 seconds.
The only thing I note from that article is that they inject a dye, which I didn't have.
An MRI scan on the other hand can take upto 30 minutes, which explains the interesting stuff in the questionnaire they sent me about taking along a music cd of my choices. They can also be quite claustrophobic.
They also requires one to declare any metal implants or medical devices, shrapnel, metal dust in the eyes and remove any jewelry except wedding rings. Further, as means of avoiding metal, they suggest jogging bottoms and a T-shirt, otherwise they require you to change into a hospital gown.
Urgh no. I'm a very private person. The first time my wife saw me unattired was after our first 10 years of marriage and after three children, and that's only because I was having trouble dressing myself. So I'll have to acquire a tracksuit. Much to the family's amusement!
----------
I've spoken to a GP friend - not my GP - a super intelligent mega being (poor soul) who has given me a telling off. Which offended me not at all. If you can't take a telling off when you are in your fifties there's no hope for you. He went on to explain that in my area Stroke services since I had my first stroke have been reorganised at least twice in a bid to improve services over 12 years.
Part of those reorganisations was computerisation of records that has been fraught with problems and abandoned schemes and budget cuts, and not specific to Stroke services. Part of that problem has been that paper records have been scattered around various GP's, Hospitals et. al. for many, many decades.
--------
Secondly, there's a very British attitude towards the medical profession. Members of the medical profession are in constant education, constant advancement and respected for it. Rightly so.
Us Brits respect that, and look up to them as authority figures. This leads, I'm told, to not only expect not only medical, but clerical expertise - and when that fails, and in the heretical expectations of authority perception, it's the Medics fault.
And that part of the medical profession that deals directly with diagnosis has become accustomed to that. But thats not something I'm party to. There's no criticism of me there. The problem I'm having, I'm told, is that I have failed to perceive socio-perceptive model as it exists.
In English, my consistent view that the medical profession is a resource to enable me to make informed (informed by them) decisions about my well being is a total pain in the arse when coupled with my habit of sitting quietly and listening to what I see as advice.
The doctors, from long experience think they are saying 'that the way it is' and this is what I'm going to do. Thats what they're used to doing. Which never occurred to me. So when I pop up later and start asking questions it's seen as an, to quote Terry Pratchett, an Embuggerance.
What I should be doing I'm told it is be up front, on the spot with queries, questions. Great if you can think that fast.
But medical records are not the preserve of the medic. They are the responsibility of the administration.
I think that's fair.
Reinforces my view though that if I have the capability to chase up my paperwork I will. My life may depend on it. Can't wait around for some admin somewhere.
xx
Monday, 26 August 2013
Flying blind.
I have had the oddest week or two.
I've had a bit history lately of sudden blackouts.
After waiting four months for a Neurology appointment, See Here my Bear and I attended.
I was as expected, prodded, poked and push this, pull that, the works. Then the chap that examined me noted I had trouble fastening my shirt buttons using my right hand. "Y'know" he said "I think you can use that right hand, but for some reason you don't want to"
Note this blog's title.
"I need to talk to your wife". S'ok.
He did, then suggested "I think there maybe some Neuropsychological why you can't use that hand", and asked me whether I had a mental health history. Nope. "Well, you are the first one I've said that to who's not objected" He explained "I need to talk to my consultant". You're not a consultant? "No"
Came back with 'his' consultant who asked all the same mental health questions. Lots of explanations about how some people suffer from hidden childhood trauma who are desperate for a better quality of life who beg for help. I, apparently, have shown little impetuous to reveal any 'hidden' trauma, therefore he wouldn't refer me for that. I said. Hidden? He said "Yes"
Psychobabble.
Have you, I asked, checked my records? "Records?" Yes. I was hospitalised here and was treated, had a number of scans and ultrasound here and at another hospital and by my GP for years for strokes and small strokes, and it's causes. "We have no records"
Soooo. I've dug through my records, phoned back (well, Anne did) discovered they had the correct name and patient number, a phone number as our number which has nothing to do with us, but in 2001 it stopped. Which means they had a record. It's just that after 2001 they went missing.
There's only so much I can say here, but I found I was referred to a trainee, and the wrong consultant, and a department that hasn't dealt with TIA's for many years. More, I've discovered that most of my medical records are at my Gp's and at another hospital.
These guys were flying blind.
Catchya x
I've had a letter and confirmation phone call asking me to go for a MRI head scan in three weeks time. Very pleased. I've never had an MRI. CT scans and Ultrasound but not that. So that's progress.
I also discovered they totally reorganised stroke care in 2009 and in 2012 in my city - two totally different schemes. But only for those who are admitted for critical care, not for those with TIA's. The new standard only applies to those admitted to hospital.
I'll comment on that as and when I can get further information. But I'll say this, 'NHS Choices' seems to be a misnomer.
I've had a bit history lately of sudden blackouts.
After waiting four months for a Neurology appointment, See Here my Bear and I attended.
I was as expected, prodded, poked and push this, pull that, the works. Then the chap that examined me noted I had trouble fastening my shirt buttons using my right hand. "Y'know" he said "I think you can use that right hand, but for some reason you don't want to"
Note this blog's title.
"I need to talk to your wife". S'ok.
He did, then suggested "I think there maybe some Neuropsychological why you can't use that hand", and asked me whether I had a mental health history. Nope. "Well, you are the first one I've said that to who's not objected" He explained "I need to talk to my consultant". You're not a consultant? "No"
Came back with 'his' consultant who asked all the same mental health questions. Lots of explanations about how some people suffer from hidden childhood trauma who are desperate for a better quality of life who beg for help. I, apparently, have shown little impetuous to reveal any 'hidden' trauma, therefore he wouldn't refer me for that. I said. Hidden? He said "Yes"
Psychobabble.
Have you, I asked, checked my records? "Records?" Yes. I was hospitalised here and was treated, had a number of scans and ultrasound here and at another hospital and by my GP for years for strokes and small strokes, and it's causes. "We have no records"
Soooo. I've dug through my records, phoned back (well, Anne did) discovered they had the correct name and patient number, a phone number as our number which has nothing to do with us, but in 2001 it stopped. Which means they had a record. It's just that after 2001 they went missing.
There's only so much I can say here, but I found I was referred to a trainee, and the wrong consultant, and a department that hasn't dealt with TIA's for many years. More, I've discovered that most of my medical records are at my Gp's and at another hospital.
These guys were flying blind.
Catchya x
I've had a letter and confirmation phone call asking me to go for a MRI head scan in three weeks time. Very pleased. I've never had an MRI. CT scans and Ultrasound but not that. So that's progress.
I also discovered they totally reorganised stroke care in 2009 and in 2012 in my city - two totally different schemes. But only for those who are admitted for critical care, not for those with TIA's. The new standard only applies to those admitted to hospital.
I'll comment on that as and when I can get further information. But I'll say this, 'NHS Choices' seems to be a misnomer.
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