Friends

27 November 2013

Update plus wedding pics


Some things medical can be funny. For example, one day recently we were sent to the blood testing station and took our turn amongst many others. The procedure is to take a number from a machine and wait until that number is called. We were number 55 so we knew we were in for a long wait. By lunchtime the countdown hadn’t just slowed, it had stopped. There was a definite lull at 26. I guessed the phlebotomists (my medical knowledge is growing) had stopped for lunch.

Well, you know how people chat when they’re all in the same boat. People started saying funny things and I made the comment that when eventually we neared number 55 we might hear someone shout ‘come in No.55 your time’s up’ which immediately reminded me of the old times when people hired rowing boats on the lake and had to be called in by the boat keeper. I can’t count the times as a kid when I heard the man in charge yelling ‘Come in Number 7 (or whatever) your time’s up’. I commented to Joe that I didn’t think that sort of thing went on anymore... ‘No,’ he replied, ‘they probably send a text’.

How very droll!

When play started in the afternoon the phlebotomist took three phials of blood which to my mind was just plain greedy.

We had already seen the consultant and his registrar, neither of whom were satisfied with Joe’s medical condition ... too much blood in the urine. So right after providing the NHS with more blood I whisked him off to another hospital armed with letter from one doc to another. After a long wait we saw a doctor/surgeon/specialist who, like all others, was mystified as to why the ‘good’ kidney wasn’t working as it should. Investigations to commence! Joe was detained in hospital for one night so they could sort out the bloody urine while I caught up with some sleep after the ten hour stint.


Surprise of the week came on Monday afternoon. We were relaxing in the lounge with daughter Rosanne (who is over from Australia) when the phone rang. It was a ‘withheld’ number which could mean someone was ringing from somewhere in the medical profession. We were right! It was our own family doctor who asked if he could visit us that day. After all the hospital visits and admissions plus tests, scans and consultations, you can imagine what went through our minds. I think all three of us suffered from shock in the first instance.

What the doctor really came for was to advise us that Joe has been elevated to a new level now that he is 75 and has undergone an emergency hospital admission as a 75 year old. He will be the subject of frequent discussions between local doctors, hospital consultants, nurses and others, and home visits will regularly be made. Fame at last! I now feel I must curtsy when in Joe’s superior presence. I mean, this is real celebrity status, something that doesn’t come easy to the average man about town. Or woman! I am older than him and I haven’t been graced with such importance.

And they moan about the National Health Service, as far as we’re concerned it’s brilliant.

Rosanne found it all very interesting. She was recently married to Frank and this was our first time with her since the wedding. She has been a great help in so many ways and we spent a lot of time looking at her photographs. We are to have a copy of the video when it is ready. I am including some pictures of her and Frank on their wedding day. 




15 comments:

  1. It's good to hear Joe is getting much need attention from health professionals, hope they get the bloody urine sorted soon.

    Lovely photographs of the newly weds Valerie.

    The rowing boats reminded me of a joke. "Come in Number 9, oops sorry Number 6 are you having problems?"

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  2. Dan, thanks. I agree with you.

    Pearl, I forgot to say that antibiotics have fixed the state of the urine. I hadn't heard that joke before :O)

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  3. My Dad used to say the same thing about the NHS. It was a Godsend when they needed it and he was always a big supporter of it. Your daughter is a real beauty Valerie and don't they make a lovely couple? The wedding photos are lovely. Apologies in advance for the extra links that seem to follow me around like millstone with a ball and chain attached! :(

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  4. ha. probably not the fame you were hoping for eh? i think it is cool the doctor visited you...wow...never happen here....more like the take a number...

    those wedding pics are great val

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  5. Good news about Joe !!
    Glad you found some comic relief
    while waiting such a long time for
    your turn with the phlebos. I'm not that tolerant and I work in a hospital
    lab.
    Congrats to the newlyweds ... lovely couple !!

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  6. " ‘No,’ he replied, ‘they probably send a text’."

    Bwhahahhahahaha! Valerie, please tell Joe I thought that was a positively BRILLIANT response! Funny man he is! And he's right!

    And I have to chime in with Brian and say I think it's cool the doctor visited you. WOW... that would never happen here. Never.

    Glad to hear that the antibiotics fixed the state of urine :)

    The photos of your daughter and hubby are just beautiful. What a strikingly handsome couple they make.

    Thanks for the update, dear lady!

    Have a lovely Wednesday!

    X to you and Joe!

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  7. Denise, you should hear some people moan about the NHS. I could never understand it. BTW I didn't check if there were any links today.

    Brian, no, probably not the fame we'd like... smiles. Don't doctor's visit in the States?

    Faye, I forgot you worked in the lab. Maybe next time we need advice.... Yes? No? Oh okay then.

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  8. Ron, I'm curious. What happens if someone can't get to the doctor's surgery? I take it they do have surgeries?

    I agree that Rosanne and Frank make a striking couple. Frank is an Italian/Australian so that might say it all... grins.

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  9. Doctors in the US rarely make house calls...we do have some services that will have visiting nurses visit the elderly or infirmed....you just have to come to the office. There are a few more services that can help...like dial a ride. I always went with my mom to the Dr when she got down.

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  10. Goodness - Valerie, no Dr. home visits here! Hope all goes well with Joe. And what a lovely couple the newlyweds are!!

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  11. I hope everything will work out fine with Joe, and that we will read a good update soon. Take care!

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  12. In defense of the system that we are trying to destroy at great expense to everyone, my wife always gets in to have her blood taken with 15 minutes being the longest she has ever had. The $3 to 5,000 deductible means we will pay for insurance and still never receive any benefits. The death panels will tell us to go home and take a pill.

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  13. Mona, thank you for your good wishes. I'm horrified that there are no doctor visits where you live.

    Mersad, I hope so too.

    Larry, reading your comment confirmed to me how lucky we are in the UK. Some people here don't realise how much!

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  14. Glad Joe is getting plenty of attention from the doctors and hopefully they can get him squared away so he is good to go for a long, long time. Lovely photos of the newlyweds. Take care, Val.

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