Hi again
After many telephone calls and wrong referrals my husband has finally been referred to a bronchiectasis clinic instead of a COPD one. Mainly thanks to a lovely lady secretary who had all his notes looked at by a consultant who said he should definitely be seen at bronchiectasis clinic not a COPD one. Bad news is 15 weeks wait for appointment but we will ask GP to speed up if my husband gets bad again! At least he's headed in right direction.
Hi frankie that is great news. Ring the consultant's secretary and ask them sooo nicely to fit your husband into an earlier appt. Tell them that he has been messed about and is really poorly. They are very good at doing this for us. I hope that he gets the help he needs now.
Hi Littlepom
I spoke to the secretary this morning and quite honestly told her my husband not well - he was going to docs this afternoon as felt he had another infection - but she said he would probably have to wait. I asked if he could be considered for any cancellations . This afternoon she telephoned him with an appointment for this Thursday afternoon! We are so pleased and thanks for everyone's help.
YEAH! Great news frankie. I know the secretary’s are excellent but it is in no small part down to your research and determination.
Believe me now you are with our excellent team, your husband will get the best care. It would have been nice to have bumped into you both at clinic but it won’t happen. The clinic is run exactly the same as the team run their cf clinic, in that nobody waits in a waiting room. You go straight into a consulting room. All medical staff are from the cf unit in the bronchiectasis clinic. First of lovely team comes in and does weight, height, bp and sats. Next a specialist nurse does spirometry. (If you have lines in they also re-dress them and change taps and flush, which won’t apply to your dh). Finally one of the 2 excellent, proactive consultants will be in to see him.
I know they have lots of referrals and, as you say, unless your husband is unwell, when they would fit you in, the 15 weeks will be well worth the wait.
Please let us know how your husband gets on. He is lucky to have you in his corner.
Cx
Oh isnt that good news? I was recently amazed during my pre op assessment to have grommetts inserted in my ear.. The nurse doing it asked if I had ever smoked. I naturally answered no. I find that hard to believe she said considering you have COPD now. I don't have that I exclaimed, I have bronchiectasis!.. It's all the same she said. Have a look at my noes I said. I was disgusted to think she didn't know the difference.
I hope you educated her.
Well I decided to do it the polite way. I informed her I was attending a Pulm.Rehab. course which is strictly for bronchiectasis sufferers. This apparently, I said to her, was the first one in the area to be organised as there were already ones specifically for COPD sufferers. One session actually covered the differences in lung diseases including, of course bronchiectasis.
I was astonished that a nurse didn't know there was a difference and it knocked my confidence actually.
Take care during these difficult times Littlepom. I'm off to Re.hab. now.
Chrys
Very clever, good for you. I am delighted that they now have PR for bronch. I still have no access.I don’t need the advice as I could probably teach them but I wd like the exercise. It is disgraceful that there is still so much ignorance about it amongst GPs and so called respiratory nurses. I simply don’t trust them.
That's how I feel actually. Sad though. Still, thinking about it now, maybe she looked it up later and as a result is now an exceedingly well informed nurse.
Just checking to see if everything is OK with you Littlepom.
Thats good news frankie767. Its only 6 months ago that I finally got my doctor to stop sending me for an asthma check. I kept telling the asthma nurse I DONT have asthma I have bronchiectasis, she really didnt know much about this. The trouble is I now dont see anybody , perhaps I should ask about a boinchiectasis clinic near to me x
I know - I am getting to the stage where I know more than some medical staff which is ridiculous!
What's wrong with me
Breathing Test plus Skin Allergy Test
Bronchiectasis 
Anyone had an assessment at harefield
Calling members with both copd and bronchiectasis.
