Just thought I'd let you know that I have booked to see the consultant in Chertsey for the 15th May (he is on holiday ATM) so will let you know how it goes!
Thank you again for your all your invaluable support and advice, it really does make a huge difference to know you have people that have got you and the wealth of knowledge is so reassuring when there is so little understanding and conflicting advice in the general medical arena. You are all amazing, feeling much more positive.
Tanya x x
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Trixiechamp
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Great news and good luck, Tanya, and if my experience and that of many other patients of Dr Hughes is anything to go by, you can look forward to feeling even more "positive" after you've seen him!
Yes, I always feel better after I have seen him. I am a bit miffed however that they have changed my next appt. with him from the end of May to July 7th which seems a long way away. I am really struggling with the OA in both knees and a hip and the PMR which tends to flare when I am in a lot of pain.Getting a puppy has not helped! I decided to throw anything I could at it, so am on 10mg Butrans patch and have used one of the vials of Depo medrone that Dr. Hughes has given me. I am now feeling a bit better but only about 25% so still unable to walk outside, swim etc. I know that to have any of the joints replaced I will have to lose another 2 stone which, at the moment, seems a mountain to climb!
If only the PMR would abate a bit, but I try not to dwell on feeling that it is all so unfair. I am working on letting go of the anger and working on the bigger picture, trying to understand what this is all telling me and how to look after myself better.
Hello Suzy ,your reply to Trixiechamps post is so interesting and my sentiments entirely re the PMR flares coming with the pain and it is interesting that you are able to have the Butran patches. I believe you are still on steroids reading your previous posts .l used to be on these patches but for some reason my GP hasn't let me go back on them so I will ask Dr Hughes tomorrow if there is a reason why .i think my Depomedrone injection for the upper body has helped but the pain level was still enough and has frequently had me in tears .Until i can get more active i fight my weight all the time . My PMR is such an inconvenience as some of My Family seem to be at the end of their tether because i can't get Up and Get On but my eldest son took me to Dr Hughes last month and now seems more caring re Mums problem ..They should try it and the Almost being housebound. Suzy if you find an easy way of abating the Anger then let me know ..i try Mindfulness ,Bowen Therapy and Ultrasound .. Bowen is on hold for the time being until i get the go ahead from DrHughes ..Hopefully tomorrow . Enjoy your Puppy.. Sorry you have to wait until July for your Appointment . Can you not try getting his secretary to get you fitted in before or get hold of the Rheumatology Nurses .Good Luck ,trish29
Hi Suzy, I was listening to a programme on radio the other day where they were talking about stopping smokers and overweight people having ops. They interviewed an orthopaedic surgeon who said that someone being overweight for hips and knees did not actually make much difference to the operation in fact, which surprised me the way people have been going on about it recently.
Targets and waiting times - take all the overweight/vaguely obese patients out and it makes the figures look better. Apart from anything else - how can you successfully lose weight when you can't move? And if the US stopped all ops on the obese no-one would get anything! I am borderline obese - but I wouldn't be told I couldn't have an op - even doctors are surprised!!!
Ahhh it is the figures they are trying to massage. As someone else said on the radio programme they are still employing the surgeons etc so how do the costs go down? Someone else said perhaps they are going to train to do cardiovascular as well!!!
They are short of almost all staff - not just nurses! Just means the surgeons are working sensible hours instead of all the hours god gave and less o/t. And if they don't have a theatre (also staff shortages) they can sit around drinking coffee or go to staff A&E - and still the waiting times are too long.
I have noticed that coffee is popular. There has been a programme called Hospital on UK TV on five London hospitals. Most of their time is spent on talking about beds. World renowned surgeons wasting their time on finding out if there is a bed available. No surgery being done because no bed.
Yes it was so frustrating, so much money spent on teams of people waiting around to do a job because of not enough beds in recovery or on the wards...surely they must be able do what they said and use the children's wards as a stopgap - although I imagine there would be some convoluted safeguarding or h&s reason as to why not...
The trouble is they are doing this so taking over other beds becomes part of the system instead of an emergency. In Hospital they had spent ten million pounds on a bariatric ward which they had taken over for bed shortages and were not using it for what is was needed for.
That's right! Have you seen/read "Do no harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery" by Henry Marsh? Nothing has changed, it's been going on for years - he spent his time looking for a bed for his patients. And they keep building hospitals with fewer beds as everything will be done as day surgery. Except things go wrong and they have to stay longer or elderly patients can't be discharged because the support is missing...
I came across someone the other say who said they were using the Holiday Inn for people coming in for surgery. Nil by mouth on their beds perhaps! Much cheaper than a hospital bed on the other hand.
Yes I read that book last year, fascinating, although in the TV programme they were saying that the children's wards in that hospital were empty and that was a consideration. I don't know about elsewhere but we are finding in Berkshire that they are outsourcing to private hospitals but obviously can't send the more vulnerable patients there due to lack of emergency facilities...my OH recently had an op at one via the NHS and he was the only one on the ward! It was like having a private nurse. When my youngest was hospitalised after an accident a couple of years ago we were on the children's ward for 2 weeks surrounded by poorly babies and toddlers...he was going crazy with all the crying 24/7 as he was 11 at the time and the eldest by 9 years...he absolutely wasn't allowed onto the teen ward (he had be 12) because of safeguarding...until they desperately needed his bed and at 4am we were woken and suddenly uprooted and moved over...so when push comes to shove - literally - it can be done.
Very true - I remember being nearly 5 and being on the babies ward - hell in a cot, never mind a handcart.
One of the biggest problems is shortages of qualified staff. Paed nurses can't do adults (and vice versa) and you can't run a ward on agency staff.
Nome gets a side room when she has to be on an adult ward - there are ways and means. Nothing would persuade me to have an op in a hospital without ICU cover - a woman died in Dundee after a nose job at the private place. She started bleeding, no anaesthetist on site and by the time the nurses had called 999 and the paramedics had transferred to the NHS hospital less than a mile away she'd bled out.
Lol yes I think that was the start of my PMR story...the stress of his accident and then a month of no sleep at the hospital, it was November so peak chest infection season, the poor nurses were run ragged and had SOOO much paperwork, it drove them mad.
My daughter has just gone back to bank nursing and did a shift on Acute Admissions yesterday - they have 17 vacancies they can't fill. No other bank nurses will work there as it is too hard work, totally manic she said. She wants to do neonatal (that was Monday's shift). Think she is guaranteed a real job very soon!
Yes, I am going to see Hip surgeon privately tomorrow because now, in my area, you can't see one at all on the NHS unless and until you can satisfy a load of the criteria for replacement surgery including the weight one. That means that I couldn't otherwise have all my preliminary questions answered. There was a documentary a couple of weeks ago about the prejudice amongst CCG's and doctors generally against the obese where they have been halving the number of bariatric surgeries whilst decrying the rise in obesity and also despite the evidence that bariatric surgery saves a whole lot of money in the long run.
I am sure they will do it privately, it is just rather pricey. Should be interesting what happens tomorrow. It does seem just a way of the NHS reducing ops, meanwhile social services are landed with the bill for all these people unable to look after themselves dut to pain and immobility.
Hello Trixiechamp..I hope that all goes well for you on your visit to Dr Hughes..I am seeing him tomorrow and I hope I can continue with slightly less pain after 3weeks on Antibiotics+a Depomedrone injection for the upper arms and shoulders..it certainly is a Roller Coaster ride but Dr Hughes is so caring and a Good listener..I will be watching for your posts with interest ..all the Best trish29
Yes I think perhaps all our experiences are very similar. I do feel he listens well to what you are saying and gives you that confidence that someone " understands" This unfortunately can be a rarity! All best wishes for your appointment. Let us know how you get on. X Jackie
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