There are two hospitals in Nottingham: Queens Medical Centre and City Hospital. Today I was visiting City to have my first appointment with the pain team here. My Dad offered to take me but I was pretty sure I knew where I was going and that I would be ok on my own so I turned him down. Big mistake.
I had a vague recollection of the hospital campus but the last time I was there was over 15 years ago. It'll be ok, I thought. The appointment letter gave brief directions and when I confirmed the appointment yesterday the lady on the phone also gave me some so I was feeling confident. But what I'm experiencing now I'm back in Nottingham is that I know where I want to go but I can't quite remember how to get there. And so much of the road system has changed- new one way systems, pedestrian areas and speed cameras everywhere! So the fact that I couldn't work out how to get to the hospital and I had to set google maps going to get there from my house this morning was a bad start, showing that my memory ain't what it used to be! I think we all know that though don't we!
My first mistake was the entrance. Now most hospitals have one road in and one road out. Oh no, not this one. This one has 6! And of course, I went in the wrong one. After driving around for 15 minutes I admitted defeat and checked online for a map of the campus. And this is it.
Bloody Nora! I thought it was a small hospital but in the last 15 years it's obviously grown in size!
After working out where I needed to go the next thing was to work out where I was. And then how to get from here to there. My map reading skills are not good; I'm one of those people that has to turn the map upside down to be able to use it at times. Luckily I had left myself plenty of time because experience has taught me that you always need way more time than you think to be able to park up and find the department or clinic you're attending, especially if it's a new hospital and you're on your own.
Eventually I found the place that I needed to be and as I drove past it I knew that my next challenge was to find a parking space. The lady on the phone yesterday had told me that there was plenty of parking for blue badge holders so I was pretty confident that I would be able to get parked up ok. Mistake number 2. I have to admit that the ratio of disabled parking to normal parking spaces was higher than average. But there were obviously more cars than spaces because people had literally just dumped their cars anywhere that there was a bit of road, grass or pavement. I was considering doing the same but then I saw 2 parking attendants coming round the corner, issuing tickets to said dumped cars. Bugger. So where was I going to park?
I carried on driving and did eventually find a disabled space but it was a bit of a walk to the clinic. Good job I had my walking stick with me. I got to the clinic with 5 minutes to spare; it had only taken me 40 minutes to find the right place and get parked which might even be a new record!
I was amazed to find that 1) the clinic was running on time and 2) I was actually seeing the consultant and not one of her team. She asked me to explain what had brought me here today so I tried to keep it as brief as possible. But it's a pretty complicated story, involving lots of different hospitals now and the look on her face as I described the last 6 years told me that she had obviously not looked at my notes prior to me entering the room!
She was very reluctant to really get involved too much because I'm primarily being looked after by UCLH in London but that wasn't what I had gone there for. Prior to me moving house I was due to start having acupuncture at a local hospital. This treatment was to run alongside the work that UCLH were doing and I was keen to start this in Nottingham. "I'm afraid we only have funding for acupuncture for patients suffering lower back pain" she told me. And my heart sank. "I don't suppose some of your pain is in your lower back?" she then went on to ask me with the suggestion in her voice and her face that said 'if you say yes and I write it in your notes then you qualify for the acupuncture'. Oh yes, yes. The pain is in my back aswell, I told her which isn't a lie as I do still get back pain from having had 2 spinal surgeries as a teenager.
Not only will I be able to get started with acupuncture and give it a try, she told me that I could have the ketamine infusions done in Nottingham instead of me traipsing up and down to London every 6 weeks. I just need to talk to the team at UCLH and check they're happy to do shared care with City hospital and if they are then brilliant! It will save me a lot of time and energy, not to mention money that would have been spent on the train fares. The only downside is that it's one less opportunity to catch up with all my friends down south.
NB x
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