I explained what the problem was and asked to book a blood test but was told that until the surgery had received the request from the hospital they were unable to give me an appointment. I told them that we were due to go on holiday next week and that if I waited until they had the info from the hospital then chances are they wouldn’t have any appointments available before we go away. So the receptionist checked with someone else who said that they could give me an appointment and put in the notes that info from the hospital was to follow. The earliest appointment they had was next Wednesday so if I had left it a few days I wouldn’t have been able to get the bloods done before going away.
Today I tried to place an order for my Tena pads. Usually it’s a simple process- you call a telephone number, it’s an automated service and you enter your customer number and date of birth and confirm you want your order and they give you a delivery date. Bish, bash, bosh. But it kept saying it didn’t recognise my customer number so I had to go through a million options on the keypad to speak to a real live person. After being on hold for 20 minutes the lady from Tena told me my account had been closed due to inactivity. Nobody had even written or called me to say they were closing the account or to ask why I hadn’t ordered for a while so this was news to me. I explained it had been inactive as I had been in hospital on and off for pretty much the last year but apparently there was nothing she could do about it. I would need to speak to the District nurse at my GP surgery to re-refer me to the continence team who would then have to reopen the account.
So I rang the GP surgery and after being on hold there for 15 minutes was told that actually it’s nothing to do with them and I would need to ring the continence team directly. I was given the number for the continence team (which turned out to be an older number) so once I had the right phone number I called. And after going through another load of keypad options was promptly put on hold. This time it’s for an hour only to be told by the woman when she answered that I had been given the wrong number by the GP surgery. Aaaaarrrgggghhhh!!! Nottingham is split into ‘the City’ and ‘the County’ for benefits, medical teams etc and I had been given the City number instead of the County one. The woman was so apologetic even though it was nothing to do with her and she gave me the correct number to call which I triple checked before hanging up.
So I now dialled my 4th phone number to try and order the pads I rely on and after being on hold for just a short 10 minutes explained the whole situation to another person. I asked to be put through to the County continence team but apparently they don’t take phone calls. WTF?? What the actual fuck?! So I had to relay all of my information to the lady who answers the phone only to be told I would need to be reassessed by the team. By this point I was exhausted from being on hold/the phone for over 2 hours when I thought it would be just a simple 2 minute job. “No way am I being reassessed” I told her. “None of my details have changed, I require exactly the same product as previously so all that needs to happen is for my account to be reinstated”. She wasn’t sure that was how it would work but she took down all the information I had about the products I use, my customer number and a load of other information and said she would send it over to the continence team. I asked if it would be reviewed urgently on account of me needing a delivery in the next few days but apparently they don’t do urgent reviews and I will just have to wait my turn.
I got off the phone and cried. I properly lost my shit. Why does everything have to be so bloody difficult?
Despite all of this I did manage to treat myself yesterday to some new wheels. I am now the proud owner of a folding wheelchair 😂 Not even 40 and already needing a wheelchair but I don’t care if it means I can get out of the house with the family. This one is brilliant though as instead of just pulling the seat up and the wheelchair squashing in half this one literally folds up and fits inside a bag like camping chairs or pushchairs do. This means it can go in the car and it won’t take up too much space in the boot. The bag even has wheels on it so whoever has the pleasure of fetching said wheelchair when the need arises doesn’t even have to carry the bag, even though it’s not heavy.
I’ve got a list as long as my arm of things I need to sort out for holiday and for Big Girls birthday and it feels like a mountain to climb. Everyone is telling me to take it easy and to rest but it’s not always that straightforward as often I’m the only person that can sort these things out, like the Tena situation today. I’ve still got to sort out my medications and all the stuff I need for my feeds- I will post photos of this when I’ve got it all together cause it will blow your bloody mind the amount of gear I have to take with me if I’m staying away from the house. And on top of that because of my recent weight loss of the best part of 3 stone I’m guessing that all of my summer clothes will now be too big for me. I have got some of my ‘thin clothes’ but they will all need to be tried on and that’s a job for another day when I’m feeling less exhausted and emotionally fragile.
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