I’ve suffered from Bell’s Palsy in the past, after the doctor who I saw initially missed it, I got referred to the Ear Nose and Throat clinic at St Georges Hospital in London as an outpatient. I made a good recovery within 6 months, and I was discharged a few years later, but was told to let them know if my symptoms re-occurred.
A few weeks ago symptoms which I associated with Bell’s Palsy started to occur, twitching facial muscles, metallic taste on my tounge, watering eyes, and generally poor control over the facial muscles on one side of my face. Both ENT and my doctors were closed on the Saturday I rang them, I’m a Sabbatarian, so I got over that. On the Monday following I called ENT, and after some time I got through, only to be told that I needed to be referred to that clinic again by my doctor. So I phoned my doctors and again, after repeated attempts to get through I was told they had no appointments that day, but they would arrange for the doctor to give me a call back on Thursday.
On Thursday the doctors receptionist called me at 10am asking if I could attend an appointment at 11am, which unfortunately I couldn’t as I was too far away from the surgery to make it on time. So I was advised to call 111 to book an out of hours appointment, which I did. The doctor seemed very agreeable and sincere, but he had the annoying habit of finishing my sentences with words I wasn’t actually going to say! Anyway, he examined me and agreed he could see a definite problem but said he couldn’t refer me as he wasn’t one of the usual doctors. A wasted trip!
Because of that, and knowing I needed to be seen by a practice doctor rather than a locum, I followed up my out of hours visit to my doctors the following day by calling them, but due to some work being done at home by an electrician I couldn’t make the appointment, as it didn’t seem safe or sensible to leave the electrician working in my flat. I followed up again on Monday morning, and after 82 redial attempts I got through and managed to book an appointment for late that evening.
Work over-ran with a long crisis meeting. After doing battle with the numpties on the road who do things like stop when leaving roundabouts and stay in the left hand lane when really they want to turn right, I arrived at the surgery, with just 5 minutes to spare and I had thought I would be late for the appointment or miss it. The doctor examined me and agreed I had an issue, so he wrote me a letter to hand in to A&E and said I should visit A&E striaght away. I got to A&E around 20:30 at the latest…
I was seen by nurse who took my details and read the letter from the doctor. I relaxed in the waiting area before a Brazilian or Portuguese lady on reception called my name – almost, “Anthony Earnest?”, approaching the counter, I said “Ewers, Anthony Ewers”, to which she replied in the most nonchalant lady slap inspiring “Perhaps…” “It is me” I thought, “I know my own name” – I hope. What is it with “perhaps”, why not “I’m sorry Mr Ewers”?
Anyway despite my slight feeling of unease, and knowing that if I started talking to people who seem like the don’t care, and try to convince them they should care, it’s a losing battle, and with the zero tolerance approach the NHS has toward abusing staff, its difficult to know where to draw the line between trying to correct someone and being a patient that is deliberately trying to be awkward. Given that I need their help I smiled obligingly as she continued… “Do you have any allergies?” – and I really wanted to say it … “Oh, only people who mis-pronounce my surname and don’t seem to care or find it of any particular significance whatsoever…” But I held it in, and was duly processed and sent on my way back to the waiting area.
The highlights of my trip to A&E were an Irish man who initially was sat the opposite side of the waiting area from me, who was continually talking to himself and asking people if they were Nazi’s or vampires, unfortunately – the punchline to “How many Nazi’s does it take to change a lightbulb?” were muffled otherwise I would share it with you. When we moved seats in between being called for bloods twice, CT Scan, and X-Ray I ended up sitting slightly closer to him and got the pronounced smell of urine. He seemed like a kind guy though, the chap two seats away from me was shaking like a man gone cold-turkey, and he asked “are you ok, do you want me to get a nurse”, I was thinking I should ask the same, but dare not ask – and it just shows, as oddball as this guy was – he had genuine concern for someone else.
And now I get to what I actually wanted to write in the first place!
For me going to A&E is always a long and laborious mission, the waiting upon waiting, people in pain, people getting bad news, wailing can altogether combined be frustrating and upsetting. When I arrived I thought I would be home by 11pm, but at around 3.45am as my iPhone battery died I found myself sitting on A&E bed waiting to be seen by the Stroke Specialist. The A&E ward was absolutely FREEZING!, everyone commented on how cold it was, even the nurses and doctors. I was wearing a vest, shirt, waistcoat, coat, hat and scarf while I was sitting on the bed waiting, and I was cold, so how the 60 or 70-year-old lady in the bed nearby wearing a hospital gown was coping I do not know.
What I would say is that when the Stroke Specialist came to see me, I was a bit worried that the results of my tests were going to show I had a problem, but she talked with me about my circumstances, gave me a really thorough examination and explained her plan of action to get me the information I needed. It turns out I have Synkinises, and although this bout of it is much later than you would expect in the recovery cycle for a Bell’s Palsy sufferer – 4 years approximately, as opposed to a few weeks to a few months, what I was experiencing, although disconcerting was evidence that my nerves were healing – which was relieving news.
I left the hospital feeling that although the treatment was bloody slow because of all the waiting, in reality, I know those nurses and doctors see people in far greater need than I was, and they do well to prioritise and consider and act on things ranging from those which could be a matter of life and death for some people, through to suffering, and mild discomfort for others. We can’t do without the NHS, and I really think Austerity and these tax dodging bastards are utterly selfish, and they need to be made to play their part in helping society grow in a fair way, instead of just milking it!