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April 21


Jazz

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Hello All, Philip here with the latest instalment of "The Trials and Tribulations of Suzeanna"   

Are you sitting comfortably?.. Then I will begin...

I got to see Sue yesterday afternoon and spent my alloted hour with her and she was as well as she could be, she has problems with holding things and when lifting her hands she has a noticeable tremor. much to her chagrin she has to use a sip cup so that she does throw whatever she is drinking all over herself and the ward. She is currently on antibiotics and morphine ( you will need to remember this detail for later in the story!)

It wasn't easy to leave at the end of the hour but at least I got to see here and will do again this afternoon. Sometime after I got home she called me. The results of the MRI with contrast scans had come back. The area that is affected is, and I quote, "a mass of infection" I understand that as is normal the scans were passed to Weston Park and the Northern General for their consideration. Early evening yesterday Sue had a call from a Mr. Bailey, who wanted a face to face conversation with her. He was very honest with her and said although his senior consultant had said he wouldn't perform a surgical operation, he was willing to give it a try if after a chat she was willing.  "OK" she said, lets talk. So it was arranged for her to go over to the NG and I got a call about 21.30 to say she had arrived.

I got a call this morning at 06.30 and if any of you had been looking towards Chesterfield about five minutes later you would have seen a mushroom cloud to rival those when they tested the  H Bomb. Anybody who knows me will tell you I have a calm placid personality, but this morning I was incandescent with rage.

The only pain relief she had been given was two paracetamol and some codeine. She asked why she wasn't being given Oramorph. "erm, it's not listed"  "What about my antibiotics?" "ermm, it's not listed.

So Northern General had a patient in, intelligent and lucid, who has been in extreme pain and has a massive infection and they leave her without the two medications she really needs. A five minute call to the Elmton ward at the Royal would have sorted it, but apparently that would have taken some thought!

I called the Royal later on when I knew senior staff would be about. I spoke to a very polite doctor and told him what had happened, explained that my wife had been fifteen hours without suitable pain relief and the antibiotics needed to fight the "mass of infection",  I then very politely asked him to contact the NG and to "kick their arses"  Call from Sue a bit later Oramorph and antibiotics had been given.

She spoke to Mr. Bailey about the op but has declined in that it has a moderate chance of making things worse. So Sue has asked to be taken back to the Royal and I got a call an hour or so ago to say she is back in her bed there. I have written a letter of complaint about the NG's lack of Duty of Care to their patient.

 

 One bit of good news, she can now mover her right leg a bit, whereas yesterday she could only wiggle her toes!

That's all for now....  an update will follow when I know more..

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Thanks Philip.

Why is there no joined up communication these days.? People seem to have the attitude that 'it is not my job to do that'.

At least she is back where she is comfortable.

But, a lot of unknown for you both at present. 

Let's hope she continues to improve with the antibiotics.

 

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Hey Everybody, I have an update but I am sorry to say it is not very encouraging.  I called this morning and arranged to talk to one of the doctors on the team caring for Sue. So I went in at 12.45 and spoke to a very friendly, and at my request straight talking doctor.  The main problem is the infection at C5, the fracture caused a bleed and the infection latched onto this, and has now caused an abcess which is causing all the loss of motor function. They feel the infection got in by the skin "mets" on her neck and left collar bone which had previously opened and were quite raw, although Sue had covered them and they did seem to be healing in terms of the skin being unbroken.

The antibiotics she is currently on have had very little effect on the infection and a response would have been within 48 hours, and now it is 96. They have now changed her antibiotics though to a new one.

However I was advised that realistically  Sue is "at the beginning of the end". They have had to stop the chemo she was having as this suppresses the body's immune response.  Of course this will just mean the cancer will keep progressing. Life expectancy is probably at the most six months.

When everything has been put into place to care for her Sue will come home and have carers in. She is to be given six weeks of IV antibiotics and then six weeks of orally taken. She will not be allowed to stand as this could cause catastrophic damage to her neck. So she will be bed bound for the rest of her life. Sue is aware of all this, she had this conversation with the consultant prior to mine with his junior.

I am sorry this hasn't had a more positive tone, but Sue asked me to make you all aware of things, I know we have only met Owl some time back but she considers you on here to be her friends, and she has always been grateful for the moral support you have given her.

I will of course keep you updated if anything changes.

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Morning all, nice out, laundry drying nicely.

A fellow volunteer and I saw a bird on the reserve yesterday which was very unusual, and the only match is a bluethroat. A few come up the east coast every year, rare migrant which usually goes up through the continent. Unfortunately it was the far side of a lake, and neither of us had good enough optics for a definite ID. By the time a birder with a powerful scope had arrived, the little thing had popped back into the reedbed. I do hope it reappears and gets seen and hopefully photographed.

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