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Category Archives: hospitals

knee news

18 Monday Aug 2025

Posted by azahar in health, hope, hospitals, knee saga, knees, sevilla

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health, hospitals, knee, knee surgery, sevilla

I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE THE KNEE SPECIALIST. The call came in this morning and I almost couldn’t believe it. It’s for next week, August 28th and while I know I should be happy I’m also nervous, because of course this is just to find out if my surgery will be approved. I’ve already printed out my page outlining everything that has happened (and not happened) since May 2023 when this whole knee saga began. Hopefully it won’t be glossed over and dismissed like it was by the trauma guys last October.

To wit my friend Sharon has offered to come with me and be my advocate. Thing is, I’d be an excellent advocate for someone else, I just can’t manage it for myself when I’ve got all the other scary feelings going on. What can I say, hospitals trigger me big time. Anyhow… stay tuned. If it ends up being a simple meniscus repair I could be up and walking again in no time. A replacement would obviously be a longer recovery. And of course in either case I’ll end up going on another waiting list. But first things first.

three weeks later…

07 Thursday Aug 2025

Posted by azahar in health, hospitals, sevilla

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apocard, health, sevilla

It’s been three weeks since I had my bonus cardiology visit and the doctor agreed to cut Apocard (flecainide) from my prescriptions, even though she said she didn’t believe it was the cause of the symptoms I described to her (inside of head feeling bruised, pressure behind eyes, occasional dizziness and blurred vision). But hey, almost immediately those symptoms disappeared and I’ve only noticed one or two slight tachycardia episodes since then. My pulse has gone back up a bit but is still below 70 and BP is stable. I meant to ask if, without the flecainide, I should be taking a full beta-blocker pill instead of half (which original cardiologist switched it to when I started taking it with the flecainide) but I guess she would have noticed and said so. Maybe? 

Anyhow, feeling better about this. And not just because I’m actually feeling better. It’s easier now to take all three meds together in the morning and I don’t have that feeling of dread that accompanied taking the flecainide. Apparently it is a very widely used treatment for atrial fibrillation in Spain, but seems to be less popular elsewhere. And since here they still prescribe Nolotil (metamizol) with reckless abandon despite it being banned in more than 20 countries, well, I think I can be forgiven for not automatically thinking that Doctor Knows Best. 

Meanwhile, I already have my cardiology revision appointment set for next February (!). This doctor may have seemed a bit brusque but at least she also seems to get things done. So fingers crossed this latest drug cocktail (bp med, blood thinner, beta blocker) works and it’s all I need. 

third time lucky?

17 Thursday Jul 2025

Posted by azahar in health, hospitals, sevilla

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health, hospitals, sevilla

So after getting a call from the Cardiologist at the end of April telling me I HAD to start taking this and that IMMEDIATELY, well, I started taking them. But I didn’t start taking the third one (beta blocker) listed because he didn’t mention it in the call. Anyhow, I wasn’t happy taking the Flecainide from the beginning because it kind of scared me, also I wasn’t feeling well on it, having several of the side effects listed here.  So after going to the hospital to try and speak to the Cardiologist and also going to see my GP I ended up with TWO Cardiology appointments. I went to the first one in June and got my prescription somewhat changed, starting with the beta blocker and getting the Flecainide dosage halved. But things still didn’t feel right.

Luckily I held on the the second “bonus” appointment and took advantage of it to go and talk to the Cardiologist again today. Except it wasn’t the same affable guy I’d been seeing, it was very brusque woman. At first I thought she was kind of unfriendly but it turned out she was just no nonsense. The first thing she said was… what are you doing back here? You were just here last month! So I had to explain it was about the prescription (didn’t mention the bonus appt) and told her that even on half-flecainide I was still feeling wonky. She told me flat out that none of the side effects I described were typically caused by Flecainide  (well OTHER THAN ON THIS PAGE) but said if I thought it was making me feel bad that she would cancel that prescription and I could continue with the other three. Just like that. Um… okay. I asked if I should have a revision in case the tachycardia started up again and she said “well, yours seem to be quite caprichoso, not constant, so check again with your GP if you notice any changes”. 

I mean, I have to admit that I haven’t had any tachycardia moments since starting on the Flecainide, and both my BP and pulse have dropped… but I mean by a lot. Meanwhile the inside of my head feels bruised and I get dizzy, pressure behind eyes, sometimes blurry vision. Anyhow, now that I have the specialist’s permission to stop taking scary drug (for now) I will see how it goes over the rest of the summer. I feel more relaxed about this. So now it’s just the same old BP meds I’ve been on for years, the blood thinner and the beta blocker (but half dosage). And apparently I can take them all at breakfast, so no more morning and evening pill popping. More news as I get it. 

más trauma

18 Wednesday Jun 2025

Posted by azahar in health, hospitals, knee saga, knees, markets, sevilla

≈ 1 Comment

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health, hospitals, sevilla, traumatology

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s visit to the Cardiologist, today it was a trip back to Fleming to see a different traumatologist (in the aparato locomotor dept) about my shoulder. You may recall that when I stopped by Fleming back in May to ask why I’ve been waiting since October to see the knee surgeon I was told that they were presently seeing people whose doctors had requested appointments LAST JULY. So while I was there today I thought I’d ask this doctor about the long wait and she just rolled her eyes and very sympathetically said to me that a year’s wait was normal so I shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t see anyone until next October. Fuck.

But, back to the shoulder. An old problem I’ve had for years, comes and goes, and the reason for the aborted MRI in April (I lasted maybe 10 seconds in there). When I reported that to today’s doctor she nodded her head and said a lot of people have the same problem. Then  she gave me an examination, had me try various movements, strength testing, etc. and said I had ____________ (a long techy description I can’t remember – short version: fucked up shoulder). Then she put in an appointment request to get an ultrasound done and said she’d see me again after that. Fine.

Then it was back to my knee. She seemed actually concerned about how I was doing and concurred with the previous doctors that physiotherapy wasn’t helpful for a torn meniscus, but said cycling would be good for me (thinking about looking for a stationary bike during the summer sales, or I might be able to rent one from the hospital). I appreciated that she didn’t tell me I need to lose weight; I got the feeling she knew I knew that already. She also said I could try this stuff, which I found out my pharmacy stocks, but I need to do some research first. Her recommendation was to take it for three months, then take two months off, and then another three months. We’ll see. Not sure if this isn’t just more woo woo whatever, like all those useless creams I’ve tried over the past couple of years.

So what does any of this have to do with that fabulous breakfast up there? Well, Fleming is just around the corner from Mercado Las Palmeritas, which I went to for the first time while researching my Sevilla Food Markets article on Substack (and decided it’s now my new favourite market), and so it seemed like a great opportunity to drop in again. I actually shared that massive tostada with Peter, then did a little shopping and, yep, it’s still my favourite market. Pico de gallo coming up…

meds update

17 Tuesday Jun 2025

Posted by azahar in health, hospitals, sevilla

≈ 3 Comments

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health, hospitals, sevilla

After that whole crazy runaround a couple of weeks ago trying to get my meds sorted I suddenly had not one but two appointments with the cardiologist! The first one (today) came via my visit to the Duques del Infantado hospital and the second (July 9th) from my GP. Whatever. I went to this morning’s and have decided to hold onto the other appointment just in case.

They did an ECG (normal) and I explained to the cardiologist that I haven’t been taking the bisoprolol (beta blocker) and that I am not feeling well on the flecainide (heartbeat regulator). He said not to worry about taking the beta blocker with Losartán, the other bp med I’ve been on for ages. Then he said he’d cut down the flecainide to half a pill twice a day, and start the beta blocker at half dosage as well. And he even gave me a schedule…

Treatment
Apocard 100 mg (flecainide) – half tablet every 12 hours, breakfast and dinner
Lixiana 60 mg (anticoagulant) – 1 tablet every 24 hours, at breakfast
Bisoprolol 2.5 mg (beta blocker) – half tablet every 24 hours, at dinner
Losartán/HCTZ (bp med) – 1 tablet at night

Revision in 6 months.

I think I can live with this adjustment for now. To be honest, the tachycardia has pretty much stopped so maybe this is working and I just need less of the scary Apocard drug? I told him that when I saw my GP she said she couldn’t change my prescription he said… well, now she can, it’s all in the new report. Which he then printed out and gave to me. Meanwhile, I have this other appointment set up for three weeks from now in case I need it, and if not I’ll cancel it. Ufff…

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