Category Archives: hospitals

sick… again!

31 Monday Mar 2025

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What started last week as a sore throat seemed to be another of “those things” going around. I’d had almost identical symptoms last December just before Christmas. Both then and now repeated Covid-Flu tests have come back negative so I didn’t think too much about it. Turns out I should have been staying home! I was out for a rather glorious lunch at Restaurante Limón on Thursday, invited by the PR at five-star Don Ramón Hotel, and felt okay when I got there. But by the time lunch was over I was feeling decidedly not okay and, after getting home, it was all I could to do shower and put myself to bed. And well, I’ve been there ever since. Other than a trip to emergency today.

It was truly bizarre going from having such mild symptoms to becoming bedridden within a couple of hours. The scariest symptom is that since Saturday my vision started going wonky, but really they are all very worrying and unpleasant (I brought a written list of them with me to the hospital). Anyhow, I have a an assortment of meds now, so hopefully they will have the desired effect.

medical check list

17 Monday Mar 2025

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I was ready today! Had blood tests done a while back so it was time to check in with Nice GP again. Peter also needed some things checked out so we made back-to-back appointments (he needs a translator and it’s easier than coming at separate times). Aside from what I might hear re: the blood tests I also had a check list of a few things that had been causing me concern.

Peter went first. He needs to get more blood work done along with some other tests, and also has to see a kidney specialist, meanwhile he’ll continue on blood pressure meds, the vitamin D mega pills and will also start on statins. Phew.

Then it was my turn. Going through the blood test results it turns out that my good/bad cholesterol levels are kind of cancelling each other out, my sugar levels are “borderline” and everything else is pretty normal. So no extra meds for me (yet), just continuing with the blood pressure ones.

[WARNING: this is totally boring, continue reading at your own risk]

And then I took out my list. First off was the neuropathy in my feet that I’ve had since chemo (2009) but has been getting noticeably more painful. I was concerned it could be diabetes related but my blood test results cancelled that out. Doc recommended a new multi-vitamin that is meant to specifically help with neuropathy. Okay.

Next up… my old nemesis tachycardia has been really been knocking me sideways over the past few months. I’ve had this since I was about 25 and to date nobody has ever actually diagnosed me, after countless ECGs and Holters and cardiologist visits… nothing ever happens THEN but then a day later at home my heart goes crazy. Anyhow, another cardiology appointment has been requested and this time I want answers. Because I’m pretty sure it’s POTS but I don’t know why recently symptoms are happening when I’m just sitting at my desk (like now) or even when I’m in bed (which is actually scary). That’s new. And worrying.

But I wasn’t finished. My seemingly random SHOULDER PAIN came back a couple of months ago. And I mean, on top of knee pain and not being able to walk it’s almost too much so I decided to ask yet again if anything could be done about this (nobody else has said anything other than “take these pills”). But Nice GP said it sounded like a nerve problem because of the pins-and-needles and she has requested an MRI.

By the time I got around to mentioning my KNEE and that I was still waiting after 5 months to see the surgeon I could tell I’d kind of worn out my welcome. I mean, I get it. When Agustín was my GP he told me they were allowed 4 minutes per patient and between me and Peter we’d already taken up close to half an hour. She said the only thing I could do about that was put in an official complaint with the hospital and, well, that’s already done.

Then it was back downstairs to book appointments. It’s curious because some appointments are made automatically when the doctor orders them (then you wait for the call), but others need to be done at the reception desk. WHATEVER. Did all that. And an hour and a half after getting to the health centre we were released. 

A footnote: Peter and I were the ONLY ones wearing masks other than one woman who was clearly keeping her distance. Also, I am so grateful for Nice GP (who replaced Heartless GP back in June 2024). She actually listens and gets things done.

 

plague doctors

24 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, health, hospitals, sevilla, spain

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The Plague Doctors of the middle ages put themselves at great personal risk to carry out their duties, much like any doctor would today. Oh wait, let me revise that. Much like doctors did during the first two years of the pandemic. These days doctors are more likely to be carrying plague (well, Covid) and are not taking any precautions in order to not pass it on to their co-workers or their patients.

Today Peter and I went to the Centro de Salud to make appointments for blood tests and I thought I would pop in to their drop-in emergency room and have someone take a look at my throat. Ever since I got that killer sore throat more than a month ago, which evolved into a big mucousy mess of a “cold” including a non-stop runny nose and chesty cough, well it’s never quite gone away. It’s more like it ebbs and flows, with some days feeling normal and then WHAM it’s back again. But each time it comes back with slightly different symptoms. Lately I’ve noticed a somewhat disturbing pain just above my clavicle on the right side of my oesophagus that I thought should at least be mentioned to a doctor. Since this “cold” first arrived I reckon I’ve done at least eight Covid/FluAB/RSV tests and so it kind of points to a possible bacterial infection.

Anyhow, after a short bus ride from hell crowded with unmasked people coughing and hacking all over the place we arrived at the Centro to find… the exact same scenario. I’d read about health centres and emergency rooms here being overwhelmed by “respiratory illness” patients and so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was completely dismayed that NOBODY was wearing a mask. So the last thing I wanted to do was remove my mask in a small unventilated examination room with an unmasked doctor getting up close and personal to have a look down my gullet.

And so after making the blood test appointments (Feb 3) I decided to hold off and maybe try to see a doctor then if my symptoms are still a concern. But I mean… idiot selfish asshole people coughing all over everyone and not bothering to SIMPLY PUT ON A MASK is one thing, but oughtta-know-better professional health care workers doing the same… is unconscionable, to put it mildly. I honestly don’t know how they justify their behaviour when they are clearly putting their patients and co-workers at risk. THEY should be the ones setting an example but it’s like we’re living in the upside-down now.

For my food tours and wine tastings I require that people be fully vaccinated with the most recent Covid booster. Today a potential client (63 years old) told me that he and his wife went to get their flu and RSV shots a couple of months ago but – AT THEIR DOCTOR’S RECOMMENDATION – they did not take the Covid booster option. Wtf…

People always say that the medieval Plague Doctors looked scary… I say the present day ones are far scarier. Because they have the science to know better but choose to ignore it. And they don’t seem to care who dies or is disabled as a result. Shame on them.

defensor del pueblo andaluz

05 Thursday Dec 2024

Posted by in health, health & happiness, hospitals, sevilla

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defensor del pueblo

Many years ago I was walking past a very elegant building not far from where I live now and the sign outside caught my interest. I wondered what the Defensor del Pueblo Andaluz actually did. Like, who did they defend, and from what? As luck would have it there was a man standing in the doorway and so I asked him. And he said, well, when people are having difficulties and don’t know what they can do we find ways of helping them find the help they need. I remember thinking at the time, wow, what a wonderful service.

They came back to mind earlier this week when I got in touch with my friend (and ex-GP) Agustín to ask him if there was such a thing as an official Patient Advocate that might be able to help me with this whole medical mess I’ve been going through with my knee(s). He suggested that I register a formal complaint with Servicio Andaluz de Salud (SAS) but the thought of going through all that without even knowing where to start… well, it made me think of the DPA. 

I got onto their website and there was an easy way to send in a request so I did that. That very evening I got a call from someone from the DPA who also suggested the formal complaint route, saying I could go to any health centre or hospital and submit the form. The next day I received an email with a PDF of my official file number etc but meanwhile some questions had arisen. I’m very familiar with Spanish red tape so what I didn’t want is to show up at the hospital and have them give me the run around.

So today I took a copy of my DPA file over to that elegant building and said to the guy at the information counter that I still had a few questions. No problem. Within a few minutes I was talking to an advisor who listened to my whole story and then… actually helped me! He said I didn’t have to go to a hospital or health centre, that it was easy to do everything online, especially if I had a certificado digital (which I do) and he proceeded to take me through the steps, showing me the SAS website on his computer screen, what to click on, etc. Then he told me that after sending in the official complaint SAS had one month to respond and if they didn’t respond by then, or if I did not agree with their response, then I had a case for the DPA and they would officially step in.

OMG… I almost started crying. I mean, it’s scary to hope at this point, but suddenly I could actually DO something, there were clear steps to take and it made me feel less helpless and alone. So of course I sent in that official SAS complaint as soon as I got home today and… now we wait. Meanwhile I got an SMS from DPA reminding me of how to send in the official complaint and also what to do after I receive a response with corresponding emails and phone numbers. Fucking socialist governments, eh?

shingles vax 2024

19 Tuesday Nov 2024

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shingles

So dammit. For the past few years I’ve been asking at my health centre for the shingles vaccine and the answer was always that it wasn’t available. Until this year! A couple of weeks ago while picking up some papers at the reception desk I asked if I could make an appointment for a shingles jab and they said, sure no problem. Well hey! So I signed up both me and Peter and today we went to get the deed done. Except then we didn’t.

When I moved to the present Casa Azahar in 2017 I didn’t change health centres because my long-time GP and friend Agustín was there. There’s actually another health centre about a 7 minute walk from me, and this one is about 30 minutes away. These days that would take me an hour on the crutches, so instead I take the bus two stops, though this still involves about 20 minutes of shuffle-walking. I know I could switch to the other place, and since Agustín retired a couple of years ago that would seem to make sense. But I dunno. I know my way around this one. It’s small, fairly modern. It’s comfortable.

I have had occasion to go to the closer health centre, a massive 8-storey building built in the mid-20th century, taking the place of the rather splendid Instituto de Higiene del doctor Leopoldo Murga Machado that used to occupy that corner of Marqués de Paradas. And well… I hate it there. It’s… too big? Walls are painted hospital green. It just feels too institutional. And as I say, I’m used to my now pain-in-the-ass to get to one.

But hey, whatever it takes. Got on the bus, hobbled up to the health centre, masked up and walked in, knew exactly where to go. My name was called… then the nurse asked which year I was born. Wut? Turns out the shingles vaccine is ONLY available to people born in 1959. I was soooooooo… wut??? The nurse went on to explain that this was the first year the vaccine has become available and, for whatever reason, they are starting with people born in 1959. She did seem apologetic, but what a waste of a morning.

I’d also had a telephone appointment with my GP earlier and asked if she could fast-lane my upcoming appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon and she said “oh, you’ll have to call the hospital about that, not my department”. Fucking hell, she could have told me this when I asked her two weeks ago during Peter’s appointment (I was there to help translate), instead she said that to look up anything about me I’d have to make a separate appointment. And so now I am on a continuous loop of calling-calling-calling the hospital on speaker. Wish me luck!

marques de paradasInstituto de Higiene del doctor Leopoldo Murga Machado