Tag Archives: hospitals

well that was an effing waste of time

25 Wednesday Feb 2026

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I’m now extra glad I hadn’t unwittingly headed off to my cardiology revision two weeks ago because wasting time and money getting to the hospital and back yesterday without getting caught up in the tractor strike was bad enough. I had guessed that this revision was going to be the usual EKG and asking about the tachycardia. Which they did. But the doctor (another new one, I never see the same specialist twice) didn’t listen at all. He spent the entire visit typing out the report, even when I told him that that very morning I’d had a very unusual tachycardia episode that lasted about three hours. I explained that it was a condition I’ve had since my mid-twenties (he’s nodding and typing) and nobody has ever been able to tell me why it’s happening, that I’ve wondered if it is POTS but it has never been diagnosed as such. I stressed that it is very rare when it doesn’t stop within a few minutes and said that since it happened I was feeling some pain just above my left breast.

“Oh, that’s nothing, nothing to do with the arrhythmia”. His advice was that the next time I should go and get an EKG done while the tachycardia is happening so they can better judge was is causing it. WTAF? I asked him where I was supposed to get an instant EKG and he said to go to my health centre or to a private clinic. Again… wtf? I explained (again) that the episodes don’t usually last that long, and the times they have, and I was worried enough to go to emergency, they always stopped before I got in to see a doctor. So he said I could get a mobile “Kardia” heart monitor, wrote the name down for me, and said that was all he could do. He then gave me a perfunctory once over with the stethoscope and pronounced me “just fine”, printed out his report and said “see you in a year”. Except of course I doubt I will ever see this guy again.

So I dunno. Reckon this Kardia thing is worth it? It seems most home monitoring gadgets are far from reliable. Maybe I should splash out on an Apple watch instead?

suprise shoulder ultrasound

12 Thursday Feb 2026

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

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Well okay, it wasn’t a surprise that I was getting one but every since I bailed on my shoulder MRI last April (lasted approx 7 seconds in the COFFIN DEATH MACHINE) and got to see another traumatologist in June I’ve been waiting for this appointment. Which also wasn’t a surprise because it seems like all I do these days is wait for appointments. But after having to cancel my cardiology revision on Tuesday DUE TO TRACTORS I was actually expecting yesterday’s way too early phone call to be from them… instead it was from the Hospital Virgen del Rocío saying I had an ultrasound appointment the following morning at 10.00 am. So… surprise!

In the grand scheme of things the chronic shoulder pain I’ve had for… seemingly ever?… doesn’t begin to compete with the FUCKING KNEE PAIN which now seems to be extending to my left knee, possibly due to original fucking knee pain putting lower back out (hello sciatica, my old nemesis) so all movement now is fraught with potentially fucking up… basically everything else? I don’t know. All I know is that everything hurts all the time these days.

Anyhow, back to today’s hospital visit. It actually went very smoothly. Easily found taxis to get me there and back again (not always the case). And since I pretty much know Virgen del Rocío inside out by now I got to my ecografía waiting area just on time (seriously, you try it, they don’t make it easy) and was called in almost immediately. And the doctors were great. I almost felt like I was in a THE PITT episode when a young man came over and introduced himself, telling me his name and saying he was a resident intern (hey we all gotta learn sometime). Happily he was soon accompanied by the actual doctor in charge but she let him search away on my shoulder with the magic wand and there was plenty of back and forthing between them about what they were actually seeing on the screen.

Then the head doc took over and first thing she said was… how do you pronounce your name? I told her and after that she used it every time she had something to tell me. I thought that was a nice touch. Anyhoodle… apparently my shoulder is fucked, as if I didn’t know. It wasn’t possible to see whether the tendon is torn or just (just!) damaged and inflamed. But head doc told me that either outcome wouldn’t change the treatment or the pain involved. When I told her about the MRI debacle she said that for this particular issue an ultrasound is more useful than an MRI. Okey dokey.

So on to treatment. And the here we go again cycle… she said aside from anti-inflammatories and painkillers there might be some physiotherapy that could help but I needed to see the traumatologist again. And so now I wait. Again.

 

 

 

tractors galore

10 Tuesday Feb 2026

Posted by in health, hospitals, sevilla

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Today I had the cardiology revision appointment made last July after cutting Flecainide from my prescription (which immediately made me feel better). I wasn’t sure what they were actually going to do today other than the usual ECG and ask about the tachycardia. Then it turned out they didn’t do anything because I WAS WAYLAID BY HUNDREDS OF TRACTORS and couldn’t go. Well fuck.

Don’t get me wrong, I fully support the demonstration by the thousands of farmers and their hundreds of tractors that brought Sevilla to a standstill today. I just didn’t know it was happening. So if I hadn’t checked the Number 3 bus route for times I wouldn’t have seen the alert (the main tractor route is also my route to the hospital) I would have been so fucked. Now I’m just both relieved and disappointed.

I was able to put in an online request to change today’s appointment so, you know, whatever. It was a revision, hopefully nothing urgent, and now I am waiting to hear about about the new date. But I’d been kind of dreading today, and in a way am a bit annoyed now I couldn’t just get it over with (esp after all the build up over the past few days). But I have a warm purring Morcilla cuddled up on my shoulder as I type (she’s happy I stayed home!) and sossiges & spinach mash coming up for lunch. How was your Tuesday?

knee news

18 Monday Aug 2025

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

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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.

third time lucky?

17 Thursday Jul 2025

Posted by in health, hospitals, sevilla

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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.