A Rare Visitor, Covid, Illness and GPs

I have looked in from time to time, but 2021 has not been the best year, one way and another. My wife’s Covid was a bad start. After that, we managed to get our AstraZeneca vaccinations. I had an interesting reaction, I basically lost control of my legs for a while after both shots, though I was better by morning. We had to deal with some serious life-threatening misadventure by our youngest daughter. Summer was spent getting her medication sorted. That was a long, slow battle through the summer, though we won through in the end, and she has resumed her studies. It did provide a major distraction for my wife, who ignored feeling increasingly unwell. A phone call to the oncologist, follow-up scans, soon revealed problems. A liver biopsy soon confirmed the problem, metastatic melanoma,  not breast cancer as we all initially thought. I had just completed a nearly 400-mile round trip, taking our younger daughter back to resume her studies, my return home was marred by the obvious realisation that breathing was now a serious issue. So back in the car and off to A&E. While, the cancer is now in several locations, the breathing problems were caused by a severe lung infection. An overnighter in the hospital saw us go past go and collect a range of medications, together with a call to return for follow up a few days later. The GP has been supportive, several telephone calls, the urgent release of ‘strong’ medication and the assignment of various help organs have swung into place. The downside is that her oncologist is now in the Royal Free hospital, a nightmare of a place to visit, involving a 4-hour round road trip each time. The Parochial Health Service requires tests to be performed by the treating hospital, which do not always feel like an ideal use of that much painful travel time.  Trains and the underground are unusable in her present state of health. An Argos purchase of a wheelchair has been a godsend that was initially fiercely resisted, but now recognised as essential for hospital visits. At least, some medication has now been prescribed to manage the cancer, though it is almost certainly palliative, rather than a cure.

I have not found contacting our GP hard. During one recent exchange of reports, I raised some of my outstanding referrals by hospital consultants. They have been outstanding for 18~24 months. Cue a flurry of appointments, some are even face to face. Hopefully, face-to-face will also apply to my waitlisted echocardiogram appointment.

Unlike some, we managed to get flu jabs a few weeks ago, and have recently had our covid  boosters. This time we had the Pfizer version. Once again my wife, who has been known to react with anaphylaxis to some encounters, and now carries EpiPen ‘insurance’ with her at all times, had no reaction. I did manage a few post jab issues but nothing too dramatic.

So, that is why my visits are sporadic, and with the passing of Bob already tinged with sadness.