What a performance!

What a performance! Yesterday I went off to give some blood, ready for chemo on Monday. It is essential I have some blood tests done first & they must be done on Friday. I had managed to arrange an appointment at one of the local surgeries so I wouldn’t have to go into Lancaster to the hospital.

I duly turned up to be told they didn’t have the equipment to remove blood using the PICC line – that has to be sterilised before & after use. They tried to use a needle in the ordinary way but with no success. They could not put a tourniquet on my upper right arm because of the PICC line. The dressing around the PICC line overlapped the crook of my elbow making it difficult to access that area. The nurse did try once at the side of the crook in the elbow & once in my right hand but as soon as the needle went in the vein disappeared never to be seen again. The left side cannot be used because of the cancer on that side. I was told it would have to be done at the hospital or by the district nurse. However, there was no time to sort out the district nurse for yesterday. I went home & rang the hospital emergency line & told them my problem. I was told to come in between 2 & 4pm.

Meanwhile I returned to the surgery to find out how I’m supposed to arrange a district nurse to come every Friday.

On Fridays we often join a group of friends at the golf club. We duly joined them but left early & rushed into Lancaster. The hospital couldn’t believe the problem I’d had.

When I’d got home, the phone rang. It was the nurse I’d seen at the surgery. She’d been so upset that she’d failed to draw the blood she’d checked out the system. Apparently I have to get a referral from Oncology for the district nurse to come to my home. I thought it was nice of her to look into the problem off her own bat & duly thanked her.

I’ve not done anything further at the moment. On Monday I was thinking of arranging the blood test next Friday at the hospital anyhow. I have an appointment to see the specialist at Oncology then so I might as well get the two jobs done at the same time, but I’m contemplating arranging a district nurse in future.

My next problem arose this morning. I’ve finally got my waterproof cover so I can have a shower. I’ve been looking forward to having one all week. The first thing that struck me was that the bathroom didn’t seem very warm. I touched the radiator to find it stone cold. I went & checked the boiler. It hadn’t come on. I pressed the red reset button & went back.

Having cleaned my teeth I got ready for the shower, carefully pulling the cover over the PICC line & its dressing. I ran the water a bit. No hot water. I hastily got back into my nightwear, went back to the boiler. It had switched itself off again. I reset it a second time. I ran some further water. No sign of any heat. The boiler couldn’t have come on last night either. Our cleaner had been yesterday & presumably used up all the hot water in the cistern. I thought this time I would have my breakfast to give some water time to warm up. While the kettle boiled for a mug of tea I frequently checked the boiler was working & steam was coming out of the vent. This time it stayed on. By the time I’d had my tea & something to eat there was sufficient warm water for my shower.

As I say, what a performance!