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National Health Blog Post Month

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Encountering Problems in Healthcare

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Welcome to the fifth day of the National Health Blog Post Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health.   Every day during the month of November I will be writing a new blog post related to health and living with a chronic illness based on given prompts provided by WEGO Health

Today’s prompt reads:

Election day! Votes are in – you won!  If you got elected as President (or Prime Minister, for those living in the UK!), what are the three changes you would make to healthcare?

In the UK, in my opinion we are very fortunate to be provided with a National Health Service; free medical care for every person living in the UK.  There are many positive aspects with the NHS such as the many dedicated staff that work in hospitals and GP surgeries.  However, the NHS is not without its flaws and although I have received many positive experiences using NHS services, I have also sadly experienced negative experiences and seen first-hand how changes could improve the NHS.

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An example, of how frustrating being a patient in the NHS is the unfortunate waiting times for appointments.  The waiting time just to make an appointment with a GP is extraordinary – at my surgery, it is not unusual to wait approximately two weeks to have a non-urgent (or regular) appointment with the doctor.  For hospital consultations it can be approximately a 3 month waiting list.  For a patient living with a chronic illness, like myself it can be a very long wait as we struggle with a flare of the symptoms we live with.  There are approximately 15 million people in the UK suffering with a long-term health condition alone, and after talking on Twitter with other patients, there are many people who have to wait more than a couple of days for a GP appointment.  If the flare is very bad, however, many are then forced to attend Accident and Emergency to get help after failing to get an appointment with their GP.  This obviously increases the NHS load within A and E departments; increasing waiting times and so on.  Therefore, I propose having clinics within GP surgeries and smaller hospitals specifically for those suffering with long-term and chronic health conditions to enable them to get help and advice before their symptoms become so bad that they are forced to attending Accident and Emergency, therefore cutting the number of people attending there and reducing the number of those taking up inpatient beds in hospitals.

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I would also propose making it easier for patients to get in contact with their GP and consultants.  As a patient I am very often frustrated when I cannot contact a doctor to ask a question or get test results.  Messages are taken and supposedly passed on but it can take a long time for them to get back in touch with me.  So, I would make use of technology within the NHS – for example, allowing patients easy access to contact with their consultants via email.  Also, it wold be great to use Skype for non-urgent appointments in all surgeries across the UK.  Technology is quickly becoming a major feature within all aspects of everyday life so why not implement new technologies such as Skype, tablet computers within healthcare?

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The third change I would make within the healthcare system is the proposal to the end of the ‘postcode lottery’ that exists within the NHS.  The ‘postcode lottery’ refers to the difference in healthcare and treatment depending on where you live in the UK.  In my opinion, this is entirely unfair, imagine that you could receive life-saving treatment or medication if only you lived somewhere else!  The purpose of the National Health Service is to provide a consistent and professional service to each and every person living in the UK, and the ‘postcode lottery’ undermines this very fact.

Those are my proposed changes to the healthcare system in the UK.  If you could make changes within the healthcare system where you live, what would you change?

Loved to hear your thought; feel free to comment below!

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Illness Forces You to Grow Up Fast and Ditch those Training Wheels

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Welcome to the fourth post in the National Health Blog Post Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health.    Every day during the month of November I will be writing a new blog post related to health and living with a chronic illness based upon given prompts provided by WEGO Health.

Today’s prompt reads:

Training Wheels.  Write about a time your health condition forced you to grow up and take the training wheels off (so to speak)

As a person who has lived with a chronic health condition since childhood; I know exactly how  living with a chronic illness forces you to grow up far quickly than we are ready.   Instead of playing out with friends, it can force you being stuck inside feeling unwell, or in my case dizzy beyond belief.  Fun parties and sleepovers are replaced by endless doctors and hospital appointments in the quest of searching for a diagnosis to explain the symptoms that are unusual in childhood.  However, there are positives to living with illness from such a young age – for example, you become much more compassionate towards others , less judgemental and more understanding of people with other illnesses and disabilities.

Tests, injections and medicines become a way of life and eventually the training wheels are forced to come off and we are forced to grow up.

 

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After living with illness for so long it is hard to pinpoint one situation that my personal training wheels were forced off.  In fact it is not just one situation that forces you to grow up, but it is a continuous process.  Illness forces you to acknowledge your limitations and to accept your life as it now is.  That is often the way you can move forward with your life and grow up and throw those training wheels out once and for all.

An example of this, was my stubbornness and reluctance to use my wheelchair; not only because I was ashamed or worried about what others would think of me using the wheelchair but also because I know how bad the dizziness can still be even when sitting down.  But after a lot of falls suffered when out, I finally had to accept and realise that the weakness in my legs would not get any better and that there was now a great need for me to start using the chair on a much more regular basis.  After I accepted this I grew up some more and started using the wheelchair, threw those training wheels off and started enjoying trips out in the wheelchair more than I ever thought I could!

To read more about the acceptance of needing a wheelchair, you can read a past blog post about just this topic: ‘Becoming Visible in an Invisible World‘

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My condition sends me in a spin!

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Welcome again to the third post for the National Health Blog Post Month hosted by WEGO Health. Every day during the month of November I will be writing a new blog post related to health and living with a chronic illness based upon given prompts provided by WEGO Health.

Today’s prompt reads:

My Mascot! Give your condition, community or self a mascot.  Who is it?  What do they represent?  What is their battle cry?

To represent my condition in the form of a mascot, I have chosen to represent it using an inanimate object instead of a person or animal.   I have decided that the mascot for my condition will be a spinning top.

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The world due to my condition is constantly moving ; and very regularly the dizziness becomes severe vertigo sending my whole world in a spin.  The room spins so fast, just like the spinning top.  A perfect representation of how my condition affects me everyday.

However, it is not only the dizziness and vertigo that affects; as regular readers of my blog would know that the condition also causes weakness in my legs which often results in my legs giving way from under me.   The spinning top also can represent this part of my condition as the spinning top falls after it stops spinning;  Falls, like those that happens to a spinning top after it stops spinning is a constant part of my life; my legs will suddenly collapse from under me, causing a fall to the floor!

Now, there is much more to my condition such as the fatigue that I constantly experience, or the visual disturbances but just like any mascot that I could have chosen could not have represented every facet of my life with this condition but I wanted something to represent the symptoms which  I consider to be the biggest challenges that I face daily due to the condition which I live with.

If you could represent your condition with a mascot, what would you choose?  Let me know your thoughts!  Feel free to comment below…

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“I think I can” and “I know I can” – Life with Illness causes doubts and a battle to remain positive

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Welcome to the second day of the National Health Blog Post Month hosted by WEGO Health.  Every day during the month of November I will be writing a new blog post related to health and living with a chronic illness based upon given prompts provided by WEGO Health.

Today’s prompt reads:

Little Engine Post: Write 3 lines that start with “I think I can…” and then write 3 lines that start with “I know I can…”

Living with a chronic illness is not a life choice but instead becomes a lifestyle; high heels and a little black dress is replaced with a comfortable pair of slippers and a pyjamas.  Not only does it become a lifestyle but also changes the way you not only see yourself but also the way you view the world.  It affects self-confidence, and once in areas of your life you were entirely confident in, now fills you with self-doubt.  So, sentences which started with “I can…” can sometimes turn into “I think I can…” or sadly sometimes “I can’t…”.

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I think I can remain positive despite chronic illness.  Yes, this is still one thing that I know I can do yet.  Living with illness is like riding a rollercoaster; there are plenty of ups and downs.  One day you are able to remain upbeat and positive despite all the things that we have to live with but the next day that upbeat and positive attitude disintegrates into a puddle of depression and low self-worth.

I think I can cope with the dizziness.  But sadly the dizziness is starting to get the better of me and my coping strategies that once worked so well is now not doing its job and is making me miserable as well as leaving me in tears nearly everyday.  Everyday feels like an upbeat battle; feeling like a war instead of simply being able to enjoy the day and all the positive things that happen.

I think I can write a list of all the things I like about myself.  It sounds like an easy question, right?  However, during all the times I have been asked to do this exercise, I have had a lot of trouble to write the list of everything I like about myself;  however give me a list of all the things that I don’t like about myself and I can write quite the list!

But what about what I know I can do?

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Well, I know that I can push myself with a successful outcome.  This week I found out exactly this.  I have missed several weeks of the weekly group that I attend because of illness and particularly the dizziness that I have been struggling with, however this week saw the annual Halloween Party and wanted to attend despite the severe dizziness.  On the day I really wasn’t feeling well and the dizziness was still very bad so really had to push myself; and I did and I managed to not only stay there but actually enjoy myself!  Even celebrating a win at Bingo as well!

I know I can use and stay in the wheelchair.  This used to be big problem for me because of the dizziness in which I live.  A concern of mine was that although I really need one due to the weakness and severe trembling in my legs I would never get used to it, and be able to stay in one for very long, despite the real need for it.  However, not only have I been using the wheelchair for sometime now but can also stay in the chair for some hours despite the dizziness.  I now am going to more places and able to stay out for longer.

I know I can rely and gain a lot of support from a wide network of friends.  Twitter has been a real lifeline for me, as I have met a lot of wonderful people and make a number of lifelong friendships along the way.  The support I receive from others when I am going through a bad time is truly overwhelming and I am thankful for each and every one of my new friends.

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NHBPM Day 1: “There’s always an app for that…”

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It’s November which means only one thing – it’s time again for the National Health Blog Post hosted by WEGO Health! And once again I am determined to take part and write a post everyday regarding my experiences with chronic illness.

As a member of the Chronically Ill community or a ‘spoonie’ as we are more commonly referred (see my post regarding spoonies and the spoon theory here) I need a number of different apps for a variety of different reasons – those apps to remind me to take my medications throughout the day; apps to help keep track of my personal health conditions such as the frequency and severity of the symptoms I am experiencing.  But I also have a number of apps that I use regularly that although not health-related, they do help me through bad times due to chronic illness such as Twitter and Facebook to help me keep in contact with all of the friends that I have met during my personal  journey with illness.  And there are some games that I play to keep me entertained whether it be in bed when I am too weak to get out of bed, or whether it be for the long waits at hospital waiting for my appointment to begin.  My personal favourites are ‘Candy Crush Saga’ and ‘Pet Rescue Saga’, and fun word games such as ‘4 Pics 1 Word’.  I also use Instagram to not only document in pictures life with my neurological condition but also to help document successes such as going somewhere new or simply as reminders for fun times to look back on when things are bad.

 

There's an app for that!
There’s an app for that!

 

However, those are the apps that I have on my smartphone, but now technology has developed, I also have apps on my tablet computer which I use when I am stuck in bed or when I am pottering around the house to distract myself from the horrible symptoms.  The apps that have made it on my tablet are more entertainment based for the reasons that I have given.  For example, I have ‘Netflix’ so that I can watch films or TV programmes from the comfort of bed; and especially convenient as it saves a trip out of bed to put a DVD on as my legs are sometimes too weak to be able to do just that.  As well as ‘Netflix’ there is also ‘Sky Go’ and catch-up services such as the ‘BBC iPlayer’ and ‘ITV Player’ to allow me to catch-up on programmes that I have missed.  I also have a jigsaw puzzle game that helps distract me from the pain, trembling and dizziness  which helps, and finally there is ‘Skype’ that I have just downloaded to my iPad that I intend to use to speak to my friends during times that I cannot get to my computer.

As both my smartphone and tablet computer are Apple Products I use the Apple App Store to find the apps that I own.  But for those that are health-related such as ‘Pillboxie’ that I use to alert me to take my medications and the ‘Symple’ app to track the symptoms I experience it may also be useful to talk to other spoonies suffering from a similar conditions as yourself to find apps that they find useful.  And always try the free app first and then if the app is right for you and your needs then purchase the full version.

 

Links to Apps that I have found useful:

  • Symple:  An elegant symptom journal for your iPhone. Easy to use, and flexible enough to meet any set of symptoms, regardless of condition or disease
  • Pillboxie: Pillboxie is the easy way to remember your meds. Other med reminder apps are either too complicated or just downright boring. Pillboxie is easy because it lets you “visually” manage your meds. Scheduling a reminder is as easy as dropping a pill into a pillbox

 

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