Nothing to be Done
So after the Communist went to the doctor with his poorly heel, and the doctor had referred him to the hospital, and nothing had happened for a bit, and I had rung the surgery, and they had found out that the doctor had referred him to a department that didn’t exist, and the doctor had referred him again, and nothing had happened for a bit, and I had rung the surgery, and I had found out that the doctor hadn’t marked it urgent, and I had rung the hospital and explained that it was urgent, and they had given me an urgent appointment over the phone for only four weeks later, the Communist and I finally attended the hospital today.
The Communist has Type 2 diabetes (yes, like me, that’s where I got it from, family tendency, hah!) and currently has hugely swollen calves, because they took out his varicose veins – which in my case I have not got – years ago, so there’s very bad circulation there. He also has three leg ulcers, which are very painful, caused by diabetes, and his right leg – the one with the poorly heel - is bandaged from the knee to the foot.
The young, very pleasant Registrar peered at all this lot and decided it was beyond her so fetched the very pleasant Consultant.
They checked they had enough bandages in the department to rebandage the leg, found a pleasant nurse to unbandage it, and looked at the heel.
Easy to diagnose – plantar fascitis, which is inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a broad band of fibrous tissue which runs along the bottom of the foot (oh yes, of course I knew that already, obviously).
But as for doing anything about it - - well, they could try steroid injections, but any kind of injections are bad news for anyone with leg ulcers – the resulting hole will just start another ulcer. And the other option, physiotherapy, is also impossible because of the bandages for the leg ulcers.
So how about better pain relief? I asked, because the Communist has been sleeping in a chair because he can’t lie flat because of the poorly heel, and because he’s in a lot of pain the lot of the time, and because this makes him very grumpy with my mother, which is understandable, but very wearing for her.
- - Ah well, all the better pain relief clashes with the tablets he’s already on.
“I’m stumped,” said the Consultant. “I’ll talk to my colleagues and – er – get back to you.”
But what they were saying is, they can’t do anything about it. The only answer is to amputate the leg, as the Communist had already realised. It hasn’t quite got to that yet, and anyway, at eighty-three, having had a triple heart bypass - would they do it?
The crux of it is this. The Communist, unlike many, thinks that Godot is rather more likely to turn up than God. He wants to stay alive. And go on holiday. And sit in the garden. And see his grandchildren. And who can blame him?
Nothing to be done.
The Communist has Type 2 diabetes (yes, like me, that’s where I got it from, family tendency, hah!) and currently has hugely swollen calves, because they took out his varicose veins – which in my case I have not got – years ago, so there’s very bad circulation there. He also has three leg ulcers, which are very painful, caused by diabetes, and his right leg – the one with the poorly heel - is bandaged from the knee to the foot.
The young, very pleasant Registrar peered at all this lot and decided it was beyond her so fetched the very pleasant Consultant.
They checked they had enough bandages in the department to rebandage the leg, found a pleasant nurse to unbandage it, and looked at the heel.
Easy to diagnose – plantar fascitis, which is inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is a broad band of fibrous tissue which runs along the bottom of the foot (oh yes, of course I knew that already, obviously).
But as for doing anything about it - - well, they could try steroid injections, but any kind of injections are bad news for anyone with leg ulcers – the resulting hole will just start another ulcer. And the other option, physiotherapy, is also impossible because of the bandages for the leg ulcers.
So how about better pain relief? I asked, because the Communist has been sleeping in a chair because he can’t lie flat because of the poorly heel, and because he’s in a lot of pain the lot of the time, and because this makes him very grumpy with my mother, which is understandable, but very wearing for her.
- - Ah well, all the better pain relief clashes with the tablets he’s already on.
“I’m stumped,” said the Consultant. “I’ll talk to my colleagues and – er – get back to you.”
But what they were saying is, they can’t do anything about it. The only answer is to amputate the leg, as the Communist had already realised. It hasn’t quite got to that yet, and anyway, at eighty-three, having had a triple heart bypass - would they do it?
The crux of it is this. The Communist, unlike many, thinks that Godot is rather more likely to turn up than God. He wants to stay alive. And go on holiday. And sit in the garden. And see his grandchildren. And who can blame him?
Nothing to be done.
posted by Daphne at 9:48 pm
1 Comments:
Thank you for reminding me that my own somewhat aged father's problems are not so bad - having spent an evening with him yesterday when he had to be sat down and not talking every 30 minutes because he is hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and listening to him tearfully tell me he has decided to give up driving since his last (recent) accident when the insurance company originally were going to write off his car but then agreed to repair it, I had felt he was having a really tough time. I am sorry your dad's problems are worse than mine! I hope the pain eases a bit soon with no need for amputation.
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