I’m really getting cheesed off with waiting for the hospital to call me so that I can make an appointment for re-programming. This is the 3rd day that I will be sitting waiting for the phone to ring, and I’m not happy about it! It probably wouldn’t be too bad if I wasn’t already feeling tired and grumpy because the last 2 nights have been pretty rubbish, sleepwise.
I start phoning the 3 numbers that I have for the hospital as soon as I get downstairs. All 3 numbers just ring and ring and then go to answerphone. Again. And again. And again. I’m getting really stressed and angry about this. In fact I pity the person that I do, eventually, get to speak to, because I’m in real danger of losing the plot!
Around 11.30 I change my settings to Group ‘B’ because I have a lot of tremor coming through on both sides. Tremor on the left side still seems very strong, so I increase the voltage on the left side to 1.2v (from 1.0v. I leave the right side at 1.5v). Tremor is now more under control, but I’ll need to keep an eye out for dyskinesia in my neck.
Lunchtime comes and goes, and still I cannot get through to the hospital. Around 1.30pm I try the phone number of one of the secretaries, and it is answered!! Struggling to remain calm and reasonable, I explain that I need to speak to Joseph to make an appointment for re-programming next week. She asks for my name and hospital number, and says she will see if she can locate him. A minute later she is back to tell me that I already have an appointment booked for next Tuesday at 10.00am. Steam is coming out of my ears as I calmly express my surprise that an appointment has been made without my knowledge at a time when I cannot easily attend, Norwich being some distance away from central London. I also (calmly) express my dismay that I have spent the last 2 and a half days waiting for the phone to ring, unnecessarily. She puts me through to “the lady who makes the appointments”, who is very apologetic and offers me another unsuitable appointment the same day, or an appointment the following week. I explain to her that I am expecting to be in London with my children on either Tuesday or Wednesday next week, and that I wanted to kill two birds with one stone – the week afterwards will cost me about £100 to travel to London for a 30 minute appointment, and that’s money out of my pocket. I don’t receive any benefits and cannot claim any travel costs, so this is a real issue for me, but I really don’t think that they “get it”. Eventually I am offered an appointment on the Wednesday afternoon, which I gratefully accept. I hang up and sit quietly, trying to calm myself down. I didn’t lose my temper, but I did try to point out reasons why I might have been a little upset! The stress has got my tremor going again, so it’ll take a good while for me to calm down. Medication time!