Bergs back

[berger]

not done anything since crippling my back shoveling and filling a skip. yesterday took government advice and phoned 111 instead of 999 ,this was 7 in the morning when i was in agony trying to hang on to the bed to lower myself to the floor then trying to get up one way or many more, the first question was do i need an interpreter i should have said yes i am a boaty person, then after pressing a few numbers i got to talk to someone, because i couldn't tell her my phone number off my head she couldn't take this call any further , WHAT!!!!! so second attempt with number in hand i got to tell the person my problem, she said to take pain killers and a doc will call later, a few hours later i explained the agony i was in to doc doo daa and told him i couldn't get down the stairs never mind out of the house, after listening to doc do daa tell me he can't prescribe certain pain killers because of my heart attack medication and inhalers the conversation was ended with him telling me i could go to the clinic 2 miles away at 11am, i shouted in agony i can't move and he ended the call. i then got a txt for the appointment at 11am, at  2pm i get a call from another doc telling me i missed my appointment i explained again my story and doc said that information wasn't passed on. i then told her my problem in full but i had managed to get off the floor and bum shift downstairs then stand and walk a little this was at 12 midday, this call was then ended with take pain killers.  this morning after little sleep i managed to crawl to the bucket for a weee while girlfriend held it and me crying in pain , yes that could be funny because at the same time my bowels let go with no warning into my pants that i couldn't take off last night.  once cleaned up i was back on the phone to docs and was 4th in the que, after telling receptionist my story she said a doc will call me. a doc called and i went through whole story again and doc said we can get you in for face to face tomorrow, i shouted i have already told reception i am in agony and can't move much, with this doc says no one has passed this info on i will get someone to call you later, i said look i need sorting out with a good old fashioned home visit and strong pain killers or taken for a scan or xray i am in a mess with pain and very little movement. the phone call has not happened , i am more than annoyed and when mobile enough to get to the surgery i will play hell up and also look into these so called recorded calls . when i am fit and if this happens again it will be 999 i have fallen down the stairs and can't move. i don't care what anyone thinks about this statement but if i had arrived on a dingy today with a broken arm i would have been rushed to hospital and looked after , this dustbin country is ------d . the next time --- and it will happen i know when my back goes again it will be 999 i have fallen down the stairs and can't move. RANT OVER IN AGONY!! just taken 30 minutes to write this.

[CheeserBeezer]

Hi Berger, I'm really sorry this is happening to you. Just a thought, could you get a taxi to take you to A+E? Whilst this doesn't help right now, may I suggest, in future, you don't push yourself too hard, respect your age, look after yourself.

[berger]

thanks cheeser but i can't even get in or on a car seat at the moment and apart from that my neighbours 80 odd year old mum had a fall yesterday and was in a corridor for 14 hours. they keep telling us they throw hundreds of millions at the nhs and most of it goes on management quangos .

[Joolstacho]

That's just terrible for you Bergs, feel really bad for you. Can't you get an ambulance? I've been there just like you, I ended up getting an ambulance. I wish there was something we could do to help.
I had been to hospital a couple of times and all they offered was pain killers - which didn't work at all. One time the specialist I saw when I hobbled in said 'we won't even look at you unless you come in on crutches'. After I came in in the Ambulance, they did an operation, though that's another story. Hang in there brother.

[Worty]

Bergs - call 999 and say or make up some 'tripped over the cat' story.  I know from experience (and Sue working in the NHS) that if you call 111 it's automatically treated as non-urgent, and you follow a different treatment protocol.

To back this up.  When I had life-threatening Covid, I was discharged the following day with a doctor prescribing rest.  The day after that Sue took me back in at Death's door and I was in ICU for 10 days!!

Years ago, my Dad couldn't pee due to prostate enlargement.  My mother wanted to call the local doc at 2.00am.  I got up, saw how much pain he was in, and called 999.  Later, the local GP said that if my mother had waited for a local doc, his bladder could have ruptured, caused sepsis and possible curtains for him.

Focus on doing anything to get into hospital mate.  Once you're there, they have to investigate, and you know you're in the best place to sort your back.

TBH, the NHS needs to get back to basics as it's currently broken.  Focus on emergency and critical care only, with everything else either pay as you go or insurance based.  It'll take time getting it right, but proper health care from cradle to grave with the current set up is simply NOT possible.

I'll just add that my treatment for Covid at my local hospital was, in the main, excellent - despite it being rated as one of the worst in the country.

Ring 999 NOW mate - you are in an emergency situation!

[Roger (Doomtrainbarx)]

No messing Keith - 999 straightaway if you don't get any relief/improvement !!

[berger]

fantastic response this morning , a call from docs asking me what my problem is!!!!!!!!! this call was supposed to come yesterday. i went through everything again only to be asked if i was confined to the house, well yes i said  i can't get to surgery to the response of can't you get a taxi?  after telling them again i can't get in a car she said are you house bound so i said yes, she asked for me to hold and then came back to me saying you are not on the house bound patient list but i will go upstairs and see a MANAGER!! to ask if i can send out a doctor because you are temporarily house bound,    WHAT THE HECK HAS HAPPENNED TO THIS DUSTBIN COUNTRY..  after a while she said they can't send a doc to see me or bring pain killers because it isn't allowed for them to carry drugs unless you are a house bound patient , at this point  i was more than ghasted i was disgusted with this system . i ended up telling her this country has gone to rat sht and she more or less agreed, then i told her in future i will not be following the phone 111 rule and i will ring 999 and lay on a stretcher in a corridor for a day!! the good news is i am managing to walk around the house full of my own pain killers using two walking sticks and the agony is easing into spasms of pain. thankyou for listening have a nice day i might have a black&tan

[Worty]

Glad to hear about the improvement Bergs, yer a tough ol' bugga!  Nevertheless, due to your heart escapade and the painkillers you need to take, I'd still ring 999 if anything like this happens again.  You can also say you've a heart condition which you're medicating for, that SHOULD make them send the meat wagon round pronto.

If you're still crocked in the next few months, I could drop round for a house visit - if anything could perk you up, that would

[berger]

worty i managed to shovel out a whole floor area of 2 inch chip board that had got wet over the years into a barrow and up two 12ft long scaffold planks into a skip. now the garage jobs are on hold but at least i filled the skip and emptied the garage just before the proper agony started

[Worty]

worty i managed to shovel out a whole floor area of 2 inch chip board that had got wet over the years into a barrow and up two 12ft long scaffold planks into a skip. now the garage jobs are on hold but at least i filled the skip and emptied the garage just before the proper agony started

Lunatic

However, I'm with you on getting your money's worth out of the skip and completing the garage emptying task before collapsing.

Take it easy mate!

[Joolstacho]

*uk the money Bergs... take care of your back, please. I've been through nearly 50 years coping with mine since I stuffed it surfing, I've had many periods when I was bed-bound with it, and an only semi-successful operation, but with time I've built several 'bikes, and my adobe house. One thing I've learned is that you just have to care for it when it's bad, and only gradually get more active. At first it's like the end of the world... but it needn't be, it should come good with time if you don't push it to hard too soon. And keep taking the medicine 

[berger]

hi jools thanks for your reply..after doing many years of manual work shifting the old fashioned 100weight loads i had a few years break then one day putting the old big bag of cement in the van it went and i couldn't even get back in the van , a few years later i was helping to move a washing machine down concrete steps in a 3 storey block of flats when the kid below me pulled it and me with it , back gone again, then about 8 years ago i was guiding a massive chimney pot up a ladder while the chap on the roof pulled it up on a tug o war rope , the ladder spun round and threw me off and i kept hold of the pot to stop it going through the window then dropped about 4ft to the floor, after that the vacuum cleaner did me when i spun it round. i think my back will never be right again so i will think twice before doing some jobs cheers.

[Joolstacho]

Dear Sir, I write this note to you to tell you of me plight
And at the time of writing, I am not a pretty sight;
Me body is all black and blue, me face a deathly gray
And I write this note to say why Paddy's not at work today

While working on the fourteenth floor some bricks I had to clear;
Now, to throw them down from such a height, it was not a good idea
The foreman wasn't very pleased, he being an awkward sod
He said I'd have to cart them down the ladders in me hod

Now, clearing all these bricks by hand it was so very slow
So I hoisted up a barrel and secured the rope below
But in me haste to do the job I was too blind to see
That a barrelful of building bricks was heavier than me

So when I untied the rope the barrel fell like lead
And clinging tightly to the rope I started up instead
Well, I shot up like a rocket till to my dismay I found
That halfway up I met the bloody barrel coming down

Well, the barrel broke me shoulder as to the ground it sped
And when I reached the top I banged the pulley with me head
Well, I clung on tight though numb with shock from this almighty blow
And the barrel spilled out half the bricks fourteen floors below

Now, when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor
I then outweighed the barrel and so started down once more;
Still clinging tightly to the rope, I sped towards the ground
And I landed on the broken bricks that were all scattered round

...

[Worty]

'E's a poet and 'e don't know it - as my mother used to say.

[berger]

jools tales from hoffman my dad had that on old reel to reel tape it's brill, i think there is film of him doing it on stage sorry don't know where hoffman came from it was gerard hoffnung tales from hoffnung