Cancer vs MS, Compare and Contrast..

During 2020 my Prostate decided it wasn’t getting enough attention and demanded I get someone to examine it…

(There’s something about that sentence that makes me uneasy, but I can’t put my finger on it…:thinking:)

In a whirlwind of activity and appointments, it’s decided I’m to have a biopsy, which will necessitate general anesthetic, and an entering of my being via the gusset-area…

As the pandemic raged, an appointment was made for me to have the procedure proceeded with at the local Plague Pit (Dirty Dick’s in Chi)…

Up till this point, apart from an initial couple of post-DX dark days, I’d not really been particularly concerned, but the prospect of walking into the local Covid collection point was genuinely worrisome…

Out to the blue an alternative is offered…
I can go to the Nuffield Centre for the proceedure…!
When I said I actually felt safer in the hands of the NHS, I was told not to worry as “it’s all the same team”…:face_with_diagonal_mouth:

The brochure was luxurious, in comparison to the toilet-roll the NHS communicate with…

FF>>

The visit scored highly on TripAdvisor and extra points for the post-procedure sandwich… (Bacon and Brie…)

I have very early stage Prostate Cancer, the consultant’s not worried, so I’m not worried, the future is monitoring…
I’ve a collection of people I can contact should anything need attention…
Just had my bloods done and my PSA’s are stable…:+1:

It’d be wrong to suggest I enjoyed the experience, but it was made so much easier to deal with by the people delivering it, I actually felt “cared for…”

Next December (just before Xmas.) I’m 10yrs in the MS hut…
Which is beginning to feel like an abandoned shed…

My GP requested an appointment with the Neuro Dept…
The communication I received from them reads like a passive-aggressive teenager wrote it…

Anyway, they’re going to call me (no indication of when) to assess my needs…
(o.k. :pleading_face:)

So, if I had money I could get better treatment, with nice consultants…? :thinking:

I’m going to see that nice Solicitor in the High St. who really seems to care about me, and has my best interest (and bank balance) at :heart:

Before you jump in with a lawyer on the clock, talk to the PALS team at your health trust. Basically the Complaints Dept. though their web page tends to be quite well hidden. The trust will be very keen to keep formal complaints to a minimum so you are likely to find them more proactive than the normal route.

A word of warning though: any suggestion that you’re in it for the money and they’ll drop you like a stone. Just remember that at some point you will still need these people for your treatment…

Here is the text from my NHS Trust’s PALS page:
"Your complaint or concern may be about something that can be resolved straight away by talking it through with a member of staff. You can approach staff within the service concerned, or if you would prefer to talk to someone independent of the care, you may value a discussion with PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service).

If you remain unhappy following this, PALS can offer guidance on whether the issues are eligible to be investigated under the NHS Complaints Procedure, which includes investigations of concerns around healthcare, and can assist you in making a formal complaint if necessary.

Not so sure, I got one apt at a Nuffield (same consultant) and one which was for some reason at same consultant’s private practice. No Brie, but the tea and biscuits were nice. So probably just the same! And no I would not pay for it, did pay 1st, just to get the MRI in 1998 as there weren’t so many then! The treatment is just the same.

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Shhh….:shushing_face:

Be very quiet, like a little mouse…

I’m timing how long it takes from posting this to the phone call, to find out “how I am”, I bet turns up next week…
:wink::+1:

Sometime later…
Refresher:
4th July…
Consulted GP about soft tissue swelling in left knee…
Updated Prostate PSA details…
Requested help with mobility issues asking specifically for physio advice…

FF>>

X-Ray shows wear in my left knee, but nothing for concern…
Probability is I’ve twisted it at some point and the painful swelling is a consequence…

Prostate is stable, surveillance continues…

Neuro Dept can’t help with physio so referred me on to the “Community Neuro Rehab Team” who write to say I’m on a list for a phone call…

Must be a long list…:thinking:

It’s now a bit irrelevant as last Sunday I slipped and broke my ankle…
Which means I’m now in the hands of another team…
TBF this has been an excellent bunch up to press…

So now both my legs are compromised…
I’ll be spending the next 6 weeks (at least) trapped in my first floor flat…

Think I’ll read the gas bill to cheer me up…:smiley::+1: