Tag Archives: failed blood test

Failed Blood Test and Watching TV

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Today marked a new low in terms of activity. I took Julia to work, came home, did a few bits on WP and email, went for a blood test, went home, watched some Lewis on player, had lunch (the last of the lentil soup), fell asleep, rewound player to the point where I fell asleep, fell asleep, rewound etc, and again, washed up, greeted Julia, had a nice refreshing cup of tea.

If I had to mark the day I’d give it 4 for procrastination and sloth, 1 for activity and zero for progress in moving house. If I had an emoji for a big black hole full of nothing I would use it now.

To make things worse, my recovery is still progressing very slowly (maybe even regressing very slowly) and I had a phone call from the surgery to tell me that one of the blood samples had been rejected as the tube had not been filled to the line.

For some reason the INR test, which can be done with a finger prick of blood, needs a full tube of blood if being done without use of the quick and convenient machine test. I think this is to do with the use of machinery in testing rather than the actual quantity of blood. (This is the one I have to monitor my warfarin intake. It is an irksome procedure where the anticoagulation service worries, sends me excessive text messages and messes me about constantly. What they never seem to do is get my dosing right, but it doesn’t matter to them, as it only inconveniences me. They jsut sit in an office and draw their pay.)

This means I now have to have another test tomorrow. Fortunately I have nothing much to do, but if I had been working I would have had to refuse it, or go to phlebotomy at 7 am. This is one of the benefits of being retired.

I have more comments but I am going to do a Hemingway again and leave the rest to seethe beneath the surface.

Despite all this, it was a good day as I had another acceptance – making three out of three for June. The ever-present danger of smugness starts to become a possibility . . .

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Ups and Downs

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It was another day of manic activity as we kept getting orders from the new sales initiative. I quite like the active days, though it would be nice to have a little variation in pace.

The day started off with my second failed blood test in two weeks. I am consistently coming in too high and actually climbing as they seek to adjust the dose downwards. I’m not sure why this is happening but I suspect it might b because I started making an effort to do things properly. Instead of drifting on and forgetting to take my pills or taking them late, I am establishing a routine and I wonder if this means I have effectively increased the does without meaning too. I’m not taking supplements, I haven’t changed any medication and I haven’t ben eating huge amounts of green vegetables, which can all affect it. Whatever has caused it, the slow reduction by one tablet a week, as they have done this week, isn’t going to see it corrected any time soon.

Yesterday, I had an email headed “Congratulations”. Normally I’m wary of them because they usually contain details of how lucky I am to have been chosen to launder the estate of a deceased African politician. Presumably, the way things have been going, they will soon be inviting me to launder the estates of corrupt Tory supporters who have amassed illicit millions by making PPE for the NHS.

This one was from the British Haiku Society. I entered their annual competition and the results are out. According to the results there were 587 haiku, 164 tanka and 71 haibun entered. I am one of the top five haibun. I wasn’t 1st or 2nd but I did get an Honourable Mention which means I have a certificate and a free book.

The strange thing is that  the one I did all the work on made no impact but the successful one was one which had only been returned by an editor the week before. I tweaked it a bit, in line with his comments, and sent it off to the competition. It just goes to show, as I have said before, that I am not a good judge of my own writing.

 

A Bad Day, Getting Worse…

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It’s been a bad day and it’s going to get worse, I can tell.

First of all, I arrived for my blood test at 7.03. I was seventh in the queue but, despite the phlebotomists allowing themselves to be diverted by a number of things, they managed to see to me by 7.20. That left me very close to the time allowed for free parking, but just a few frustrating minutes over.

I then went to McDonalds to eavesdrop and drink coffee. Er…and have a sausage and egg McMuffin. I have no willpower.

The phone call at lunchtime told me that I’d failed the test and need another one next week. Their first suggestion was that I should go to a hospital and be tested whilst on holiday. I said I thought this was unlikely to happen, particularly as Julia had not expressed much of an interest in touring NHS waiting rooms while we were away.

So they are going to test me on Friday and then leave me alone for a week. They are, it appears doing me a favour.

Things went well after that for the rest of the day, then I got home. I had a letter in a plain white envelope. I nearly binned it as junk mail as most people mark the envelope with at least a return address. Fortunately I opened it, and saved myself £30. It was from the council. In between cutting back on bin collections and social services and splurging money on consultants and office decoration they find time to fill the city with cameras and appoint themselves Guardians of the Bus Lanes.

It seems when I went to my last blood test I turned left out of city hospital and left again (yes, it’s the way to McDonalds). This took me into a bus lane. They aren’t always easy to spot. I use that road frequently when the bus lane isn’t in use, but hardly at all at that time in the morning. As a result I cost myself £30, but if I’d thrown the letter in the bin it would have cost me £60 for failing to pay.

I then went on the internet to book our holiday. I’d not quite managed it last night when the special offer link didn’t work. I’m supposed to be able to save 15% by using a link from Travelodge. What they don’t tell you is that there’s a time limit and a limited number of rooms.

When I got home tonight I had another email to tell me I could qualify for a 15% discount. So I clicked a link to a hotel they provided and…drum roll…found it didn’t work. It’s incompetent at best, but possibly also dishonest. And an idiotic waste of time.

Of course, the best bit is that when I left the hospital this morning I turned left, then left again…

…so I’m expecting another bus lane ticket last week.

I’m seriously thinking of just curling up in a ball and refusing to move. That way I can stay out of trouble. Although, when I think about it, it isn’t a strategy that works well for hedgehogs.

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