Lesley is here now - Message Board

thanks for the hugs Marcha hare and Lesley, i think the GP is just working his ticket, my mums 97 year old friend thinks the sunshines out of his posterior, my view is he is a Quack of the highest order.

Lesley it has shrunk slightly to what it was seemingly it is arthritis as i explaoned in a email to you. I did manage to get to shop and back albeit in pain and only 20 mins round trip. am sat with my foot up on a shelfon pooter desk.

i am due 2 more pain killers but am going to hold forth for a wee bit longer will p[robably go lie down on sofa with foot raised higher again in a moment.

I seem to have a song going through my head atm why me lord, just how i feel i suppose, if it improves further least i can get away for christmas even if i don't eat a lot.

Reply #121. Nov 30 09, 6:51 AM

That's funny - I sit in the waiting room listening to all his patients saying what a diagnostic whizz he is. He is? Most of them are pushing 97 too.

Great image, foot up on shelf. Elegant! Shame we can't post pictures.

I'm glad you made the shop. More than I can do - I can barely stagger to the car. I've been making my computer red-hot and I'm starting to get an idea what's knocking me out. Sometimes it seems that even the best-known, best-documented adverse side-effects don't appear on the Patient Information Leaflet.

Too much information is held to be commercially sensitive. How's that for another magical euphemism?

You must get away - you've been planning to for ages. You have no choice!

Reply #122. Nov 30 09, 7:24 AM

Well it is elegant Lesley lol i do not have a lap top so the shelf is part of my computer desk. pain is still pretty annoying sleep is now becoming elusive again, as i was fed up of being a extra for the Thriller video.

Way things are going hopefully be ok in a week or two will have to see.

Reply #123. Dec 02 09, 2:29 AM

I need more sleep, but two days off those pills and it's amazing what a difference it's making to my mood and my mobility. I had a puff of my early morning inhaler, but I haven't used the daytime one yet, and I've spent quite a lot of time chatting, and I've not felt the need for it. Gary, I hope your foot and your sleep improve! I watched the Thriller video once. Once was more than enough.

But I've made two very good phone calls today.

The first was to the RAC. The map-reading light in the back of the passenger seat decided to switch itself on (again!) and stay on. I may have misjudged Merv, but I wouldn't dream of telling him that. I have rescue cover to my doorstep - essential, because I'm mechanically inept - and the repair man came exactly when he and the office said he would, gave me a jump-start from his engine, and removed the offending bulb, all with friendliness and charm. If I ever want to read anything while the chauffeur is chauffeuring, I'll put the bulb back.

And then I rang the bank that administers my one and only store card, because I should have made a payment on the 19th but had been feeling rough and didn't crawl out to pay till the 25th, for which they've whacked a £12 late payment charge on my account. The whole balance was only £15! The APR is 30%. The marginal rate represented by the £12 for being 6 days late is 49% if I paid off the £15: nearer 150% if I were to make the minimum payment. (I accept that my brain may not be firing on all cylinders, and am prepared for a mathematical genius to tell me the correct figures.)

Whatever it was, it was a lot of per cents. They are perfectly happy for me to pay early, or to pay too much, and I can't remember ever having a late payment charge before, so I spat my dummy out and rang them up. This is the conversation I was expecting:

"You've added £12 to my account because I was 6 days late paying off £15. I am recovering from flu and I paid it as soon as I could. Are there any circumstances in which you would waive the fee?"
"No, because I am a highly-trained robotic call-centre jobsworth, and My Hands Are Tied."
"In that case, I shall pay the £12 by taking it to my local branch, and it will be accompanied by my card - shredded. That way, you don't have to bother with my account any more, nor will the shop, because I shall never spend any money in there ever again."
"I am sorry, madam, but there is nothing else that I can do."

The actual conversation went like this:

"As a one-off gesture of goodwill, as you say you paid late because you were ill, I am removing the £12 fee from your account."

Wow! It took me two minutes hitting buttons, and ten minutes on the subsequent phone call, six minutes hanging on while a voice told me that all their associates were busy, two minutes spent on security, like repeating the million-digit account number I keyed in right at the beginning, and only two minutes spent on the actual chat, but the outcome was a most pleasant surprise, so I was happy.

All I need now is a proper sleep, and my happiness will be complete. (Oh - and a sugar daddy would help.)

Reply #124. Dec 02 09, 12:51 PM

Power to your elbow Lesley, I thought they would remove the fee as Littlewoods did for me, the thing is you need to get to a human rather a voice drone.

Is good you got the fee cancelled as it reminded me of what i did, so all in all a good year for me regards getting one up on Virgin, Credit card and Littlewoodsyou have to shout loud and proud but they do come around as they need us more then we need them.

Reply #125. Dec 02 09, 1:01 PM

flopsymopsy

I went to Debenhams when they had an offer - get a store card, get 25% off your first purchase. So I decided to do this as I had gone in to buy a specific item, and I thought that if I paid off the whole amount when I got the first bill, I could then shred the card and have no problems with horrendous interest charges.

Wrong!

I paid off the whole amount... but the next month they sent me a bill, showing that I'd paid nothing ... and charging interest on the whole amount.

I phoned them. They said "oh yes you paid, dreadfully sorry... ignore that bill." So I ignored it... and the following month got a new bill showing the whole amount plus two lots of interest.

I phoned... they were profuse in their apologies and sent me a cheque for £15 as as small token...

The same thing happened the next month and the next... and each time I got a cheque. After several months they admitted that my original payment has been credited to someone else's account but it would take two months for the payment to be debited from there and credited to me "it's the process, madam". I said that my process had been to pay the money into my account not someone else's so they should perhaps sort *their* processes out... they agreed and sent me a bigger cheque.

By the time they'd transferred the money into my account and sent me a final nil statement they had sent me so many cheques to compensate for my inconvenience that it more than covered the cost of the expensive toaster I'd bought with the card in the first place!

Reply #126. Dec 02 09, 2:06 PM

Gary, I think they've deliberately designed the tiers of options to make callers lose the will to live before they get to a useful one, and they seem to have made a virtue of not saying "Press 1 if you want to hear a human voice." But at least they don't wait till you've ploughed through them all and say "We're sorry but our offices are closed. Please try again in the morning," or "We're sorry but all our agents are busy," and cut you off.

I remembered to ask if there was an email address I could use, as well as or instead of the phone number. No. That's the answer. There isn't. There's a postal address and there's the phone. Most unusual!

Funny you should say Debenhams, flopsy... Sounds like a good outcome, getting an effectively free toaster. Shame you had to brave the monthly stupidity of "the process" to get it. Were there not times when you were gnawing the carpet out of sheer frustration?

Reminds me of a woman who got her phone cut off because the phone company had credited her payments to the wrong account. She'd spent hours on the phone to them, but the answer was always the same. They knew she didn't owe them any money but they had to go through "the process" of crediting her account before they could reinstate it.

Do you suppose that the average FT insomniac is a magnet for incompetents, or does everyone get them?

Reply #127. Dec 02 09, 2:55 PM

we all get them Lesley but i do not suffer fools gladly eg call center prats,

Always remember getting a mate to buy a new pvc door and window from company i know got him a fab price just to say he paid 70% less then you would have.

When they came to fit it the glazing had not arrived so they were going to put plywood in for the weekend, as was a friend i was grr so wrote a brief script for one of the female workers to use, Went hello my names Phillipa vale iof the bbc watchdog team, we could hera the skid marks sound from a mile away, about your customer mr jones, and lack of glass is in it, can we come and interview you for mondays show please, some huffing and puffing and the owner said i will have the glazing fitted by 8pm, so was a case of ok cane we have a contact number if not done by then we will phone for time of interview we will also speak to your customer.

Needles to say the glazing was fitted by 7pm, my friend also got another £100 knoicked off price, manager was brathing sigh of relief, until i asked if he watched Begerac did he see Liza Goddard as Phillipa vale, air was blue threatend with sack until i said so you dont want these two orders i have for conservatories.

Moral of that tale is Stick to your guns stand your ground you will win in the long run, and the £100 my mate saved on bill went in my pocket :)

Reply #128. Dec 02 09, 3:17 PM

What a good story, Gary! (And a nice reward, too, which your friend didn't have to pass on to you - good for him.)

When we moved to Bedford, the reps from the better life assurance companies didn't have to do any work - they just went from broker to broker, holding their pinnies out to catch all the new policy proposals. The estate agents had it easy too - houses were practically selling themselves.

There were limits, though. We didn't get a peep out of the estate agents after they'd shown us the house. Nothing when we exchanged contracts: nothing when we completed. On the day we completed, I had to phone them. I said that I would be calling in to collect the keys. The voice at the other end was blank.

"That's wonderful news. But would you mind please telling me again exactly who you are? Right... the address of the property? OK... and what exactly is the nature of your interest in the property?"

My interest is that I'M BUYING IT! They told us about the house - they didn't even show us round - the owners did - and since then they haven't raised a finger. They're getting an agent's fee of some percentage of the sale price, and they didn't even know it was being sold. Argh!

So I fumed when we got to the house and found that the agents had put a board up. Claimed credit for the sale when they didn't know which way was up, let alone what was happening with the house. It's a B road (that's a major route, so there'll be lots of passing eyes). I rang and asked them, politely, to remove it immediately.
"Oh I'm sorry, we can't do that."
Oh I'm sorry but I think you can.
"We have a contractor who comes round once a week to collect boards that are no longer required."
Tell him to come tomorrow, please. This board is no longer required now.
"His next visit is in five days' time, and he will collect it then."
Tomorrow. If it isn't collected, I shall pull it up and leave it in the road. He can collect it from there.
"Oh no, please don't be like that."
Conversation terminated by sound of screeching tyres.

I've also resolved stalemates with petty local bureaucrats by getting the local newspapers involved - they like nothing better than exposing pompous incompetent petty local bureaucracy. But I've never used the telly! That's next!

Reply #129. Dec 02 09, 4:01 PM

LOL!
Love retail! :)

Not long after I started work I decided to open a Myer account.
Being any easy lunchtime roam when we wandered out for lunch it would be easy to maintain - and I'd get extra goodies.

Mmm - paying the month account became very interesting as they dated the monthly accounts on the 15th - and sent them out on the 30th - and charged interest even when I had no outstanding balance.
After several months of this go round - I cancelled the account with payment in full - at the beginning of the month
and duky received a statement of nil balance for payments but with interest on purchases!

I ignored it completely and when contacted by phone by some poor little underling - Yes they did that in those days - explained why I wasn't paying. They fully understood and said it was a 'common problem' and thanked me for my patience!
Maybe I should have fussed more every month and I might have managed a free expensive some.thing as a result! lol

I might add - I then became The Lay By Queen and still managed to get all my goodies Anyway! :)

Reply #130. Dec 02 09, 10:01 PM

Please tell me what's a Lay By Queen?

Reply #131. Dec 06 09, 6:29 PM

~~~ Inspiration! ~~~

(Please try to imagine a pretty big light bulb above my head.)

When I get pills to take, I look at the Patient Information Leaflet, think "That's nice," as I read through all the things that can go wrong, in order of increasing rarity, and then forget about it. I wasn't taking anything five years ago. Now it's four different pills and two inhalers, each with its own distinctive and comforting array of adverse reactions. I keep the PIL in case I want to read it again, but I rarely do.

It's a balancing act, as all medicines are. I did put to my GP the logic of having a condition that makes me thirsty, and another condition being controlled with diuretics. He said he knew what I meant but he was happy with the combination, as it was working well, so he was happy to leave it as it was.

Otherwise we haven't talked about it. Every problem I present to him is treated as something new and exciting, quite unrelated to anything else. He's not bothered about the fact that I haven't been able to breathe easily, or sleep properly, since April. He doesn't think I have asthma, and he will "tackle" the insomnia when he has the other things sorted out.

Yes, leave the insomnia till last, never mind that I've lost count of the concerts and social things I've missed recently because I haven't got the energy to scrub up and go; that I can barely put one foot in front of the other; that I walk across the room and have to stop and rest.

~~~ Not another ologist! ~~~

Meanwhile, swollen ankles, spreading to feet and legs, are a sign of congestive heart failure. Have these even stronger diuretics that'll have you staying in all morning, weeing for England, and he will refer me to cardiology. (That's already happened. The cardiologist said my heart was fine and he discharged me on the spot.)

A demolition ball inside my rib cage is an alarm signal that I may have had a sub-acute blockage which resolved itself, and now need to be on the lookout for an intestinal blockage which will not resolve itself. He will have a think about whether to refer me to Gastro-enterology or General Surgeons. Difficulties breathing and sleeping are of secondary concern.

Well actually I think they're of primary concern. They are knocking me out, here and now. I would rather have help with those, and get my life back, than worry about something which will probably never happen. Not sure I have much of a say in it, though.

~~~ Experiment ~~~

The light bulb moment came this weekend when I settled down to read all my PILs, and have a bit of a wander round the internet. Amazing what you find when you get round to making the effort to look. The most exciting thing is that interrupted sleep, wheezing, and swollen joints, are all possible reactions to one single solitary med I've been on for five years. Correction: I was on for five years.

I get very acidy, apparently because I have a hiatus hernia, just like my father (thanks, dad!), and that's why I got an ulcer about five years ago, because I didn't take it seriously. (Acid reflux is not something to treat lightly; I know that now.) These pills offered instant relief and healing. Since then I have read that they are intended to serve as short-term therapy, not to be taken for ever, although my GP said that people have been on them for years with no ill effects. I had my last one yesterday morning - so far, so good. I came off them once before for a fortnight, before an endoscopy, and survived, and I plan to come off them for a fortnight now and see if it makes any difference.

Please wish me luck.

If my breathing difficulties really are a reaction to this medicine, I shall have to concede, grudgingly, that my GP was right not to jump on an immediate diagnosis of asthma: but, if it isn't asthma, I won't mind at all!

Reply #132. Dec 06 09, 6:34 PM

Deunan

I wish you all the luck in the entire world.

Reply #133. Dec 06 09, 6:43 PM

Oh Lesley! I do hope this helps.
Even though your GP may have been correct not to jump to a diagnosis of asthma - congestive heart failure is a Much bigger jump.

Hugggs for the hiatus hernia (mine is also inherited!) and for managing a comfortable night's sleep! :)
Secondary problem! *snort*
Second-Hand GP maybe!

Reply #134. Dec 06 09, 7:17 PM

Lay By Queen? (lol) Should have placed that in quotes! :)
I used to layby everything I wanted and just collect them as the final payments were due. Every pay day I was always off to make a payment on Some Thing!

Reply #135. Dec 06 09, 7:19 PM

Deunan, thank you. :)

MarchHare, thank you for the hugs! and for explaining Lay By Queen. Got it now.

I agree about the bigger jump. CHF is certainly more scary than asthma (I think). Perhaps he gets more funding for scary things. And I love this: "Second-Hand GP." It's what he probably will be, but I wish I'd thought of calling him that!

Reply #136. Dec 06 09, 7:34 PM

I believe you did Lesley - but your Secondary Sleepless Condition prevented you from realising the fact! :D

Reply #137. Dec 06 09, 11:50 PM

longcoolwoman2

Good luck, Lesley...I hope you are able to get some relief from the insomnia. I started taking omeprazole for constant indigestion several months ago...I did as directed and took it for the two week period during which time the indigestion went away. However, as soon as I stopped, back it came! So off I go to my Dr. and she told me to take it all the time, that I would suffer no ill-effects. Well, after taking it for two months now, I still don't have the indigestion, but I can't sleep and wheeze when I lay down. So, I stopped taking it and switched to Tagamet. So far, I feel better.

Reply #138. Dec 07 09, 7:46 AM