To hospital or not to hospital

Hey @Doglover ,

Thanks for your reply. It might be worth a try with the music and maybe some relaxation sounds. I know some people on here that use them. I've got an app on my phone with some, but, I haven't really used it all that much. I do enjoy the sounds of whales unfortunately I haven't been able to locate anything more than a minute or two with them. In hospital time can seem to elongate and drag out on occasion.

It might be worth checking to see if you can take in your blanket or having your husband bring it in once you have been admitted. Anything that reminds you of home or gives you a degree of comfort will be extra special once you are in hospital. I found it was a lot of the small things that make it easier. They might be alright with it, i purchased a real comfortable bathrobe while I was in there, i had to remove the belt, but, i was allowed to have it. Maybe add your bible to take in if it will give you some comfort.

Each hospital is different, they will have group activities and what not, but, they won't be going all day. You should be able to interact with other people most of the time, but, in your situation I'm not sure your going to feel like doing much of that. Private might be different. I hope your appointment with the pdoc tomorrow goes to plan and your not waiting for longer to go in.

Your welcome for my thoughts and prayers. I really hope the next few days goes as smooth as they can for you. Try not to worry overly about what's coming. Maybe make a list of things/questions to check off with the pdoc tomorrow.

Take care and stay strong 🙂

Gazza

Hi @Gazza75 ,

Thanks again for your reply and care..

Yes il need to download an app with calming/relaxation music bcoz iv only got a CD with 2 tracks on it, one of which I don't like, that my ot gave me. Wld b good to have more than 1 option.

I can imagine timedragging in hospital, especially if these not a lot to do. I wish i had a lap top or net book to take in with me to help occupy some time but I don't. It wld b gd for communicating on here too bcoz I find it takes ages doing it on my phone. Wld b so much quicker to type.

Good idea re blanket. Will check with them. I hate those cellular blankets that they always have in hospitals.

Wow, I never thought about not being able to hav the belt of ur bathrobe with u, wld never have crossed my mind. I guess I won't be able to take knitting needles in then either. That wld b a bummer. That was going to be one of the things I was going to do to while away the time.

Yes I will definitely take my Bible in too.

Thanks for ur well wishes for tmrw. I hope the process doesn't drag out beyond when I'm. Able to b admitted insurance wise. Not that I'm looking forward to it of course, I'm petrified. But I know it has to hapn.

Thanks again for ur support and practical advise Gazza and ur best wishes for the coming days. Still gotta get thru them yet. Today was a particularly bad day, if tmrw is the same they may want to admist me to public. Things r pretty bad. I hav made a list of all my symptoms that I plan to take with me and go over with pdoc tmrw.

I'm trying not to worry about what's coming up but I have to say I'm doing a rly bad job if it. Am trying to hav hope, but not doing a very good job of that either!

Thanks again for everything Gazza, I appreciate ur support.

I hope all is wel ur end. And thank u for taking the time to support me.

Doglover 💜

Hi @Doglover ,

Just a quick one about your phone. If you have an android phone, its probably charged with a 'micro sd' slot. You can get a cable called an OTG which stands for 'on the go' from that you can connect a standard keyboard into a USB slot. I've done it with numerous android devices, i had one phone that it didn't work for.

The cables range in price from $10-30, its only a short cable. $14 at big w. Often you can get 'packs' for tablets for around the same price, they will have a small cover and often a mini keyboard. I found the mini keyboards hard to use with my fingers, but, you might have more joy. The cables can slip out occasionally, but, you just push them all back together and your off and running again. I thought this might be a good option for you right now.

I just checked and there is the same cable available for Iphones. Big W has them for $6. You must have the patience of a saint to type everything you do with a phone. When I use a phone it's usually one or two paragraphs at most 🙂

The other thing might be a cheap radio and batteries. As long you aren't out in the bush this could come in handy.

The apps I have on android for relaxation are - Ambience, sleep sounds and rain sounds. If the hospital has free wifi you might try spotify for music. It has the occasional add with the free version but is pretty good.

I doubt they will let you in with the knitting needles, but, no harm in asking and trying. Not sure if you crochet, but, that might be alright. They will have activities and things to keep you busy. Colouring in and painting, musical instruments and so on.

I know you are super scared of what's coming, but, you are nearly there and maybe a step closer to finding some relief. Try and gather your strength mentally and physically the next couple of days and get ready for whats to come. It's going to be challenging, but, you will have support in hospital and your friends here on the forum.

All is pretty well this side for Me. Some ups and down with my family. My mum has suddenly realised that my brothers life expectancy isn't great since his accident. I told her this the first days after being with him in ICU (over a year ago now). She heard a doctor on the radio and it made it sink in. I haven't had the heart to tell her that mine isn't all that great either since getting MH issues as a result of it all.

Anyway, I better run. Don't feel obligated to reply in a hurry or in depth. Sorry I didn't mention the cable thing before. Take care DL.

@Gazza75 ,I just spent over 1.5 hours doing a reply to u and it just disappeared. So bummed. Don't hav it in me to do it all over again.

Was wondering if u cld elaborate on the Android set up u mentioned in 1st paragraph. Our keyboard doesn't have a USB port so not sure if I'm understanding u correctly. Does the phone just connect to the keyboard and that's it, or is the some other piece of technology involved. Sorry I don't quite understand, not very tech savvy.

As for everything else u wrote - thank u and sorry I can't reply all over again.

I am very sorry to hear about the situation with ur brother and it just hitting ur mum, that must b rly tough. I hope she is able to come to terms with it somehow. Rly sorry about that tough situation Gaz.

Take care of urself and thanks again for everything.

Doglover

Hi @Doglover ,

If your keyboard doesn't have a USB port then you need to get one that does. Keyboards are cheap these days and you should get one for $10-20. The bit you need is the OTG cable that will allow you to connect it to your phone and keyboard. I've attached a picture that might help.

I'm sorry about the lost reply, that must be so frustrating. I am bummed about it to.

I read about your admission time of 3-4 weeks on one of the other threads. 😞 Not good. Hopefully they can get a bed for you sooner than that.

Have a good day and take care. Thinking of you. 🙂

Oh my gosh @Gazza75 you wouldn't beleive this! I just finished typing another reply to you and just as I was about to post it I accidentally pressed the back button on my phone and lost it! AAARRRRGGGGHHH!

So I will just do a brief reply coz I can't type it all over again.

So long story short, I am now typing this on a keyboard - a weird keyboard that is going to take some gettigng used to, but a keyboard nonetheless. I couldn't find that cable you mentioned, and given my lack of understanging of all things technological, I decided I needed some advcice so went into JB Hifi. I ended up getting a keyboard that connects to the phone via bliue tooth. Was a bit more expensive but hopefully will be worth it - once I get used to the keyboard.

So thanks for getting me thinking about a better solution for all my typing and posting on SANE.

I'm sorry I'm not respoinding to other aspects of your post, have already done that in my previous post that got wiped and don;t have it in me to do it all over again!

So best wishes Gazza, I'll sign off for now. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up, then keep up, with all my forum replies. I'm about 15 behind!

Take care Gazza.

Yikes @Doglover , another message down the rabbit hole. ughgh. I didn't get a notification about this message so I'm a bit slow on the reply. I'm glad you managed to get something sorted out with your phone. The bluetooth one might be a better option for when you go into hospital anyway. I didn't think of that as I've always just used the cables. I hope you can get used to the keyboard soon, it's got to be easier than doing it on the phone.

I've been taking it easy out at my farm for a few days. Long weekend so I have a bit of extra time which is nice. I spoke to my psychologist last week, but, feel like I'm not getting that much out of the time these days. It's more like conversation than getting any actual help or ideas which is getting a bit frustrating. It tends to be the same questions and answers each time. I feel like I am plugging away and working hard on my health but its not doing much good. I have to get in and see my GP soon, he's not very good and I'll be changing to another one soon.

I hope you are holding up as good as possible and get some respite soon. Fingers crossed you have managed to catch up on some of your messages here.

Take care

Hi @Gazza75

Still struggling to get used to the keyboard. I dont know that its making thins a lot faster, maybe a little. You have to press really hard on the keys and they are not positioned the same as a normal jeyboard so I'm always making typos, and there too hard to fix after the fact so they just have to stay there!

Great that you;ve been at your farm Gary - how any acres do you have. Hubby and I have a small hobby farm which he likes to get to as much as possible. I used to really enjoy it too but have not been there since MI . What do you do when you are down there?

Sorry bout how you are feeling about your psych. Im still within the 10 week plan but I don;t really feel like I get a lot out of it to be honest. Like you say, its mostly just talking, mayne with some ideas on how to cope better but I find it challenging with my current levels of distress to piut anything into practice anyway.

I rang up the hospital today that I have been referred to and they confirmed a 3 week wait time for a bed I'm spewing. Not that I'm looking forward to going to hospital but all this time ive been waiting for my health cover to kick in, my pdoc could have done a referral so that as soon as the waiting period was over I coulld take the next bed available, but now they are saying another 3 week wait. I've already been waiting 2 months and it's been torture. This is for the psyciatrist and hospital that my doctor recommends, I could get into another hospital faster, but it doesn't have his specific recommendation so I really dont now what to do. The other main clinic here reckons it will ony be a few days wait. Just really confused about what to do.

I;m slowly catching up on my replies now, but not nearly as fast typing on this keyboard as on a normal one so it's not as advatageous as I would have hoped, it's still better than typing on the phone, though I dont enjoy typing on it nearly as much as a normal keyboard.

I hope you are doing well Gazza and enjoyed your time at the farm. I know I used to love it when I went, especially wehn my mum and her fiend came with us, it was great fun. I just dont feel up to it now though.

Take care Gazza and enjoy.

Sorry for the typos, I think I've already said that I can't get my curser to go where I want it to on the phone so can't go back and fix typos.

Hi @Doglover , I think your typing is going pretty good, less mistakes than when you use the phone. Strange that you have to press the keys so hard. I'd consider taking it back and getting a 'normal' one.

I have 180 acres at the farm. I used to run cattle, but, due to drought I had to get rid of all my livestock. I have had alpaccas, sheep, chickens and pigs at different times. I miss the cattle, but, i sold them to my next door neighbour so I still see them around. 🙂

I'm sorry your psych talks are going pretty much the same as mine. I did find them pretty helpful the first few times, but, not so much any more. It might be harder for them to help people with phsyical symptoms. I disagree with mine quite strongly on some of it.

It really sucks about you having to wait another 3 weeks for a bed, your doctor should of known that you needed to be in ASAP, seems very irresponsible of them. I would look into going in earlier to the other hospital, at least try and find out what you can take in with you and also if you are able to leave of your own accord and without medical signoff. At least that way if things get worse you know where you stand and don't have to worry about that stuff then.

I hope you can get back to some normality in your life soon DL. I really think you should consider the other hospitals to get some relief and help. I know you are sceptical about that, I would be to after what you have been through. If your regular doctor talks to them about possible treatments or strategies they may be able to implement some of them.

I worry about you holding out for another 3 weeks and then maybe longer if a bed doesn't become available right away. At least in hospital you can focus on you and some kind of recovery rather than trying to juggle life and different scenarios.

I had a good few days at the farm and then got a bad headache and felt sick yesterday. I don't get headaches often and not usually so severe. I took some pills but they didn't seem to do anything. I had a marathon sleep and am better today thankfully.

Take care

Hi @Gazza75 ,

Sorry for a quick reply to your post. Just wanted to let you know that I am now in hospital - admitted yesterday.

Will try and post a proper reply at soe stage if I can. Just have to see how things go in here.

I hope you are doing ok.

Take care,

Doglover