Well it's not that I thought I was ACTUALLY dying 6 months ago but something was definitely up and having had to stop driving about twenty miles from home because of feelings too vague to provide a concrete diagnosis a cardiac consultant eventually told me I had to stop driving some twelve weeks or more AFTER I took myself to A&E where it was found I had a Blood Pressure reading of 207/110 and which probably caused the horribleness I'd experienced earlier that day !
A&E did NOT insist I stopped driving but advised me to have an annual heart check up because I DO have non-sinister ventricular ectopic beats which play no part other than being there.
A pain behind the rear left hand ribs DID lead to an ultrasound scan which showed I had kidney stones and a later MRI scan showed I DIDN'T and never had had any but I DID have something called Diverticular disease which has to do with Gastrology and not the Urology department where I had ended up after another thirteen week wait !
Now that was a brief recounting of a few medical visits but what it can't even get near to sharing is the sheer frustration of waiting about three months for a hospital appointment, especially when you're in, let's call it....discomfort and a state of ignorance because the pain in my back was dreadful but I believed it was kidney pain which would get sorted so I took strong painkillers and waited !
The DVLA asked me to surrender my driving licence until further assessments were carried out but they then REVOKED it and told me that as I'd had blackouts I couldn't drive for a year !
I hadn't had any such thing happen and simply felt unwell but their standardised categories meant I couldn't drive until they had gathered medical reports showing I was fine !
WELL a few weeks after my BP was brought back down to normal and for a long time now I have felt perfectly normal ! I never stopped working, babysitting or markets and I am just left in a limbo whilst awaiting beaurocracy to grind to a decision which I suspect it won't do for ages despite my impatiently phoning the DVLA many times and telling them that according to THEIR rules a person having had a stroke only has to stop driving for a month and someone having had an epileptic fit only has to stop driving for a week and that they had no category for a person who simply felt unwell !
They also state that once a reapplication is received, which they sent me the form to fill in, the applicant can drive...."But not in your case Sir as your licence was revoked and we are carrying out further investigations."
So DON'T go to A&E ! Don't tell anyone in an official position ANYTHING as they are duty bound to act on it...against you !
I have learnt my lesson and offer my tale as a warning !
Mind I DID feel AWFUL !
No comments:
Post a Comment