New Doctor and Psychology Session

Yesterday was the day Pete had his appointment with his new GP.  We were not kept waiting long (about 5 minutes) and were with the doctor for a good 25 minutes and we had no feeling of being rushed  - hopefully he had booked us a longer appointment and we didn't keep others waiting!!  I was armed with a list of questions (as I was before, to no avail) and each one was answered really well.  The doc had a good look at all Pete's notes and fully understood the situation.  Our main question was about the catheter and Plymouth hospital appointment, he explained all the reasons for the appointment and why the catheter had been put in, and hopefully Plymouth will be able to help, but if not then it may be prostrate problems which we will go back to him about.  Barnstaple hospital had not suggested a trial removal of the catheter and the doc said, although uncomfortable and inconvenient, he was reluctant to try a removal because if things went wrong Pete may end up in hospital again and miss the Plymouth appointment - and we don't want that!!  Pete agreed with him that it is best to wait now and see what Plymouth say.

Then on to the touchy subject of antidepressants!  I had talked to Pete about it before we went and he agreed they might help him at the moment.  The doc asked loads of questions and said that he would normally suggest counselling as a start, but that obviously wasn't going to work in Pete's case!!  So, he agreed medication would be worth a try.  He has started him on a really low dose as they may not interact well with the epilepsy tablets, but they should definitely help just to lift his mood a bit.  Any problems and he will try others.  He just has a half tablet a day and had the first one today.  

I told the doc Pete is just taking 3, not 4 as prescribed, epilepsy tablets and that seems to be controlling it, and that is fine.  Also mentioned sleeping tablet every night and lots of paracetamol - the sleeping tablets are ok as Pete has a lot to deal with at the moment and needs to sleep at night, as for the paracetamol, just try to control it a bit and not let it get out of hand as can cause liver damage.  So, satisfaction after that appointment.

Today, Bev came along with a Clinical Psychologist, just to talk to Pete and get a handle on his feelings at the moment.  She talked about the antidepressants as Pete now doesn't seem keen on them, but as she said, we all take different tablets for different things and these are no different.  He has not failed in any way - she said that if I had been prescribed them would he want me to take them? He answered yes, so has to see why I want him to take them!  She had a really good deep chat with Pete about all that has happened since the stroke, all the ups and downs we have faced, and are still facing.  It got a bit emotional at times, but she said we are allowed to cry. 

And that has been the action in the last couple of days!  Pete has seemed a bit brighter over the last few days, but still experiencing lots of pain which takes him down at times.  This evening he has been low but not too bad.

Here's hoping he will continue with the antidepressants which will take a couple of weeks to kick in.