Are you getting any extra help from anyone, from any organisation? Don't be afraid to ask as 'blood out of a stone' and 'medical professionals' seem to go together.

We've been told we'll qualify for some home help. The application process seems to work at standard bureaucracy speed, though, which is stupid. I really hope that, in the case of, say, recent quadraplegics, the process is sped up a bit and they don't have to look after themselves for the first few weeks.

Sometimes a good social worker can be useful, on the other hand a bad one?

Do 'Diabetes UK' do much?

http://www.carersni.org maybe ?

It's good to see someone so forgiving. I would not be.

I have no doubt that the individuals that looked after your case were personable enough. After all most humans are. It's the indifference I am concerned about. They follow instructions that they do not believe to be in someones best interest yet are seen as the good guys by the people that suffer. To really exaggerate to make a point. I bet the guards at Abu Graib were nice chaps and chapesses as well.

Now, in saying that, it is difficult for them but clearly while, to take Dr Crippens words, nurse quacktitioners are being promoted and overriding doctors etc. they are going to push for more and more power but without the responsability. I'm disappointed in the Doctor though. If he were that concerned why did he keep quiet? It's no good saying after the event. 'I thought we should not have done that'. I would have said something to him.

It will not end well for a lot of people but thankfully it looks like you were lucky this time. Good luck to you and your family.

Sheesh, I can hardly bear to read this. Can't think of any of my usual smart remarks. I dread to think what happens to people less well informed than yourselves. Best wishes.

Thanks, Natalie.


Dave,

Where did you get the idea that I was forgiving?


> To really exaggerate to make a point. I bet the guards at Abu Graib were nice chaps and chapesses as well.

No, that's not exaggerating to make a point, that's just randomly mentioning something which could not be less related to the subject at hand. Get a grip.


> nurse quacktitioners are being promoted and overriding doctors etc.

Your problem with nurse practitioners is that they can overrule doctors in areas in which the doctors have more expertise, and I agree. However, it's difficult to object to that and yet also hold that a diabetic specialist should be able to overrule obstetricians in matters of obstetrics.

Although it was remiss, in our opinion, of Vic's diabetic specialist not to tell us that he'd prefer an elective caesarian, the fact is that the caesarian is almost certainly what caused the blood clots — they are a known risk of any surgery on any patient — so it's not at all certain that following his advice would have made a damn bit of difference.

The real problem, we believe, was that Vic was never referred to a haematologist. Since she'd had multiple miscarriages, her obsetricians were focussed on giving her a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby, in which they succeeded. In retrospect, we think that they did a fantastic job of looking after the baby but perhaps didn't really consider that Vic herself might be in any serious danger. We think they should have.

(Can I also say that I hate terms like "nurse quacktitioner". They reduce what should be mature debate to the level of five-year-olds, and are invariably deeply unfunny. See also "Paddy Pants-down". My aching sides.)