Posted by sweetmarie on August 29, 2001, at 3:15:24
In reply to Re: How Things Are » sweetmarie, posted by shelliR on August 28, 2001, at 22:24:49
> >Hi Anna.
>
> Is it possible to go back into the hospital until things are set up for you? It seems like they kept you so long, but not really long enough to trust the medication. And now no followup for so long.
>
> In the US they don't keep you more than a couple of weeks in the hospital, because of insurance. I guess maybe you can stay in state run hosptials for longer, but they are awful places to be. Very scarey, generally. But there were a lot of options to choose out of the hospital for followup here.
>
> You sound like you should go back until everything is settled.
>
> I'm sorry you are feeling so bad and so scared.
>
>
> Shelli
ShelliI`m afraid that going back to hospital isn`t an option. The hospital I was in was one that I was referred to, and not my local hospital. I had to wait 6 months for a bed there, as it`s a specialist unit (one of only 2 in the country).
I think that we were all reasonably sure that things had been set up and I was in agreement about my discharge date. Although I certainly wasn`t well, I felt `on the right road`, and that coming out and getting straight into the day centre and the CBT - with the additional support of the community nurse, would be O.K. I still think so now, except that these things didn`t happen. What I didn`t want is to stay in hospital any longer than necessary - I was there over 4 months anyway. But I totally knew that it was crucial that stuff be set up for me, or problems would arise. I told them (the nurses, doctors etc.) this over and over again. To be fair to all of us, it looked as though they were.
It`s just unfortunate that things have worked out as they have. My parents going away for 2 weeks was the last straw (that and my friend becoming so ill). I don`t think I`d have taken the nose-dive that I have if they weren`t going away - I realize that I would still be bad, as I`m still adjusting to life in general again, but ...
I suppose that I could go into the local hospital, but it`s very grim indeed (the old lunatic asylum), and also Jo (my friend) is there. I don`t actually think that this is an option worth pursuing.
I think that I will have to `hang in` and see this period as it is, i.e. a bad spell. I`m reluctant to do anything about changing meds, as I had begun to see an improvement. I also know that it can take much longer than is `officially` stated for meds to take effect properly. My professor (in hospital) told me that it can really vary from person to person - whilst for some people it`s a sudden `lift`, with others it`s a slow gradual thing over months. I`m hoping that I belong to the latter category.
Anyway. That`s the story. I still feel pretty cruddy, but I think that I`ll probably have to accept that for a while. Things are far from being sorted out - most things are up in the air still, and uncertainty has always been very depression-provoking for me (that and fear). What I hope most of all is that I haven`t lost what I gained (not that it was very much, but for me it was significant). My Dad reckons that you can`t `lose` progress gained, and that I`ll pick it up again. Hope he`s right.
Thank you for replying - it`s really good of you to take an interest. I appreciate it.
Love,
Anna.
poster:sweetmarie
thread:76433
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010828/msgs/76788.html