Funerals and paying for them...

Pobby

Well glad to hear things have improved for you. How is he now?

margaretclare

Thanks for the kind thought. He's well now, well in himself, no recurrence of the infection, but the left knee is not/may not ever be normal. He uses a crutch to walk any distance. His surgeon did some excellent work restoring the knee as near-normal as possible, but the 4th replacement inside 6 years is fraught with problems. We're very grateful to him for even being prepared to give it a go. DH has been warned that it may take a year for the knee to get back to normal if in fact it ever does.

The treatment that he had since that infection blew up last October has been evidence to me that there is NO age-discrimination practised within the NHS. That treatment must have cost a huge amount of money. When I argued against the leg amputation while he was in Critical Care and 'out of it' - I said he must be given the chance to choose for himself and make an informed decision - it would have been the easiest thing in the world for someone to say 'is it really worth the effort for a man in the mid-70s, after all he could live with being semi-mobile, not like a young man...' But the possibility just never arose. Whatever anyone may have thought, the idea was never voiced.

SiannieLaz

Quicky reply to OP, I work as a funeral arranger and when completing an arrangement, my client is the person sitting in front of me and that person has to sign all the paperwork, and therefore is the person who is reponsible for the final invoice. With the exception of sending accounts direct to Banks and solicitors. I don't see how you can be liable for the bill unless you have signed the paperwork? I can only go against this if I have written instruction, for example, a daughter is too upset to arrange her father's funeral, so her cousin comes in but I will need written confirmation (and usually a telephone call) before I will address the invoice to anyone other than the person making the arrangement. Hope that helps

EdInvestor

margaretclare wrote: »

He's well in himself,

BTW, sorry to go O/T, but what does this term actually mean? Is it something to do with the patient's psychological state?

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote: »

BTW, sorry to go O/T, but what does this term actually mean? Is it something to do with the patient's psychological state?

No, his psychological state is fine!! Sorry, I just meant to imply that he's not totally mobile yet. Maybe it will take another few months for healing to take place, maybe he'll never have the mobility he had before this whole thing blew up last October, but at least he has 2 legs to stand on.

EdInvestor

Oh dear, I didn't explain that very well

What I meant was, if a doctor or nurse asks a patient how she feels "in herself", what do they mean? How does the answer differ from the response to the straight question " how are you feeling".

What are they getting at with this "in yourself" business?

sagalout1954

.............might some bits of this be more appropriate in PRIVATE MESSAGES as opposed to conversations within someone's thread! Sorry to be harsh/mean/spoilsport but I think maybe someone needs to say it.

scotsbob

sagalout1954 wrote: »

.............might some bits of this be more appropriate in PRIVATE MESSAGES as opposed to conversations within someone's thread! Sorry to be harsh/mean/spoilsport but I think maybe someone needs to say it.

You got that one right, I was hoping a moderator might have stepped in.

Errata

scotsbob wrote: »

You got that one right, I was hoping a moderator might have stepped in.

MSE forums don't have moderators, only Board Guides.

scotsbob

Errata wrote: »

MSE forums don't have moderators, only Board Guides.

You must be kept very busy on the forums.

Why not explain the difference so I don't make the same mistake again.