Trying to get through to the doctor....

kingfisherblue

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I wonder if anyone has ever had an asthma attack when they actually have their blue inhaler with them? :huh:

My son always has a blue inhaler with him. He carries one in his school bag, there is one in the car and one at each grandparents' house. Another is at his sister's.

There is also one at school, but what they do with it, I have no idea. I had a phone call last week to ask for a blue inhaler be brought in as my son was going on a trip. He usually has his school bag, but it was the one day he didn't have it with him. I told the school that a new inhaler had been sent in at the beginning of term, and that there was no record of it being used at all (he has a home/school communication book due to his disabilities). The school couldn't fidn the inhaler. It's happened before - last term they couldn't find it either.

I met the teacher at the place where they were going (fortunately it was local), but have asked the school to be aware of where they are keeping my son's inhaler. It's very unusual for him not to have his school bag, with another inhaler in, but it can happen. However, staff should know where his school inhaler is.

Person_one

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I wonder if anyone has ever had an asthma attack when they actually have their blue inhaler with them? :huh:

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this, but, yes of course they do!

The blue inhalers are generally pretty good at relieving asthma symptoms if taken promptly. Most people who feel the onset of an attack can take 2 or 3 puffs and start to feel better very quickly. They might need to take another few to feel 100% again.

There are situations though where the blue inhaler doesn't do enough to relieve the attack, and there is a point at which the symptoms become so severe that it can't work, because the drug is inhaled into the lungs and if someone has a seriously inflamed airway and can't breathe properly they then can't get the drug into their lungs anyway.

The advice for most asthmatics who feel an attack coming on is to take two puffs of the reliever inhaler every minute or two until they feel better. If they have 10 puffs (so about 5 minutes) without any improvement then they need urgent medical attention.

Person_one

kingfisherblue wrote: »

My son always has a blue inhaler with him. He carries one in his school bag, there is one in the car and one at each grandparents' house. Another is at his sister's.

There is also one at school, but what they do with it, I have no idea. I had a phone call last week to ask for a blue inhaler be brought in as my son was going on a trip. He usually has his school bag, but it was the one day he didn't have it with him. I told the school that a new inhaler had been sent in at the beginning of term, and that there was no record of it being used at all (he has a home/school communication book due to his disabilities). The school couldn't fidn the inhaler. It's happened before - last term they couldn't find it either.

I met the teacher at the place where they were going (fortunately it was local), but have asked the school to be aware of where they are keeping my son's inhaler. It's very unusual for him not to have his school bag, with another inhaler in, but it can happen. However, staff should know where his school inhaler is.

I know some schools in my area have a stash of salbutamol inhalers and spacers for use by any child who needs one that the first aiders have access to. Seems like a great idea to me, I think the plan is to roll it to more after a 'trial period'.

flybynight

i feel proper impressed with our gp then.
having not needed to use him for years ( the missis has been but i seem to have the immune system of a bull) i broke and dislocated my ankle very badly 7 months ago. on release from hospital the first thing they said was make an appointment for the gp about painkillers and sicknote. we phoned and the receptionist said is this afternoon ok at 1500. great, in we toddle only to find he has already written out 3 prescriptions i will need and a sicknote. "ive already prescried what you need as i have your hospital and operation notes and it saves time, now tell me what you've doen and how you are". he has been a godsend and chased up things for me. when mrs flybynight went back last week for a repeat prescription , there was a post it on it saying "how did third op go yesterday, let me know if you need anything".

baby_lemonade

Robin9 wrote: »

I had my flu jab at Boots.

Exactly! There's a number of chemists that offer the flu jab, for about £10 IIRC.

Why not just go there rather than go through the hassle of using the NHS/GP surgery

kingfisherblue

baby_lemonade wrote: »

Exactly! There's a number of chemists that offer the flu jab, for about £10 IIRC.

Why not just go there rather than go through the hassle of using the NHS/GP surgery

My son has a learning disability and is needle phobic. He doesn't always react well to new people, so a flu jab in the chemist isn't really going to go down well. It's not great for other customers when he screams (and yes, he screams loudly, through fear rather than pain). He has had a great deal of medical intervention from birth, and is terrified of needles.

As it happens, I explained earlier that there was a fault on the line. I also had to ask the receptionist to report it, as others had told her they were kept on hold for a long period before giving up - but she hadn't thought to report it.

Once I did get through the following day, an appointment was made for my son to see the nurse (whom he knows) yesterday. Both of us had our flu jabs. He screamed, despite my reassurances, but it's over for another year.

Incidentally, there was someone else in the surgery for their flu jab. I know him a little (I know his partner relatively well). He had not received the letter about the flu jab either.

baby_lemonade

kingfisherblue wrote: »

My son has a learning disability and is needle phobic. He doesn't always react well to new people, so a flu jab in the chemist isn't really going to go down well. It's not great for other customers when he screams (and yes, he screams loudly, through fear rather than pain). He has had a great deal of medical intervention from birth, and is terrified of needles.

Poor chap.

I was just thinking it might be worth the tenner to avoid having to deal with the nonsense that is the NHS at this time of year.

I'm sure you must have tried this already but can he be distracted somehow while the nurse quickly does the injection?