Designs and Doctors

Dawn’s going to design a raft of new shirts in the coming week as we change seasons, so expect some new things in the first week of September, including Hatfield and the North, Man, Thelonious Monk and much more.

This is because she’s finished work building the shed and has a bit of free time before the next project, seeding the back garden and building some cupboards, making a door and carpeting upstairs. It never stops it seems.

I’m talking to a solicitor about suing my doctor for medical negligence, who’s obtained all the records and has got a peer review done which confirmed there was a breach of care. Now a claims specialist has agreed to fund the solicitor to pay for expensive experts to assess the degree of my injury, presumably because they think there’s a good chance of 20% of a payout.

So I sat down to list all my disabilities big and small - it came to over 60! Considering the doctor told me quite unequivocally that no, I wasn’t having a stroke, 3 days before I had a stroke, that’s some extensive damage done. Trouble is, these things take so long to sort out and especially in cases of moderate to severe disability.

I don’t know whether I’ve just been unlucky in having a doctor who I saw twice at the end of each day, who looked tired and got it all wrong, or if this sort of error happens all the time. Urgent intervention could have stopped the stroke, as otherwise, I was and remain healthy. Indeed I had barely seen a doctor in 25 years.Everyone was really shocked. I was the last person they thought this would happen to. They still don’t really know why it did. Probably some sort of genetic disposition. I do wonder if I looked healthy overall and that is one of the inexcusable reasons he ruled out a stroke

While financial compensation would help me and us cope with the realities of living post-stroke, I’d obviously much rather it hadn't happened and I could still use my left hand and walk properly. That goes without saying. 

I was encouraged to sue by a doctor friend because as he said, there’s too many poor doctors and they should be held to account. Because you know what, for about 2 years or more, I just felt like I wanted to put it all behind me, despite all the pain, distress and discomfort. That’s just the way I cope. Until he said that, I might not have done anything but why should he get away unpunished for such a devastatingly bad diagnosis?

When you see the list of issues I face as a consequence, they qualify as moderately to severe disabilities, not to mention the emotional distress for both of us and the fact I can no longer play guitar! Like I said, my default way of dealing with anything is just to adapt and plough on stoically and not complain. So this is all quite a big move for me. If they think I’m making up symptoms, they’re welcome to see what I have to go through every day.

Has anybody else gone through something similar? It’s a big, intrusive thing. My hope is that it all resolves itself smoothly but I’;; go to court if I have to! I hope it’s worth it, if only for Dawn, who has had her life turned upside down and her art career stymied.