To have support for hospital appointment!

Oh dear, absent!

Fingers crossed for good news hildajenniJ. At least you wont be alone on the bus after a barium enema. It truly doesn't bear thinking about.

I also have a hospital appt this morning so I will be thinking of you hilda I have been where you are and know the feeling well. My own is only for confirmation of a diagnosis and sorting out treatment so no butterflies .

I am all ready to go. The bus departs at 08.10. My appointment is at 11.15. I will have a couple of hours to mooch around the shops, and get a coffee. I am not as worried as I thought I would be. My DD thinks all will be well, and she often has a sixth sense about these things. I will give you all an update later.
Thank you all for the good wishes.

Best wishes for tomorrow Hilda, I'm glad you aren't going alone.

Good luck - I am so glad that your sister is able to be with you.

hildaJ good luck with your appointment, I am thinking about you its not long since I went for the appointment that changed my life. I hope all is well for you though. .

I'll be thinking of you Hildaj, fingers crossed and good luck x

Good luck Hilda-same thing happened to me and when I got there they couldn't find anything at all! It had been a fluid filled cyst which the mammogram procedure itself had popped. Glad you have your sister though

I hope it goes well tomorrow, Hilda. That's not like the Coop to be so mean about an important health appointment. They usually take a kinder stance. It wasn't commonplace where I worked - we would have allowed the time off and if the hours were needed to be completed (usually not) they could be made up another time, or taken from leave allowance.

Good luck for tomorrow Hilda and glad you will have someone with you after all.

I remember very well how it felt, and was very glad of DH with me! Let us know how it goes. Rooting for you.

best wishes hildajenniJ for the appointment. Shame on your oh's boss.

I was told that nine times out of ten it is a technical problem, or a "doubtful" area which turns out to be OK.

Wishing you well for tomorrow hildajenniJ Glad your sister will be with you and fingers crossed it is nothing worse than a cyst or problem with the last image

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and suggestions. I usually take a notepad with me just in case I need to write anything down. I did this when accompanying my late mother on her appointments. My lovely sister says she will meet me at the bus station and go with me. She is going to Norway on Wednesday and I did not want to bother her. She says that most of her preparations are done now and she will only be too happy to go with me. Thanks again everyone. hjj.

I do think that the suggestion about a notepad is a good one. I once took my DD with me for an ortho appointment when things had been going wrong and I needed to be clear what was said; and my OH with PD has just started agreeing to me going in with him in the hope that two aging brains might be better than one! The next best thing is a notebook - and it might be worth talking to OH and deciding between you what you need to ask.

I wish you every good luck with this appointment. The last time a had a similar one, I was on and off the loo in the waiting room and the nurses took pity on me and pushed me through early! I hope you do not suffer from the same problem! - and I hope it all goes well for you. Please imagine a virtual "hit squad" as suggested above.

Same thing happened to me. DH had to go for the results of a brain scan and I wanted to go with him but I was refused because there was going to be an announcement that day and I might have been needed to discuss with people afterwards. I already knew what the announcement was and there were plenty of other people they could talk to. Mine was a female boss too.

Some towns have voluntary organisations of people who offer lifts for hospital appointments - CAB might know.
For an appt. like yours, if you're on your own, take a notepad and pen to jot things down that you're told.
Then if your husband can't come you'll be sure to have the right info for him.
Good luck!

Thank you for your ideas everyone. It is the journey home that bothered me. I am perfectly happy to go by myself. My DH needs the car, so I will be unable to drive myself there and back. The bus is quite convenient, as it is only about a five minute walk to the hospital from the bus station. Everything is fairly central. I'll manage, I'm sure. I will let you all know about my adventure on Wednesday.

Hildajennij Is it someone to be at the hospital to give you some moral support you do you need or someone to help you get there?

Some hospitals seem to have a volunteer hospital buddy system which I think is supposed to be available to offer people some when visiting clinics etc. I would try ringing the clinic concerned and asking them if they could help or advise on this.
Here is some info about one such scheme. I have no idea where you live.

www.croydonhealthservices.nhs.uk/default.aspx.locid-01xnew058.Lang-EN.htm

Can you contact Ageuk and find out if there is anyone who can take you?

Surely he's entitled to compassionate leave. He needs to contact his union.

Don't know to any Gnetters near enough to me. I don't mind having to go by myself. It's the coming home on the bus that I'm not looking forward to. I wrote a very kind email, reminding them of their ethics, which are there online for all to see. I really don't think that they will be offended. Thank you all for your support. I am taking my book with me to pass the time.

It is a shame that he can't come with you and hope all goes well for you. Not sure though that I would have sent such an e-mail without knowing the whole story from your husband.

I would be delighted to help locally and must say sometimes might need help. Let us persue this if possible.