Month: October 2018

Today I had my regular visit to the psychologist I’ve been seeing since the start of my journey just over two years ago. I can clearly remember my feelings when I saw her the first time in September 2016, I was petrified! I don’t know what I was expecting really but I do remember walking into her room and seeing the black sofa and thinking “at least it looks a comfortable place to get a grilling” In reality it couldn’t have been any different, I very soon felt at ease and after a couple of visits built a huge emotional connection with her. On many occasions she has talked me round from being very down and managed to give me strategies to help me get through the worst times while I have been battling to get back to health. She has quite simply been the difference on many occasions and I am eternally grateful for her ongoing support.

This brings me to a comment made by the physio that I saw last week. Before my appointment I had sent him a brief outline of my story so as not to waste too much time explaining things during my time with him. He thanked me for it and made the comment that I seemed to have surrounded myself with beautiful caring people throughout my journey. Seriously, I know what a difference they have all made and the psychologist is very close to the top of the list. When my GP suggested that I should have some professional  support locally I was very unsure about it as I had not thought it necessary but time and time again she has made the difference. I am indeed a very lucky girl!

I was recommended by a very dear friend to see a physiotherapist in town. Now I’ve been to a physio before and it was certainly nothing like today’s appointment. There was no stretching and pulling my limbs into positions they don’t really want to go only a very gentle touch here and there and the careful laying on of hands in very carefully chosen positions. It was also a good deal more of a psychological examination than I had expected but again in a very gentle non probing way. I had emailed a brief outline of my story a couple of days ago so as not to waste too much time during the appointment which was much appreciated so we were able to get straight down to the reason for my visit. After a short discussion I was asked to sit on the bed with my back to the physio. He put his hand on my shoulder, them my neck then my head then asked me to lay on my back. He gently laid  his hand on my painful mons area and asked me to describe the feeling. This may sound easy but it was more complex than I thought, he asked me to think carefully about the type of discomfort, it’s colour, it’s size, it’s texture, quite thought provoking and quite difficult to answer.

After some time he started placing different gemstones on me to ascertain which one might do me some good. All of his comments were thoughtful and the questions he asked were logical. During the session he asked me about the different people I was seeing or had seen during my journey. As it was one of the GPs I’ve seen who recommend me to see him but who has since moved on he asked me who I was seeing instead. I explained that I have seen several over the last ten months but the one who I was most happy with was a holistic doctor. Without hesitation he said her name and made the the most lovely comment, he described her as “an angel who walks this earth” I almost cried! He then said “reading your story it sounds as though you have surrounded yourself with people like that” I agreed and replied “I must be the luckiest girl in the world, the way I have been looked after throughout my journey has been truly humbling, so many beautiful people who seem to care for me for some reason” he said it’s a two way thing but I feel I have definitely had the best part of it.

After trying several stones he announced that the one which fits with me was hematite and that with my permission he would like to tape it to my abdomen. He explained how it works and how long to keep it there, I didn’t see him tape it to me and didn’t see how big it is but after getting home I thought I better have a look. It is much bigger than I imagined but up to now it’s not causing any problems so will see how it goes and look forward to my next visit.

 

Today I experienced customer service at both ends of the spectrum, the very good and the absolutely terrible. I had a doctors appointment this morning and wanted to go straight to my painting job afterwards but needed to visit the supermarket so went there before my appointment. The recently opened Coles store in Vasse is our nearest supermarket, it is nice and bright, the parking is excellent even for a vehicle which is over five metres long and it’s not usually too busy. I parked in the middle of the car park away from any other vehicle so as not to invite dents and scratches from careless drivers and headed into the store. As we both have Coles credit cards and associated flybuys accounts we get bombarded by emails telling us what’s on special and how much we need it and mine came last night. It told me all the things which are at supposedly never to be repeated offers and some of them were clearly picked out of my usual shopping list. It’s a very clever system that knows what things you buy regularly and letting you know when each item is on offer. Needless to say I read the email every Tuesday night as thats when the new specials come online so even if I don’t intend shopping for a few days I know what is going to be good value. Last night was no different to any other Tuesday and I scanned through the list to find if the things we needed were on offer and sure enough quite a number of things which were on our list were on special.

My first stop was at the veggie section, we needed a number of things as were have people coming round later this week. I was a bit surprised that the prices of both broccolini and asparagus didn’t match the prices on the email but we needed both so I put two of each into my trolley. I thought for a very short moment that I could have got the prices mixed up but made a mental note that I would check when I next looked at my phone. As I walked up towards the deli section I noticed that the usually full fresh fish department was completely empty, disappointing as I wanted some salmon. It didn’t get any better, the more I walked round the store I noticed things were not as priced in the email. There were lots of people stacking shelves and some obviously changing prices which in my view should have been done before the shop opened. They were all having a good old chat to their co worker and to be honest there seemed to be little work actually going on.

I finished my shopping and had a full trolley so I headed for the checkouts only to find each and every one of them was closed. There was another lady also looking puzzled so I pushed my trolley down to the self checkout area where a member of staff was on duty. I asked if someone could open a checkout for me but was told to go to the “under twelve items” till. It’s not very convenient as there is no conveyor belt to put your things on but I started loading things onto the small area next to the till. There was a young lady at the till who didn’t speak to me just started scanning my shopping and throwing them into my bags. It was as well I didn’t have eggs on the list as they would have been well scrambled by the time I had got home. The lady never looked at me once during the time she was scanning my shopping and just told me how much it had all come to, I scanned my flybuys card and asked if there was $10 to take off which I knew there was and she muttered the new amount. I tapped my card on the reader and put in my PIN number, loaded my bags into the trolley and left. Apart from the total lack of customer pleasantries the most disappointing thing was under the name on her badge it said “Store Manager” what an example she was setting to the rest of her staff! A total lack of customer service.

After dropping off the shopping at home and getting changed I headed for the doctors. It wasn’t my usual GP’s today it was Broadwater medical centre which is only a short distance from our house. I parked the car and went inside. I was greeted with a smile from the receptionist who said “hello, how can I help you” I gave her my name and who I was there to see, she checked I was on the list and asked me to take a seat, the doctor wouldn’t be long. Now as I’ve mentioned before, I won’t ever complain about waiting for my turn with the doctor even when they are running a long way behind as I have often been the reason they are running late and know how truly blessed I am by the way I am looked after. My turn duly came and I was indeed very well cared for as usual, I had a lovely heartfelt hug before leaving the office and returned to the reception. The same lady greeted me with a smile again and confirmed my name, carried out the financial transaction seemlessly and I made two further appointments. The whole experience was perfect, I didn’t have to wait either time at the reception and I was dealt with in a warm caring way, my appointments were put on a card for me and as I left the receptionist said “enjoy the rest of your day” now that wasn’t too hard was it? The only disappointing thing is I can’t seem to find a place to leave a review as I believe good service should be rewarded or at least recognised, rest assured I have complained about the incident at Coles, not that I think I will get a reply but I felt better about it.