This post follows on from Navigating the Maze – a complicated chain of medical appointments that eventually led to cataract surgery. With the date finally confirmed for my cataract surgery, the saga was almost over. I contacted my daughter to make sure she was able to drive me to have the cataract surgery done. When … Continue reading Cataract Surgery (at last)
This post follows on from an earlier post about a chain of medical appointments that followed the discovery of a cataract and retinal tear Link: A Superfluity of Appointments By this point I had already had one laser procedure on my right eye and was waiting to hear about the cataract in my left. I … Continue reading Navigating the Maze
Some weeks feel like a test of endurance. This one could have qualified for the decathlon. Monday: I had an appointment with the Eye Service at Outpatients, where I was told that despite months of being assured I qualified for publicly funded cataract surgery, I no longer do. The reason? The other eye is “too … Continue reading What a Week (From Hell)
MSD disability allowance New Zealand – the article in The Press I was surprised — and slightly amused — to discover this morning that an opinion piece I wrote about the MSD disability allowance New Zealand had appeared in The Press. I had no advance notice, but someone from the Diamond Harbour Facebook page kindly … Continue reading MS(D) Gets on My Nerves
I’m proud to share that a piece I wrote has been published by the MS Society of New Zealand. It’s called “MS Care Can’t Wait – and Neither Can We”, and it speaks to the urgent need for better access to treatment, services, and support for people living with Multiple Sclerosis in New Zealand. This … Continue reading MS Care Can’t Wait — And Neither Can We
For the past eight months it seems as though a week hasn’t gone by without some sort of hospital appointment … Nothing dramatic — no flashing lights or overnight stays — just a steady stream of visits, usually to Outpatients, for one thing or another. It all started with my eyes. To explain that properly … Continue reading A Superfluity of Appointments
Ten days ago, I got a call from IRD about an Application for Relief I’d submitted online. Within thirty seconds, I could tell the tone was going to be adversarial and accusatory. Since I tend to fall apart in those kinds of situations, I recorded it — so I could digest what was said later, … Continue reading No Relief for Doing the Right Thing
This is a link to a story I wrote for the MS Society of New Zealand and was published in their newsletter. Click to follow link Continue reading My MS, My Story – Claire Brown
I haven’t posted anything on here for a while as I’ve been too busy floundering around in a sea of bureaucracy in my efforts to get a temporary vaccine mandate exemption. I explained my situation to my GP by email, i.e. that I had been taking an MS drug which had the effect of lowering … Continue reading Exemptions, Extubations, Advertisements and Infusions
I’m so glad that someone advised me to keep a separate diary of these events. At the time it sounded absurd and bureaucratic, but without it, I might have doubted my own memory. A few months ago, I began feeling dizzy, panicked, and unlike myself. It was a strange kind of low—anxiety layered on exhaustion—and … Continue reading Unwashed and Unvaccinated
