Worse than that... it used to be that insurance companies had a policy that they wouldn't pay for a private room unless there were no shared rooms (2 people) available. So now all hospitals are built (or have been converted) to have only private rooms. Last time I saw a shared room in a hospital was in 1997.

Newly built hospitals in the US are all private rooms. It reduces the chances (supposedly) of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections. It also vastly reduces patient complaints over having an awful roommate. Also, it's harder to take the wrong patient in room 244 for a colonoscopy when there's only one patient in there.

In hospitals with semi-private and private rooms, you don't get assigned to them based on insurance status ... it's based on infection control needs ... you need the bed you get the bed, regardless of whether you can pay for it. And that predates Obamacare.

Even for rehab ... I see a lot of uninsured clients who just show up because they know that if they need detox, we can't just kick them out. We don't have to hold them for rehab, but often do. They're supposed to go out, get funding, and get referred in. Detox is an emergency. Rehab is not.

So, Sundae, if you were over here, I could get you in.

According to Bri I'd get better meds too.
Oh the irony of social healthcare!

Just heard that my Mum and her friend will collect me from the hospital when I am discharged (Thursday 23) so I don't have to face the long trek home alone. Which is very kind. They'll come to Cambridge for the day and I'll keep Mum updated on possible discharge times. At worst I'll be kicked out soon after breakfast and just have to kill some time. Which is hardly a huge problem after all.

Also got my first monthly check-up scheduled in June. It's at 11.30, so I am checking the timetables to see if I can get there that early. I'll have to call tomorrow and reschedule if not.

Did you talk to the consultant about the lack of help you've been given for getting off alcohol?

Yes. He's going to see if he can contact someone more local to me, to get me onto Acamprosate. I take it I'd have to be monitored, and he acknowledged that it wasn't practical for me to attend a clinic more than once a month at Addenbrookes.

He's wary about prescription drugs because coming off them can leave the patient feeling like they are enabled to drink again. He explained that they are not a solve-all (willpower is still required.) I just asked if there was any help I could receive I would really appreiate it because I need all the help I can get.

Have you tried being a friend of Bill W yet? Yes, what they tell you to do is sometimes simplistic, but the idea of a support network is actually quite solid.

I strongly agree with wolf's statement. I have first hand experience in this area, and though it doesn't work for everyone, it has a lot going for it.

"Bill" doesn't work for everyone. My sister went faithfully until she began a binge. That being said, it does work for many people. Very good luck to you, Sundae.
My favorite thing to wear in the hospital is a pair of scrubs if you can get them. Makes them wonder if you're one of them.

OH, BTW...This is the "artist" formerly known as "Trilby's Sis". I changed my username to Gypsy. Did you ever hear the Stevie Nicks song? She used this song as a tribute to her friend who died. Claudette loved Stevie Nicks.

I vacationed once with Stevie Nicks. It was a cruise on the Regal Princess around the western Caribbean. I saw her a couple times on deck, swathed in skirts and giant sunglasses.

Oh... welcome Gypsy!

Gypsy makes me think of the robot on Mystery Science Theater 3000. (This is a good thing. :)) Congratulations on your new username, Gypsy. Glad to see you'll be sticking around.

So Gypsy, have you ever been to Tripp Lake in Maine? I grew up in Lewiston and always went swimming there as a kid. Great place. Bri/Trilby had mentioned it a few times too.

Absoultely I have been to Tripp Lake! Bri and I went there this past summer with my mom, dad and other sister. It was our last vacation together. My uncle and cousins have a cottage there.

Slowly sorting things out for Tuesday.
Woke this morning thinking it was Monday! Then again I was up at 05.00 because Diz was sick in my bed and only dozed off again at about 07.00 after changing all the bedding, cleaning his litter tray and all of the excitement. So befuddled is reasonable I guess.

Mum says I have to take my (toe)nail varnish off. Apparently you cannot wear it in hospital? Odd that they don't tell you that beforehand then :)

Flowers are acceptable on this ward, so I take it personal items are too. I intend to take Brianna's Edgar Allen Poe and the photo of my cats that Case painted her awesome picture from; part-funded by Bruce. So the Cellar will be with me.

The risks are very small, but I have included the hospital details in case something untoward happens. So you have a place of pilgrimage.

In badder news, Dads has had his dual diagnosis of dementia and epilepsy challenged. Like me, he may have auto-immune issues. While my consultant merely suggested it might be something that they need to deal with before any other treatment, his consultant's first suggested diagnosis was lung cancer.

Poor old Mum. Well, I say that, but her immediate reaction was to be really harsh to both of us because we are ruining her life. Her body has embarked on a tour of stress related bowel issues, and she has made it clear that she cannot go to the Doctor because she has no time for an appointment between running around after Dad and me.

I do honestly feel for her.
And I'm not actually ill, although I am obviously diseased, so have been baking (things she likes, like scones), cleaning and ironing. It makes for a tense atmosphere though.

I have come out in a horrible series of what we called "blind" spots; spots with no discernible head to them. They are big and red and sore, but can't be squeezed. I assume this is part of detox. I guess some things get worse before they get better.

I'll be thinking of you, Sundae. Best wishes.