One day, one photo

Beckenham Beacon

It’s been a strange few days. On Tuesday I picked up my Smartdrive MX2+ from GLB Wheelchairs while in Portsmouth and tried it out. If you search the web you will see how it works. I’ve tied it a couple of times now and am getting used to it. It’s a good bit of kit but at £4000 is very expensive. Too expensive really.

I hadn’t planned to use it so early today as I was due to use my CoaguCHek machine to test my INR but when I tried to the machine kept throwing an error code. I soon found out why… the test strips were out of date. They ran out on January 31st.

I was a bit annoyed about this as they cost about £200 to the NHS and I had only ordered them in late October last year. So nearly all of the 48 strips have been wasted as they are useless now. Why would the pharmacy send me an item that will be used for a year with such a short life left?

I have complained to the supplying chemist and let my surgery know. However the fact is that the outdated test strips meant I had to get my blood checked at my local clinic so I used the Smartdrive to take me there.

My blood test ticket was number 60 and the reader said “17” so after an hour and a half I had my blood taken and made my way home under the same power as I’d arrived. All good.

Once home the postman brought me 60 night bags and a wifi range extender. The nightbags had been requested from the pharmacy some time ago but there had been a delay and some chasing needed. The wifi extender was to improve Karen’s access to the system from the other side of the house. It didn’t take too long to set up.

So most of today has been taken up with administrative things. I would much prefer to spend my time otherwise. For instance we’re seeing Alex and Greg tonight for a meal as Alex, my youngest son is 29 today. Now that’s something I am looking forward to.