Surgery and Couch

Just to let you all know that I have finally been booked in for surgery for my painful cervical spondylosis. It is to be at Newcastle General Hospital on 7th November and will be a bilateral double foraminotomy. I am hoping that it will greatly reduce the pain I have in my neck and arms even though it will not address the arthritis per se. Who cares though if I am in less discomfort. One of the positive things to look forward to is that I shall need fewer of the horrible pain relief drugs that I am forced to take at the moment - yippee!!

So I shall be taking a wee break from clinical and teaching until early January as I won't be able to lift anything - does that include washing up and hoovering?? It'll give me lots of time to work out my Spring workshops, write a couple of articles and start my book on The Holistic Spine.

So as to make my clinical work a bit easier, I have decided to buy a hydraulic couch. The portable one we have is good enough but it isn't the same as being able to adjust it. When we were in Devon several years ago we had FOUR of them (four treatment rooms) and wish now that we hadn't sold them all when we moved. So if anyone out there is wanting to off load a hydraulic couch that is surplus to requirements - PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Wow - just heard that Chesterfield have beaten Burton Albion 5-2 (must be an omen!)

Frisby throwing

I read an article the other day in 'Frontline' - the physio's newsletter in the U.K. about throwing frisbys and their benefit. It reminds me of the time I was running the medical department at the Royal Tournament in Earls Court further back than I care to recall. I was taking a break from work one afternoon and throwing a frisby with a colleague from the Royal Navy. An army corporal walked by, recognized me, and said 'oh look, there's a frisbyotherapist' (It was probably funnier at the time).

The joys of self employment!

Why does anyone their right mind choose to become self employed? You don't have paid holidays, pay more national insurance than others, need to work all hours to make ends meet and earn a living purely due to other's whims! If people don't visit me - I don't eat! As a private practitioner you also have to put up with last minute cancellations without being able to fill the appointment. After 40 years of practice I have heard all the excuses. Why can't people just be honest and say that they cannot afford to attend or that they are no better? Instead you are treated to crazy excuses such as great aunt Maud suddenly being taken ill and they have to be taken to the doctors, or the dog can't be left on their own. So why do you put up with all this uncertainty and downright masochism?

It is because you like to be independent and to make decisions without recourse to other input. You do not have to bother with line managers or other people who know far less about the subject than you do. You actually like the buck stopping with you and relish the fact that you can offer much more time to your patients and clients. However, the most important thing to being an effective private practitioner is that you have excel in your chosen therapy. This does not come easily or cheaply and has to be worked at every single day.

OK , here come the grumpy old man bit - for the first 20 years following qualifying, I made sure that I attended every salient course and workshop I could to improve my knowledge base. There wasn't such a thing as CPD in those days and I paid out because I wanted to learn. Sadly this mind set is disappearing quickly - if you do not offer CPD courses, potential delegates don't want to know! There is NO substitute for experience and this can only be gained by wanting it - and not being spoon fed!

Skye Workforce

Those of you who live in the big cities and surrounded by people must think our lives in Skye should be idyllic - mostly it is and we thought hard and long before coming to live here eight years ago. I appreciate that we live at the 'back of beyond' and that it takes a long time to get anywhere, but that can be part of the charm. We do not have a local pub, the nearest supermarket is 30 miles away (sadly it is the Co-op, but maybe Tesco's from next year - yippee), in the summer we are inundated with visitors - none of whom drive at more than 3o mph on our single track roads, and some of the local culture is quite foreign. But we would not change it because we love the fresh air, openness and relative solitude.

There is, though, the dreaded Skye disease!!!!! This also could apply to Scilly, Orkney, Man or any other isolated community - I am talking about the local workforce and the four 'C' s. There is little Communication. If they don't turn up for work (to do the plumbing etc) they do not phone and let you know they wont be working that day. Then we have disCourtesy. The Skye male (sometimes female) is renowned for not showing regard, empathy or compassion for anyone else. Finally there is Customer Care, which could be stand alone or include the first two. It is not just the indiginous population that show these three traits - incomers soon adopt the mindset. So, unlike most of you, we wait months to get the most simple of jobs completed. Then they just 'turn up' on the doorstep (no phoning of course) and assume that it is convenient! Whinge over!!

Introduction

Hi there,

I have been asked time and time again by clients, customers, delegates (and my dog) to finally catch up with the 21st century and write a blog. Many of you know my passions so please let me know what you want -be it advice on techniques or the latest gen on yours truly. I will not be telling all about what I had for breakfast etc. - that's for Facebook and the like. Meanwhile I shall be working on a link from my web site to this site so it's a bit more user friendly. See you soon.