So today I had an appointment at my local hospital’s dermatology department , to be honest with you I don’t often actually go to my local hospital I usually am at hospitals in London and well to be honest I was supposed to go to St Thomas’ hospital in London for dermatology , however we quickly found out they wanted to do a patch test due to my eczema which I’ve had since I was little but due to it getting worse since I’ve been at college , which was fine but it was just the fact that I had to go up there every other day for a week and so would have been very expensive in travel costs etc and so we asked to be referred to my local hospital to get it done .Anyway and so yeah It’s taken a while to get to this stage considering we started the dermatology journey ooh must have been nearly a year ago , but we finally got there 🙂 .
Anyway yeah I met dad at his work office and then he drove us up to the local hospital ,payed the car park etc , went into the main hospital to check in using the self check in machines and entered all our details like my date of birth etc only for it to come back with no known appointments in my name which wasn’t particularly helpful so ended up going up to the main desk and getting pointed in the right direction of where to go , which well to be honest whoever it was who gave us the directions isn’t very good with directions as they directed us to a secured office (by that I mean one where you have to type the code in to get in) .Luckily we found where we were supposed to be literally right around the corner from the office .
We were really quickly greeted seeing as there were some nurses around the little desk and they asked if we were looking for ENT as apparently a lot of people get lost and end up turning up in dermatology instead.Quickly told them we were looking for dermatology which the nurses looked a little puzzled about and asked for my name once I told them my name they were like yes you’re in the right place take a seat we wont keep you long .I thought this was quite a nice little touch to be honest considering they haven’t met me before (the dermatology treatment area is in a different area to where I saw the dermatology doctor before) .It may have just been because it was really quiet but still was a nice little touch that they recognised my name and knew I had an appointment.
We didn’t wait too long until one of the nurses who had greeted us before called me through into the little secure doored area (not sure why but the waiting area was outside a secure door coded door like the office and then once through was just all the little treatment rooms) .I went through on my own leaving dad outside to wait for me .Once in the treatment room the nurse Emma asked some basic questions like whether I had any other skin conditions, whether anyone in my family has asthma ,hay-fever or eczema and then went on to asking more about my eczema and about it getting worse since I’ve been at college before talking through the patch testing process ,seeing as I haven’t had patch testing done before.
I then had to take my top off (I’m glad dad didn’t come into the room and that I was seeing a female Nurse) although didn’t need to take my bra off and then to be honest I didn’t really have to do much just had to stand facing a wall and she then started applying the tape onto my back with the 41 most common allergies people have samples and then started drawing around them in pen .I suppose as some sort of record keeping thing and then she applied more tape and that was all there was to it really wasn’t too much a big deal really and then yeah just had to put my top back on whilst the nurse held all of the patch tests and tape in place on my back .The nurse then said that for the week I cannot get my back wet which means no showers or baths, someone will have to wash my hair for me as I’m not allowed to do the arm motion of rubbing the shampoo and conditioner in and for the next week I’ll have to wear tight-fitting t-shirts during the day and also of a night and someone will have to hold all the patch test and tape in place every time I change my top half .Also not allowed to replace any tape that falls off in case I don’t put it back exactly where it’s supposed to be.
I’m back again Wednesday to see how it’s all going and whether my skin has started reacting to anything and then back again on Friday to get the results to find out what I’m allergic to if anything or if it’s just been my eczema being very badly behaved all this time .What I thought was quite nice was as I left to meet dad the nurses at the little desk (most likely nurses station) outside of the secured door all said bye see you Wednesday to me which again I just thought this was a nice little touch .I mean I don’t even have the excuse of they know me as like I say this was my first time at my local hospitals dermatology treatment unit but such a lovely touch to see that they know the patients they have coming in and out of the department 🙂 .Didn’t quite get a loyalty card for all my regular appointments but did get told I don’t have to pay for the car park if we put a hand written note in the car window saying I’m having dermatology treatment 😉
Oh and been told that if I experience any redness or itchiness then I’m definitely allergic to one of the 41 substances on my back ,I can just tell that when Friday comes along a shower is going to be greatly appreciated 🙂
My patch test on my back 🙂
goshgurl95 