Vescia again

This morning we managed to change doctors in Valtopina ASL, quite painlessly, and went to the surgery in Vescia for a second time.

On the right: entrance to the Vescia surgery

The timing was perfect in one sense because late last night Clive discovered a lump under his left arm. He was able to get the doctor to examine it and she confirmed his fears that the lymph node was swollen.

She prescribed a strong antibiotic and a special cream, and told us to come back in a week’s time to see if it has reduced in size.

She also took names and phone numbers of the various characters involved in the lymphedema treatment and E112 saga, saying that she will phone them when she has a moment.

We’re very worried about the swollen lymph node because it can spell all kinds of trouble, but at least we don’t feel quite so alone any more.

A lemon and 4 strawberry trees

Valtopina ASL (Health and Health Administration Centre) is open one morning a week – Thursday – so, after phoning to verify they could help, I went down there today to change doctors.

The clerk behind the hatch greeted me with the stony-faced ‘it isn’t my fault’ look of the Italian bureaucrat and announced that the computer wasn’t working.

“But I phoned first!” I protested.

“If you’d got here fifteen minutes ago, it was working then.”

“Is there any chance it might start working again before you close?”

“I just told you,” (I never heard him) “I’m closing now and taking the computer to the technician.”

So that was that. Complete lemon. But there are 4 mature and beautiful strawberry trees just outside the entrance. I spent a few enjoyable minutes taking photos of them.

Strawberry trees outside Valtopina Health Administration Centre

Another brick wall

More happy bashing

Today I phoned the female doctor in Terni who does lymphedema treatment.

Speaking brightly, she booked us in for next Friday and then described the clinic’s location.

We looked on Google Maps. When the photos were taken, there wasn’t a single parking space on the one-way streets near the clinic. There is, however, a little car park right next to it.

I phoned back. Unfortunately they aren’t allowed to use the car park, but if I phone ahead (while driving) and hover outside the clinic, someone will come down and escort Clive up in the lift while I go to look for a metered space.

It suddenly hit me that we’d booked a private appointment rather than a National Health one, so I phoned a 3rd time. Still the bright voice, but as soon as I told her the situation, we went from ‘red carpet’ to ‘wipe your feet before you come in’, as Clive put it.

I phoned Terni National Health. We must book through a Pharmacy and no, they have no idea when the first appointment is.

I phoned Valtopina Pharmacy. They can’t make the appointment because, although our chit says ‘lymphedema treatment’, it has the wrong department name on it. (I’d heard ‘angiology’ as ‘oncology’ and since that didn’t make sense, our doctor had insisted on putting ‘phlebology’.)

In fact the Pharmacy weren’t sure they could make the appointment at all, seeing as it was Terni, but if I went in they would see.

The Pharmacy eventually found Terni National Health on their computer and checked the next available date for me: 26th April.

Back at home I phoned the doctor in Foligno hospital who had ratified and supposedly supported Clive’s application for intensive treatment in Germany, hoping for some advice. He couldn’t disown us fast enough.

I phoned the administrator in Perugia who had communicated  the rejection of Clive’s application for the E112. He advised an appeal on the basis of waiting-time.

We’re now pursuing a possible change of family doctor as it’s imperative that we have proper advice and backing from someone who is supportive.

“And another one just flew over,” says Clive.

Nocera Umbra

We tend to gravitate to Foligno for shopping and any needs not served by Valtopina, our own Comune.

Nocera Umbra, a bit nearer in the opposite direction, has one main disadvantage apart from being smaller than Foligno. It’s a hill town.

Hill towns are quite a feature of Umbria. They began as walled settlements perched on an easily-defended hill or promontory high above a valley and they still have a rugged and impregnable air.

Naturally, they’ve spread beyond their original confines, but their heart is far from being merely a historical monument. Many of the public buildings are situated there, in steep, narrow streets that often have pedestrian access only.

The coil-pot structure of the old town also tends to dictate the lay-out of any areas of new development.

In other words, hill towns are a nightmare to penetrate and navigate around compared to a more modern town.

Nocera (this being a standard abbreviation) isn’t picturesque and photogenic in quite the same way as other nearby hill towns like Spello and Trevi. But it has a romantically savage air about it which these other towns don’t have.

It’s also famous for the pure water from its springs, one of which is called ‘Angelica’.

Bottles of Nocera Umbra water.

Another visit to the Planning Office

At 12.30 pm today I was standing outside the Comune waiting for a surveyor (geometra) of our acquaintance to arrive, along with his  colleague, so that all 3 of us could go into the Planning Office for a pre-arranged appointment.

Timepiece used by surveyors

I phoned the surveyor-of-our-acquaintance to check where he was. He was just leaving Foligno and would be there in 5 minutes. It’s a 15 or 20-minute drive from Foligno but even so, I was reassured.

1.00 pm came. Every car that had driven up Valtopina High Street in the right direction had potentially been them, women and old boys included. 2 headrests were 2 heads in a car and therefore momentarily a promising sign.

The Planning Officer emerged, saw me, and asked if we were about to go in. I spluttered that yes, we would be very shortly, and would have barred his way except that he said he just had to do something and would be right back. He did go back in, but still no sign of the surveyor.

Shortly after 1.00, a bearded young man in sunglasses wandered up the steps into the Comune. After a moment he came back out and approached me.

It turned out that he was the colleague. The original surveyor had been delayed and would join us shortly.

Why O why hadn’t I foreseen this? The colleague knew nothing whatsoever about the plans we want to submit. He hadn’t been briefed at all. Naturally.

So all was to do from scratch. The wheel was reinvented, and the price for the work went up by a factor of 5 from what  the original surveyor had suggested.

All our exchanges took place in front of the Planning Officer who fortunately, judging by the look on his face, saw the funny side of it.

The original surveyor never turned up at all. He phoned later after being rousted by his colleague, full of excuses about workloads, being out of touch with prices, etc.

The colleague is due to come to the house the day after tomorrow, to hopefully move things forward. We shall see!