This week my question is;
What makes you feel frustrated?
Sunday Poser # 309- Frustation
Sunday Poser — Frustration, Paperwork and a Little Common Sense!
25 October 2026
This week’s question from Sadje is:
What makes you feel frustrated?
Oh, Sadje! Where do I even begin? 😂
If you had asked me this question a few weeks ago, I might have mentioned technology misbehaving, people who don’t use their indicators, or the occasional bureaucratic nightmare.
But these past couple of weeks?
Frustration has practically moved into our house, unpacked its suitcase and made itself comfortable!
As many of my readers know, my husband has been on dialysis since January 2020.
On 29 June 2023, he suffered a terrible accident, fractured his hip and experienced several heart attacks. Because of his heart condition, the doctors couldn’t operate on his hip.
He became dependent on a wheelchair, and for more than three years, walking was out of the question.
But my husband is a fighter.
For the past few months, he has been attending physiotherapy twice a week.
And guess what?
He can now walk a little with a walker!
After more than three years!
Can you imagine how much determination and hard work that has taken?
We have been so incredibly proud of him.
We had understood that he was supposed to be on the kidney transplant list. However, his doctors at our local dialysis ward later informed us that he had been denied because he was a wheelchair user.
Last week, he travelled to the hospital in Las Palmas for an assessment with the transplant doctor.
Both our daughters accompanied him. One was responsible for the walker, while the other handled the wheelchair.
He wanted to show how much progress he had made.
But apparently, it wasn’t enough.
He was told that walking with a walker wasn’t sufficient because he couldn’t walk independently.
And here’s where my frustration really begins.
My husband also suffers from severe arthritis.
Some of the physical tasks the transplant doctor wanted him to demonstrate are things he hasn’t been able to do for more than thirty years!
For example, getting up from a chair without using his hands.
Thirty years!
That limitation existed long before his accident, his heart attacks or his dependence on a wheelchair.
My daughters tried to explain this.
Both speak fluent Spanish, so there was no language barrier.
They explained his medical history, his arthritis and the tremendous progress he has made.
But they felt nobody was listening.
Alex became so upset and angry that she had to leave the room.
And I can understand why.
Imagine watching your father fight for more than three years to regain some independence, only to see him come away feeling that none of his hard work matters.
There is another part of this situation that makes it even more frustrating.
Long-term kidney disease and dialysis can affect bone health. Our local dialysis team has explained that if my husband receives a successful kidney transplant and no longer needs dialysis, his bone condition might improve enough for doctors to reconsider operating on his damaged hip.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed.
But it gives us hope.
And that’s what makes this situation so difficult to understand.
The treatment that might help improve his physical condition is being considered partly in light of physical limitations he already has.
I understand that a kidney transplant is major surgery.
I understand that there are medical risks and important criteria to consider.
I’m not asking anyone to ignore those risks.
I’m asking that my husband be assessed as a whole person, with his medical history, longstanding limitations and recent progress all taken into account.
We still haven’t received a written explanation of the decision, but thankfully, the doctors at our local dialysis ward are following it up.
What breaks my heart most is how deeply this has affected my husband.
He has become withdrawn and discouraged.
He feels that nothing he does is ever good enough.
And as his wife, watching that is far more painful than any amount of paperwork.
Speaking of paperwork…
Welcome to the wonderful world of Spanish bureaucracy!
Oh, how they love their papers, stamps, rules and regulations here! 😂
We have also been dealing with a problem involving the Bono system for medical travel between the Canary Islands.
A hospital originally entered an incorrect appointment date and then corrected it.
That resulted in two travel voucher requests.
And somehow, we ended up facing a restriction on using the Bono system.
Their mistake.
Our problem.
Now we have to provide documentation of his hospital appointments over the past six months to get the situation sorted out.
Six months!
Between dialysis three times a week, physiotherapy twice a week, hospital consultations and everything else, I sometimes feel that I should open my own administrative office.
Perhaps I should get myself a rubber stamp.
APPROVED BY MAGGIE! 🤣🔨
Or maybe I should start charging an administration fee for every form I have to fill in.
I might become a millionaire!
Well, perhaps not. This is Spain, after all. I’d probably need seventeen forms and three appointments just to register the business! 😂
But jokes aside, all of this has been exhausting.
It isn’t simply the paperwork that frustrates me.
It’s the feeling that systems sometimes forget there are real people behind every document, appointment and medical decision.
People with families.
People with hopes.
People who are already dealing with more than enough.
And sometimes, all we want is for someone to listen.
I wrote more about these past weeks in my recent post, Life Lately — Hospital Battles, Broken Spirits, Music and Justice.
Thankfully, life hasn’t been entirely about hospitals and paperwork.
There have been some wonderful moments too, especially creating music for a local riding club.
Music has always been one of my ways of escaping the noise of everyday life.
And, of course, there’s my sense of humour.
Because if I couldn’t laugh at some of the absurdities life throws at us, I might end up banging my head against the nearest wall.
And knowing my luck, I’d then need another hospital appointment and seventeen forms to explain how it happened! 🤣
So, what makes me frustrated?
Unfairness. Unnecessary bureaucracy. A lack of understanding. And watching someone I love feel defeated when he should be celebrating how far he has come.
I don’t expect life to be easy.
I don’t expect every answer to be yes.
But I do believe people deserve to be treated as individuals, with dignity, compassion and a little common sense.
My husband has survived so much.
And every step he now takes with that walker is something worth celebrating.
Whatever happens with the transplant assessment, nobody can take that achievement away from him.
As for me?
I’ll continue supporting him, cheering him on, writing, making music and drinking my coffee.
Although, at this rate, I may need to upgrade from a coffee cup to a bucket! ☕🤣
Sometimes laughter is the only thing standing between me and a full-scale rebellion against the paperwork department!
💜
#SundayPoser
DJ Maggie in the house 🎧🎶
https://ditto.fm/arena-51-the-calima-conspiracy-original-mix
This is EDM music Electronic Dance Music . Songs drops October 2.
https://ditto.fm/arena-51-the-calima-conspiracy-alien-invasion-remix
💜
With love, coffee, poetry, and stardust,
— Maggie The Afterlove Voice 💫
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