Guys Hospital – psoriasis adventures

Wednesday, 14 April, 2021

It’s been quite a year for Krish. During his eye ‘adventures,’ which I now realise I haven’t really talked about much, he developed plaque psoriasis.

No one is quite sure what cases psoriasis. Stress is a trigger, but so too is steroid use (from his eye treatment) which also means his vitamin D level was compromised. Darker skinned people naturally have lower vitamin D because of their skin pigmentation. The darker your skin the more protection you have from the sun’s UV radiation, and that protection limits your ability to absorb VitD. Both stress and low VitD contribute to suppressing the immune system. Psoriasis is an immune-driven, hyperactive response.

It started with a small patch and within weeks, it covered his scalp his trunk and legs. Lots of home skin slatherings from several ointments and lotions later, he was referred to Guys Dermatology Centre for some serious treatment. At first he saw a consultant, and the 13th he started in the clinic. I decided to go with him for this appointment. We made plans to go for what looked like a 90-minute session and then do a bit of exploring.

It didn’t quite go that way! More foiled plans…

Guys is about 5 miles away
Guys is about five miles away. We can see the Shard from our window
On the train to Liverpool Street
On the train to Liverpool Street
Distancing at the barriers
Distancing at the barriers
A bit busier than last time at Liverpool Street Station
A bit busier than last time at Liverpool Street Station
More distancing at Liverpool Street Station
More distancing at Liverpool Street Station
There'll be a new Eataly here!
There’ll be a new Eataly here! Outside Liverpool Street Station

Maybe it’s the pandemic and lack of chaos, but I kept noticing things on Bishopsgate that I’ve not seen before. I must have been there hundreds of times, so how could I have overlooked so much?

Fire Brigade Station
Fire Brigade Station – above the Tesco store on Bishopsgate
Great Eastern Railway Hotel
Great Eastern Railway Hotel, now the Andaz

So much to see hear but the appointment time was getting closer, so we got the bus over to London Bridge Station, a stone’s throw from Guy’s Hospital.

Pandemic or not, I’m always excited to see the river. In my travels I’ve realised that I need to live in (or at the edge, at least) of a city but that city must be on a river, by the ocean, or a lake. A coastal city would be ideal for me were I able to afford to live there. Today, circumstances didn’t allow me to gaze at the Thames for too long, but I loved knowing I was there.

Instead, we headed straight for the Dermatology Clinic at Guy’s. First we had to head towards the new London Bridge station entrance, right at the Shard, and down an escalator to St Thomas Street and the beginning of Great Maze Pond – what a great street name!

Bike stand at the station
Bike stand at the station. No rival to Amsterdam bike racks, but this stand would normally be packed with bikes
Looking back at the bus station, London Bridge
Looking back at the London Bridge bus station, where our bus arrived
Ghost town at London Bridge station
It really was a ghost town at the usually all-day busy newly renovated London Bridge station. I need time to explore it all – this is just a small section
Pandemic travel rules
Pandemic travel rules
The Shard
Outside the station, looking up at the Shard – I can’t see the bottom or the very top
Down to St Thomas Street and straight ahead is Great Maze Pond
Down to St Thomas Street and straight ahead is Great Maze Pond
Great Maze Pond plaque
Great Maze Pond plaque

The plaque reads ‘The “Maze” Pond, which used to be situated at the southern end of the Guy’s site, was fed by a tributary of the River Thames, now known as ‘Guy’s Creek’. Archaeological excavation of the site has unearthed an early Romano-British boat and Roman timbers edging the creek.
In the Middle Ages farmers from Kent and Surrey used to drive their cattle up to London for sale at Smithfield Market. The fields around the Maze Pond were a focal point where the cattle were grazed and watered.
“Mr Guy’s Hospital for Incurables” was built on this site in 1725. John Rocque’s 1746 Map of London shows the pond still in existence. The local street-names then included “Maze Pond”, ” Little Maze Pond” and “The Maze pond”, which subsequently became Great Maze Pond – the name it still has today.’

The hospital itself has an interesting history as does the Dermatology Centre. The hospital was founded in 1721 by philanthropist Thomas Guy, who had made a fortune as a printer of Bibles and then speculated his money in the South Sea Bubble. At first the hospital was established to treat “incurables” discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital.

The  dermatology department  is the largest clinical dermatology department in the UK. John Milton founded St John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin in 1863. He was a surgeon who suffered from hand eczema so severe it ended his career. His personal experience with skin disease triggered his interest in dermatology.  St John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin moved to St Thomas’ Hospital in the mid-1980s. Soon after, it was formally renamed St John’s Institute of Dermatology.

At the Derm Centre
Standing on Great Maze Pond with the Shard straight ahead and the entrance to the hospital on my right
Immediate skyline from Guys - the Shard pointing to the sky
Immediate skyline from Guys – the Shard pointing to the sky

There’s not a lot of fuss at Guy’s Hospital compared to my visit to Barts. There are a few banks of hand cleaners and a table with a few people in attendance. No one checked if I had an appointment and no one offered me a new mask, asked me symptoms questions or took my temperature. This surprised me. We went through this casual ‘barrier’ and on to Bermondsey Wing where the Dermatology Centre is.

Again, there’s a simple table and a guard but she doesn’t ask us anything, so Krish checks in at the desk, and we sit down in the atrium waiting area and start looking for Krish’s name to appear on the board.

The quiet waiting area
The quiet waiting area at the Dermatology Clinic

Inside the atrium of the waiting area, and a view of the Shard summit
Inside the atrium from my seat, there’s a lovely view of the top of the Shard

And wait we did. Eventually a nurse came looking for him – his name had never appeared. Off he went, while I waited. After a bit the messages started to arrive

-I’m sitting waiting now
-Totally covered
-Sticky
-Head to toe
-Wrapped head

I thought about this for a minute then I said

-Take a selfie

It occurred to me that social media phobic Krish may not know how to take a selfie, but he did. I’ll spare his dignity and your eyes by not posting those photos here but his treatment will be head to toe emollient, one hour wait, applied pure coal tar (which he described and sounded like a hot wax treatment complete with popsicle sticks), one hour wait, then a shower, then steroid ointment before leaving. He’ll be going back for this three times a week for three weeks (minimum). So, if you get severe psoriasis, expect some or all of the same.

His appointment is five hours and the plan to walk about afterwards is vanishing. Walking painfully with a crutch means I really won’t attempt it alone, but I’m OK. Instead I go for a very short look outside and to try to find a snack. I didn’t find one out there but I did take a look for as long as my legs would carry me. And there’s a lot including a reference to a buried Roman boat under the Cancer Care Centre, and some fantastic ironwork opposite the main entrance. Otherwise, it’s a bland council estate area with nothing remarkable, at first glance anyway. Continue reading “Guys Hospital – psoriasis adventures”