Friday 30 November 2007

Like so many other things in life, the thought of the dentist was worse than the actual treatment. I was almost trembling when I finally got myself into his chair. Several bad experiences in the past have imprinted this irrational fear, but try as I might I can't seem to conquer it. Anyway, this guy is good - very good.

My appointment was at 2:30pm today and I went along, nipping off from work for the apointment. I still had a few deliveries to make and I knew I'd have to do those, come hell or highwater. The dentists name is Mahesh Vasireddy, and he did a hell of a job, giving me lots of local anasthetic, before doing a small filling then getting to work on pulling the others. I can honestly say he didn't hurt me at all. The very worst I suffered was a little discomfort, and even now as the anasthetic is wearing off its not unbearable.

The really good thing about it is that I'm now ready to go. The minute the letter comes I'll be off. No hesitation and worrying about whether my teeth will pass muster, they're fine now, and I have an appointment for 6 months time with the same guy. I'll still be terrified when the time comes, but that's just the way I'm made. I'll go - and I'll be glad to do so. National Health dentist are rare indeed, and a really good one is not to be lost

Thursday 29 November 2007

Well, I haven't posted anything for a few days,primarily because nothing much has happened. I think it will tomorrow though, which is why I'm writing this now.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the docs and later in the day an appointment with the dentist. I'm scared fartless of dentists, and I know that I have to have two teeth pulled. I'll have them done, of course, because I have a feeling they might stop me having the op - and I REALLY want that, but I am dreading going. Anyway, for those who might at some time need the same operation, and it seems to be coming more and more common, make sure your teeth are in good order. According to my handbook the surgeon may refuse to operate if he thinks your teeth may cause an infection.

I'm going to work now, but I'll write more later.

Sunday 18 November 2007

Confused? - you will be!

A moment of consternation this morning. Because I take so many pills now I have a little gizmo that can hold a weeks supply of tablets. You simply slide back the lid at the right time and it dispenses the tablets that you need. It’s a bit of a faff to set up once a week, but you can see at a glance if you’ve missed any and it also makes sure you have a week in which to get a repeat prescription, so it’s a pretty useful little gadget.

Anyway, I was loading it up this morning with my metformin tablets. I take 3 a day for seven days, so I just take out 21 from the blister pack and put them in the gadget. As I was doing so I noticed that some had different numbers embossed on them. I wasn’t sure, but I wondered if they were dosage numbers, so I rang the chemist. The thing was that different numbers came out of the same blister pack which I found a bit worrying.

The pharmacist seemed concerned too and asked me to bring the tablets in for checking. I did, pretty well straight away. I got the impression that she didn’t really believe that two different numbers came from the same pack and she took a couple more tablets from the blister pack to check. Sure enough, they were numbered 96 and 43. We were both a bit gobsmacked, and she immediately offered to change them for me, which I accepted, inwardly worrying that I had taken different doses without noticing.

However, she came back a few seconds later beaming. The tablets are all stamped 96 – on one side, and 43 on the other!

It seems a funny way of going on and a cracking method of sowing alarm and confusion, but at least I know now, and I’m ok with the dosage.

Friday 16 November 2007

Another consultation

Another visit to see my cardiologist Dr Durham at the local hospital today. It was quite amusing in some ways. The clinic ran smack on time this morning, as indeed it mostly does nowadays, and we were all shuffled through to wait in the waiting area. Unfortunately there was some building work going on and some guys with Kango hammers and various other incredibly noisy tools were on a production drive!

We sat, almost unable to speak above the noise, looking at the sign which said “Quiet Please” and smiling. It could only happen in York.

When Dr Durham appeared he walked along the corridor wafting building dust away with his hand as he passed. He nodded to my wife, and I said something about him “looking so young.” She replied, in the sort of voice she normally reserves for talking about George Clooney or his type, “Yes, young, good looking, handsome, clever, rich…
I stopped her there. Can’t have a lady of her age getting carried away now, can we?

The actual consultation was over pretty quickly as there is very little to be done until after the op. I got some new tablets to counteract the angina pain at night, but that was all really. After the consultation we walked to the dispensary to collect my prescription. While we were waiting another youngish lady walked in and handed in her script too, then walked to the end of the waiting room and started doing karate moves. I stared. I couldn’t help it. As you may have gathered by now, my wife and I are pretty close and we sort of turned to each other and smiled. In my case it was a smirk I suppose, but I could barely control myself. In the finish, I cracked and started laughing. My wife nudged me (violently!) to stop, but that only made it worse. I know we shouldn’t mock but sometimes I just can’t help it,

Monday 12 November 2007

A good day

Today has been one of those good days, though I must admit I didn’t think it was going to be.

I’m a big NHS fan. I’m only 2 years older than the NHS so really I’ve been a user of it all my life and it’s really coming through for me now.
My GP was in a bit of a conundrum regarding one of my tablets that I take for Diabetes. Roziglitazone is not recommended for people who have heart problems, but it’s an extremely effective diabetic drug. As I have both difficulties my GP sought an expert opinion and I visited the consultant today. After a very careful examination and an extensive interview and questioning session, the specialist decided that I should stop taking the tablets. He also recommended that I check my blood sugar levels using a meter. This is something that I have tried not to do as I don’t want to become one of those people who seem to be paranoid about what they eat and what effect it has on them, however, there’s no point in seeing the expert if you don’t take the advice that’s given, so I agreed.

I waited for a short time before a specialist Diabetic nurse arrived with a meter and showed me how to use it. This is really quite a sophisticated device that not only tells you pretty instantly what your sugar level is, but stores the result and produces a running average. I’ve just looked up the price of this little gizmo, and with all the bits and bats that go with it, there wouldn’t be much change for fifty quid. If you take that and all the drugs that I take (far too many to mention) I simply dread to think how much this illness would cost if I was a private patient.

Talking of private patients, I’ve found, with some help from one of my sons friends, a NHS dentist today. That’ll be good as I need to have some dental work done prior to the operation and the cost looked like it was going to be horrendous – certainly several hundred pounds.

So, all in all a good day. Lets hear it for the good old NHS

Friday 2 November 2007

Workmates...

...or colleagues as it now seems fashionable to call them. Whatever you call them I work with a pretty good group of lads. Everyone from the manager to the youngest lad in the place has gone out of their way to help today. I feel quite humbled. Its all been done with great humour, maybe a little friendly sarcasm, but it's most definately been done to help me, and I really appreciate it. Our boss even sent out a young lad with me this morning to help with the heavy stuff - and to learn about where I go so that he can drive if need be.

None of them know about this blog, and I aren't going to tell them until later, but I'd just like to put on record how much I enjoy working with them. I couldnt have better - friends, not workmates

Thursday 1 November 2007

A new month...

Well, the month has turned, so now it looks better saying that it should be about 2 months to D-day rather than 3. I went to the docs this morning as I was a bit concerned about the bad night a couple of nights ago. I saw another new doc, they seem to grow them in the back garden at my practise, but she seemed very thorough and efficient. I thought she was going to sign me off from work for a moment, something I really don't want just now, but instead she gave me a certificate allowing me to work, but on light duties only.

I'm quite pleased at that because some of the heavy pails of paint and thinners are becoming a bit of a problem sometimes. I can manage them as long as there arent too many, but if I have a vanload, as I quite often do, they can be a bit of a problem. So I go back tomorrow and we'll see how we go