Aging – Making Improvements
Posted: Mon 16 April, 2018 Filed under: 2017/18, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Health, Single Life, Thoughts, Weigh Less, Weight Loss 3 Comments »Following on from my general feelings of being flattened and feeling old, I’ve also been doing some stuff to try and alleviate it a bit, or at least to give myself better information.
The first part of that was a general health review, a visit to the GP to get basic information, as well as booking myself in to get blood tests and so on. (I try to do that every couple of years, as there’s a family history of stuff like underactive thyroid, type two diabetes, heart issues and the like.) As usual, that all came back fine.
The blood-tests were more of a pain in the arse – mainly because I live right on the border of two health authorities, and my surgery refers me to the authority that’s not the one for where I work. So it took me a couple of weeks before I could be bothered to go that way and get them done. But again, once it was done and I’d bothered rinnging up to get my results, everything was fine there too. A couple of figures that aren’t perfect, but everything’s still well within acceptable range of ‘normal’. Which is enough for me. I’ll probably work on them a bit, but it’s nothing that’s even important, let alone urgent.
As usual, they all say I’m too heavy – file under “Sherlock, Shit, No” – but then when they see the figures, and the speeds/distances I usually walk at, they seem to worry less. I’m still working on losing some again, but it does somewhat lessen the urgency when they pretty much shrug and go “Oh, OK”…
Following on from that, I got the aforementioned eye-test, which was also positive. Small changes, but nothing major, and the optician said that my eyes are a lot healthier than those of most people who have similar levels of vision correction to me.
Oh, she also worried me by telling me that people with my level of vision correction are at risk of detached retinas – something that has never been said to me before! – but that mine were OK. (I mentioned this to my parents last weekend, and they added to it by saying ‘Yeah, there’s a family history of doing that, too”) So that’s been great, being told all of a sudden about a potential future health issue I wasn’t even aware of. Joys.
Anyway, all told I’m actually doing OK. Now if I could just get my brain to follow the same path, things would be wunderbar…
You are so lucky that your GP will still do these types of review/blood tests. The only way to get them round here is to see a private GP, get referred and then pay for the tests privately. About £350 I’m told. Scandalous.
Delighted to hear that finally optometrists are telling people with poor eyesight of the increased risk of detached retina. If you do ever get signs of a detached retina (look them up if you haven’t already!), don’t go to your local A&E, go straight to Moorfields A&E. You’ll be seen quickly, by experts from the outset, and have a much better chance of a positive outcome. 18 years this September since mine happened – for the same reason – and I had no idea either.
On the subject of Moorfields, I’m lucky – they have a centre at one of my two local main hospitals.
Otherwise, from here I’d be just as well going to Oxford for the John Radcliffe’s eye hospital (whose door I darkened decades ago when I got glass in my eye)
Your choice… but I went from my optometrist to the eye centre in Colchester hospital and they messed around for 4 hours and then still sent me to Moorfields.
As a result, had I not, at the time, had someone to take me there, and private health insurance, I would now be blind in my left eye.
Time is of the essence with a detached retina, and you need to go to a 24/7 specialist A&E.