gooster

I'm here too. Busy with work etc

I've cancelled my sky. The price just keeps going up and up. I've swapped to BT, it's half the price and I get all the channels that I watch at the moment and faster internet )

Unfortunately it is a local anaesthetic for cataract surgery. I think it would have been nicer for all staff if she had been knocked out I'm off today but I've been keeping an eye on my work emails to see if she rings in with a problem!

Better to be safe than sorry Suzeanna. I have to postpone surgery quite regularly at work for one reason or another. The most common reason is high blood pressure. I had a guy yesterday who was reading 200/113 and not on any blood pressure medication. I had to refer him back to his GP and get the GP to review him and confirm he is fit to proceed. Seemingly trivial things like coughs, sniffles and cold sores mean we can't do surgery as it heightens the risk of surgery. We had a rather eccentric lady in yesterday, I had done her pre op and said we would do her right eye first. She came in for surgery and demanded we do her left eye, because her optician had told her 3 years ago that the left eye was worse. She was awful to the theatre team, asking one of the staff where they were from (he was born in the UK). She was really rude about the surgeon and just generally difficult. I get the feeling she is going to be a problem going forward.

We have had dealings with a GP this week being an arse. We had a lady in for a pre assessment and she was having to use her angina spray every day (which is not great as it means her angina is unstable). I wrote to the GP asking if they could confirm her fitness to proceed with surgery - the patient went to see them and his words were 'well they've assessed you, they can decide if you are fit to have surgery' and then they got all shirty about sharing any medical information with us as the patient had been referred to us by their optician and not themselves (which is where 90% of referrals come from, the rest are bumped from eye hospital waiting lists). I'm sure the GP would be first in the queue to criticise if we did go ahead with surgery on an unstable angina patient and something bad happen to them In other news, I was supposed to have my wire changed on my brace today. Organised it so I could leave work early etc. Got a phone call this morning to say that the dentist had to leave at lunchtime to work somewhere else (this is after they cancelled my original appointment and moved it to today). I went a bit crazy bonkers (but politely). Funnily when I started complaining about how unprofessional and unacceptable the situation was, the woman couldn't hear me as she claimed the line was breaking up. I put the phone down on her in the end. Don't know what I'm going to do now. I've got a brace stuck to my teeth that I've paid for and no dentist around to change the wire I've sent an email to the practice manager and the company who suppliers the braces complaining about the service.

We are ok. Blue has gone out on pretty much full loan over the last 10 days. I just haven't had the time to devote to him since starting working in Wakefield. There is a girl on our yard with a young Welsh pony, her pony is naughty and has thrown her off a few times, so her mum wanted a more dependable pony for her to ride. In return for Grace riding Blue, they are doing his jobs every day and paying for his hay. I pop up a couple of times a week to see him it's a win win situation for all of us Blue is getting love and attention every day and I have more time. Walter and Jessie had the vet on Saturday for their injections. The vet was really happy with them and laughed when he read the notes from the vet last year about the fact Walter likes food and is a bit greedy They have both stayed at the same weight, so he was pleased. Getting my wire changed on my brace on Thursday. Not looking forward to that as my teeth are painful for a few days afterwards Hope you get on ok at the dentist Marion Sad news about pets crossing over to the bridge

Most opticians have ground floor rooms. I've never worked in a practice where accessibility is an issue - they aren't allowed to just have upstairs rooms due to the disability discrimination act.

Are you totally housebound Jazz? Is there no way you could get out to a high street practice? They have more equipment to look at your eyes with.

Jazz - cataracts don't go away on their own. I suspect that since you were tested at a high street practice last time, they have better equipment to check the health of your eye than home visiting opticians. I used to do home visits and the extent at which you can check the health of the eye is so restricted compared to what you get when you are in normal practice. The chances are the cataract is still there, they just can't see early stage ones with portable equipment.

Consent forms are full of the worst case scenarios Suzeanna. The cataract surgery one has all kinds of risks and complications as standard (including sight loss, losing the eye etc). I have to write extra complications down that are specific to the patient dependent on any pathology they may have. I always compare consent forms to the little information leaflets you get in drug packets - if you read them, you wouldn't take them, but the drugs do you good. If you are concerned, I'd ask your consultant if you are a high risk patient. They will usually have a good idea of how straightforward your procedure will be

Happy new year

Griff, please don't say that Hope Deags got on ok at the vet First day back at work today - it was a bit manic as I was in my hospital job, but at least the day passed quickly I was watching a tv programme tonight about kitten rescuers. I can't stand the RSPCA, but it was a show with lots of cute kittens and cats on it. Walter was being especially snuggly and I was getting kitten broody. Then Jessie decided to go climbing on the fireplace I'm fine with 2 cats

Afternoon Hope everyone had a good day yesterday. Spent the day at mum and dad's house, back at my house now with the cats I've been given lots of chocolate and yummy things to eat - my teeth are still really sore though, so I'm going to have to wait to eat it I was sad to hear about George Michael - 2016 hasn't been a good year for celebrities

That's so sad Suzeanna I was going to be spending Christmas Eve at my mum and dad's house playing a game or something. Mum just rang me to say they are going to just sit in and watch a film. Having lived at mum and dad's house for many years, the evening will be spent arguing about what film to watch (because it will have to be something Christmassy, but not something they have seen for a while, but something that sounds good. Oh and it has to be on Netflix!), drinking wine, then both of them falling asleep before the end. So I've decided to stay at mine, get a (soft) takeaway, drink prosecco and snuggle the cats and find something to watch on tv and not have any arguments about it

Hope Deags is feeling better soon Hope everyone has a lovely and restful Christmas. Had a busy day yesterday. Had a personal training session at 11, as it was Christmas, I decided to wear my Christmas outfit. It's quite short (but I had shorts on underneath). I then remembered I had to buy horse food and pick something up from Currys. No big deal, I went in my outfit. All was going well, then I got a puncture thankfully I was near the tram park and ride, so parked up, pumped my tyre up in the freezing cold and then had to find somewhere that could mend my tyre. Eventually found one, full of blokes and I was there in my short Mrs Christmas outfit Anyway; there was a massive nail in my tyre, he sorted it out and charged me a tenner. Last night it was my weightlifting club champs, I wasn't really feeling it, but I went and did it anyway. I managed to equal my personal best clean and jerk from June (that I haven't managed to get near since, as I've been concentrating on technique work) and I came second It's not about how much you lift, the guy who lifted the most lifted 100kg more than me, but he competed in the Atlanta olympics, so he was bound to lift more than me. It's about how you perform compared to your previous best lifts etc. I was shocked when my name was read out in second place. In other news, I had a brace fitted on my teeth on Thursday. I now can't eat anything hard or chewy. What kind of moron does that 3 days before Christmas? Ah well; at least I won't put on any weight - it took me 20 minutes to eat a protein flapjack in tiny pieces on Thursday night!

That's nice of your doctor Suzeanna Hope Taz is on the mend soon Hope Deags is better soon Got a group email at work today to say that a lady who had been treated at work today had forgotten to take her drops home and was really worried. I looked at the map and realised if I made a short detour, I could drop them off at her house on my way home. She is in her 90s and was so grateful. Think that might have got me some brownie points with the big boss. My line manager who is on paternity leave at the moment sent me an email to say thank you and he was really pleased that I went the extra mile (literally) for her

Ted has awful problems with his tummy. He's allergic to chicken, rice etc. He's had all kinds of tests over the years, in the end it was a new vet who suggested trying Wainwrights duck grain free food. His tummy was that bad this time last year, mum and dad thought about saying goodbye, as he was in pain with his tummy all the time and he had constant uncontrollable squits. Since swapping to the grain free diet with duck, he's put on weight, his belly is normal and he's much brighter. Most special diets have chicken and rice in, but those are 2 of Ted's big allergens.

Oh I'm so sorry it wasn't better news Suzeanna :grouphug: Hope Archie is ok :grouphug:

I didn't know that, thanks Sam I would be like you - I'd end up with it all over my face

Safe journey Sam - I was surprised at the poverty. Even in Goa, it was quite evident. When we took the train down to Karnataka, it was a lot more obvious as it's not a tourist state. I had beggars stopping me to ask to drink some of my water or sprite - as it was a full bottle and I had no cash to buy more (I had found a shop that accepted cards, but I was walking back and was on a quiet road with small local shops) I had to say no. Been away in York this weekend with the girls I used to work with. Had a good time, until this morning when one of them piped up that there was only one train at 12.30, then the next one was at 4.30. Now that's a load of rubbish as I had checked and they were every half hour. I had arranged with the owner of the apartment that we stayed in for her to come back at 2pm and we'd leave then. I told her that the trains were every 30 minutes, but she was adamant So they all buggered off at 12pm and left me on my own for 2 hours. I wouldn't have minded if she said she wanted to leave earlier, but to lie about it just made me really cross. The other girls were fuming when I told them (but all left with the liar anyway).

I'm still here - had a mad few days at work etc. Not been settling down till late evening Heading to York tomorrow for the weekend, should be good fun Booked my free jet2 flight today - going to Rome Monday-Friday in March. Am a bit gutted as I wanted to go in June and head to the Philippines in March to dive. I got annual leave authorised for both, then contacted jet2 to book. Turns out I have to use the jet2 flight before April so I have about 16 days off in March and only 5 days booked away. Apparently though I drunkenly said I would take dad on holiday next year (I don't remember this conversation, but mum does - I think she has made it up But now I can't go far for the second week of my March time off, I thought I could take dad to Cape Verde or the canaries for a week. I can dive for a couple of days, he can do a try dive and then we can veg by the pool. I've messaged my mum to see what she thinks.

The only thing I forgot when I went to Goa was my phone charger. I had a charger for my kindle, GoPro and I picked up my Apple Watch charger instead of my phone charger. Thankfully I realised at the airport, so I bought another one at Manchester airport I didn't even take my Apple Watch

We can refer for a VR opinion beforehand if necessary. We don't have anyone in house to do it, but if we refer for a VR opinion, the chances are he'll get seen quicker by the VR specialist. If you were in Manchester, we send our VR consults to a private VR specialist in Didsbury (again covered on the NHS). Not sure about where they would go from our Wakefield one - probably their local hospital.

NHS

Can you get to Wakefield Suzeanna? The clinic I work in has a 2 week target from referral to pre assessment, followed by 2 weeks from assessment to surgery. We are just off junction 40 of the M1.