The eye has it.

Monday morning and I'm into the first of a series of hospital and clinic appointments. Be warned, the next few days could be seriously tedious.

So, I'm at the Eye Hospital in Selly Oak because our friend Rustom, the optometrist, had taken us, several weeks earlier, through a series of tests, as per usual, because we had one of our regular, if infrequent, sessions with him. I was in a sorry state that day and he left me feeling even 'sorrier'. He discovered a 'cotton wool spot' and a small haemorrhage in my right eye, a probable indication of hypertension. He wrote a report for the GP surgery and forwarded a copy to the consultant at the Eye Hospital. An appointment duly arrived for a Monday morning, first by SMS and then by post.

After a brief wait a nurse took a couple of blood pressure readings which were higher than either us would have liked and then a  registrar confirmed the 'cotton wool spot' and haemorrhage. He also found a small clot in the eye. The consultant was called in, examined the eye and agreed that the course of action would be to monitor the condition in view of everything else that was taking place (i.e. upcoming surgery), the fact that my sight was currently unaffected and that the condition may have arisen naturally from the ageing process.

I was impressed with the staff and the service in a hospital that was obviously hard-pressed and busy; less than impressed with the outcome.

You may wish to overlook the following, plaintive, declaration; leg, back, kidney, lung, now eye - what other parts of me are going into decline?

Then today, Tuesday, some good news - a visit to the GPs to have my bp monitored produced three readings in the high normal range and feedback on my bloods (from three weeks previously) that were good for general health, liver and kidney function. Maybe............ just maybe............