How green is my tea leaf?

Some more good news for 2012.

Last Friday, I had an ophthalmology appointment with the consultant at QEH. Of the three areas I attend, ophthalmology and oncology at QEH, orthopaedics at ROH, the most hard-pressed is usually the first. My appointments for the eye clinic are often re-scheduled and on arrival the wait times are longer, the waiting areas more crowded - but the staff are great.

In particular, I can only sit, chin-forward into the head-stablising 'iron mask' in an eye-drop induced miasma of admiration, while the consultant manages the constant flow of demands made of her. She tries, very hard, to focus on my condition but others need her input and she is invariably accommodating.

Anyway, enough of this heroine-worship; she investigated my eye for the incipient retinal occlusion (see earlier post; October 23rd 2011) and pronounced it 'recovered'. Her thinking is that the haemorrhage was the result of hypertension linked to the kidney tumour and its removal helped remedy that problem - but she could not be certain. Obviously, this is another reason for close monitoring of my blood pressure.

Di believes that the 'secret ingredient' in this latest bit of good news has to do with my, with our, dairy-free, vegan-when-possible diet with its emphasis on green tea, 'nutriceuticals', unprocessed foodstuffs, organic-when-affordable/available vegetables and low-alcohol intake.

The medics are more sceptical. When time allows they are polite but put faith in medication and surgical procedure. We wouldn't discount these inputs (!) but have need of something additional that gives us a measure of control.

I certainly have good reason, of late, to thank drug therapy for improvements in managing the tiresome (for you and myself!) condition with the back and leg. We took Joe back to Durham yesterday and I drove for more than half the 7 hour return journey. That represents a huge improvement and must I think, be associated with the recent additions (see 9th April 2012) to the drug regime - much as I might like to put it down to the green blood coursing through my veins!

P.S. The bit above, about the admiration I have for my eye consultant, puts me in mind of a story about an exercise that I used to set classes collectively sentenced to follow an eight week module with me on 'drug education'. One homework required the collection of a number of newspaper articles that featured drugs in whatever shape or form, legal or otherwise. The aim was for groups to make a collage which would lead to discussion and penetrating insights about media coverage of the subject. I scanned all articles when they resentfully made their way back to my classroom.

One of these was a small column about a young woman who had spotted a child struggling in a river and gone into save him or her. All very interesting but I couldn't make out the drug connection and asked the student to explain. A confused girl shrugged her shoulders and muttered something unintelligible. I really wasn't sure that I wanted to spend more time on this but quickly re-read the article. Again it was about a young woman, a drowning child, a rescue and celebration of a selfless act of bravery.

'I'm sorry', I said, now seriously intrigued, 'I still don't see what this has got to do with drugs'.

The pupil pushed the headline, that had become detached from the article, under my gaze; HEROINE SAVES CHILD IN RIVER DRAMA.

Geddit?