optometrist – derrickjknight

Ellie has a favourite position when clinging to her mother: she pivots her right arm inwards at the elbow and curls up the fingers behind her.

Yesterday I photographed the phenomenon.

This morning Martin removed most of the last of the patio paving and will need to hire a skip to take it all away before he can continue. Depending on the accuracy of the less than optimistic weather forecast he will carry out his normal more than simply gardening tasks tomorrow.

In the meantime I underwent an eye dilation procedure at Boots Opticians in New Milton. The purpose of this was to confirm or disprove the recent assessment about a developing cataract.

An instillation of Tropicamide increased the size of my pupils, enabling my optometrist to view the inside of my eye more easily.

Jackie was able to record this increase with her mobile phone while we waited in nearby Costa Coffee, and is therefore to be congratulated on working out how to e-mail her observations to me.

The original assessment was confirmed. I will need neither surgery nor new specs – at least until my next annual check – and was given the comforting view that “many younger people would really like [my] eyes”.

Blurred vision and temporary photophobia persisted this afternoon, but all will become clear tomorrow.

This evening we enjoyed second sittings of yesterday’s Hordle Chinese Take Away fare, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Cabernet Sauvignon.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.

Sections of my head need tweaking I attempted to manage two of them this morning. Neither was particularly straightforward.

A certain amount of nasal congestion appears to have blocked my left ear. I had made a non-urgent appointment with my GP for this morning. She informed me that both ears need syringing to remove a surfeit of wax On two occasions in the past this has been done free of charge in my GP surgeries. There is no longer funding for this, so I have two choices. I can have a referral to an NHS hospital where there would be a long wait, or I can pay £30 per ear to a private clinic. Thanking my lucky stars that I can afford it, I opted for the private route.

Given the demography of this area, there are a number of Hearing Centres in New MIlton. It would be a simple matter to select one.

While I was at the practice surgery I enquired about the referral letter for the necessary cataract adjustment that was to come from Boots Opticians. This had not been received. Jackie drove me to the optometrist where I was given a duplicate to take back to Milford on Sea. The gentleman kindly put it into an envelope for me.

Although Boots does apparently also deal with ears, it seemed sensible to visit the Hearing Centre directly opposite. After all, they don’t get distracted by eyes.

They don’t do wax removal. Neither does anyone else in the town. I was given a card for The Private Ear Clinic which has bases in Hythe and in Milford on Sea.

Back in the car, I had a look at the optometrist’s referral letter. It had been sent to the wrong freaking surgery.

Back out of the car, I returned to Boots where the eye man owned up to his mistake. I said something to the effect that we all make mistakes and I’d settle for calling him a berk. He altered the address. Jackie was going back to Milford to meet her sisters, so she took the form to deliver to the GP.

Back home I phoned the ear clinic, opted for the Milford venue, and made an appointment.

Where is the clinic?

It is in the hospital alongside the GP surgery. You go in the same door and turn left to enter the main building. One more example of private medicine being carried out in NHS property. I suppose our ailing public body needs the rent, otherwise they may have to sell the building for a housing development that no local people have the means to live in.

Tomorrow I have a quarterly teeth clean arranged. The rest of the time I do it myself. This is also a private arrangement, because even NHS treatment is now costly, and you can’t pick your time. Surely nothing can possibly go wrong.

We did have a light frost a couple of nights ago, but most of the garden has remained unscathed.

After lunch I set about photographing some of the survivors. Did I mention that I became rather damp getting in and out of the car? That is because, although the temperature was much milder, it rained all day. Not to be deterred I started in the front garden, but didn’t get very far.