Three medical appointments and some bad news in The View from the Terrace

I had 3 medical appointments in the last 2 days. Wednesday I had to see the doctor and yesterday I had appointments at the dentist and opticians. I had been worrying about the doctor’s appointment because he had called me in and when that happens it’s often to make changes in medication. I do need rather a lot of meds for my migraines and recently have started getting a really bad one every 5 weeks or so that doesn’t respond to the usual meds, I had to get my husband to ring and ask for an injection. I used to have these regularly until a few years ago then I found I didn’t need them, now I do again. We’ve had a change of doctors since then so I thought he was going to review all of my meds and maybe be difficult about the injections. I am aware that the meds I take have not been tested for people over 65 and some doctors won’t prescribe them although most do. I have a friend who is in her 80s and has a pacemaker and she takes them so I don’t worry but doctors can be difficult. The thing is without them I would have no life anyway and at my age I am more interested in quality of life than length. As it happened he wanted to discuss prophylactics, drugs that you take every day to prevent the migraines. I explained to him that I had tried all of these some years ago and they either didn’t work or made me more ill than doing without. I have also been to the migraine clinic in Birmingham where they said there was no more they could suggest. The doctor said he would put a note on my medical notes to say I had tried everything and it’s best to carry on with the same meds. So that worked out OK.

The optician’s appointment was just to pick up my glasses but I had worried about my appointment last week for the eye examination as I have found driving at night has become very difficult and I am also getting odd flashes in my eye when I turn the light out. I was worried my sight was deteriorating. My grandmother was nearly blind in her 50s. It turned out I do need stronger glasses but there is nothing seriously wrong. It’s just normal aging. She said that Grandmother, who died before I was born, may simply have had cataracts which are easily dealt with nowadays, but not then.

The dental appointment was my normal 6 month check up and I wasn’t worried at all about that, but it turned out there was bad news. One of my front teeth has an infection and, because it is already root filled with a post in it and capped there is nothing else she can do. She says it needs to come out. I am really shaken. I have had teeth out before, it’s not the extraction that worries me it’s losing a front tooth. They can’t do it until January as they are booked up and it’s not an emergency yet as it’s draining and not swollen but she says it can’t be saved. She took impressions for a denture and explained that I could if I wished have a bridge but that would eventually put strain on the adjoining teeth and may shorten their lives in time. The other option is an implant which would cost £2000-£3000! I couldn’t believe the price for just one tooth. That would be more than half of our emergency fund. I’m really reluctant to spend that much money and I don’t think Hubby would want me to. He is already missing several teeth and manages with his denture which always seems to be breaking and he often takes out to eat, so that doesn’t fill me with confidence. It’s different for a man anyway. He never smiles, didn’t even when he had all of his teeth. I’ve always felt my smile was one of my best features, and, as a lot of the rest of me is showing my age now, I was happy I still had all of my front teeth.

I know it’s just a tooth. In fact I came out of the dentists feeling a bit numb with shock and passed a man in a wheelchair with only one arm and one leg and I felt ashamed to be so upset. But, I don’t know why, I’ve always dreaded having a denture. I feel it’s the beginning of the slippery slope of old age. Silly really as my mum lost all of her teeth before she was 40 and was still a very attractive woman. It didn’t seem to bother her too much or my father. I woke at 4am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I made a drink and read until 7am when I finally managed another couple of hours but it’s still on my mind all of the time. I wouldn’t feel so bad if I could have the implant and I can’t decide if it’s selfish to spend so much money. I did find some cheaper place on the internet which would mean travelling and I don’t know if they would be any good. I’m trying to tell myself that the infection could be part of the reason for the worsening in the migraines and they will improve after, but I can’t be sure of that.

Anyway, I finally got up to face the day around 9am with a mild migraine and took my breakfast back to bed and took some pain killers in the hope of avoiding a full blown one later. It did seem a lot better after about a half hour so I got up again to find the cat had done his business in the dining room right in the middle of the door to the kitchen. It was just the last straw. I started to clean it up and began to feel really ill so I’ve put newspaper over it and left it for Hubby to deal with. He will be home soon and it won’t bother him. He’s never bothered by things like that partly because he has almost no sense of smell.

I was hoping to do a few things in the garden this afternoon. I haven’t planted all of my bulbs and I need to get the last of my plants in for the winter. If I don’t feel up to it I will have to ask Hubby to do that too as there is a hard frost forecast for tonight.

Last updated November 05, 2016