Check Up #2 (FD +61)

Another beautiful morning in sunny Aberdeen… the summer just keeps on coming!

This morning saw my first visit to the Doctor since 27^th June. It seems slightly strange to be so conscious of all aspects of my health but to have limited direct, regular medical oversight.

I’m not sure what I would have expected, but somehow taking the “let us know if anything changes” approach somehow seems a little “light”.

Is it this type of thinking that creates an unnecessarily high demand on the NHS, I wonder?

On arrival at the surgery, I was slightly surprised to discover that the entertainment was BBC London News. I can understand the News aspect, catching up on the breakfast news seems like a reasonable thing to do.

What I couldn’t fathom was why we should be interested in the traffic around the M25 (London Orbital), or how smoothly the various London Underground lines were running (the Northern was experiencing minor delays, incidentally). I can only assume that someone in the Surgery has a cheeky weekend in London planned and is trying to get into the mood a little early. If that’s you, the game’s up! (But have a great weekend anyway!)

London Underground Map… particularly useful if you’re planning on spending the day in Aberdeen!

The Doctor’s consultation itself was an uneventfully positive affair:

My BP (medical speak for “Blood Pressure”) is fine – artificially kept low to reduce the workload on my heart.
My liver and kidney function is “normal” – good news, as a potential side effect of the drugs is that they “break” something else that was working fine before, in particular my liver or kidneys.
My cholesterol is “abnormal”… abnormally low I guess. My total cholesterol reading was 2.9 mmol/L (Good if less than 5 mmol/L) and my “bad” cholesterol is 1.6 mmol/L (Good if less than 3 mmol/L).

Follow the link for more information on High Cholesterol: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cholesterol/Pages/Introduction.aspx

So, it’s all good! The drugs continue to work!

I was just left with a not so subtle reminder not to rush things or push too hard!

OK… I hear you!