Health ok, eyesight not so good

I have not been called back to the surgery yet but it’s possible to check ones health records and tests results online. Obviously I did that after a couple of days and happily all the results were normal or satisfactory, no further action required.  That’s a big relief, as MrFF cheerily pointed out I’d be disappointed if I had weeks to live having paid thousands of pounds to get my tooth fixed.    Remember Yorkshire values are very different to those of the rest of the world.

Of course we are no wiser as to why my tongue is sore and cracked which was the reason for my original consultation and tests.  Maybe once I have my implant things will improve, meantime I keep brushing and scraping, smug in the knowledge that I’ve passed by MOT for now.

I started knitting with the Trek sock yarn but found it impossible to do so in the evening, basically I cannot see what I am doing.  We do have a reading light beside the settee but MrFF isn’t happy to have it on in evening while we watch tv which is when I do most of my knitting.   So I’ve cast aside the Trek until we have lighter nights and knitted a pair of pink West Yorkshire Spinners socks in the same pattern, they took no time at all and were pretty much self illuminating.

Then I found a spool of 4 ply 50% wool 50% silk in the charity shop, approx 100 g for £1.99 enough for yet another necker.  The yarn is beautiful, on the spool it has a lovely sheen that doesn’t seem to transfer to the knitting but feels very soft and cosy.  I love the colour.

What’s wrong with me

At my last dental appointment I mentioned that my tongue was stained, furry, cracked and quite sore.  Martin confirmed that I didn’t have anything fungal or bacterial but that it could be an allergy to the strong mouthwash he gave me.  He then asked if he could look at my eyes and check my nails after which he suggested a blood test might be a good idea as I could be anaemic.  When I told him I’d lost almost a stone (6.3 kilos) since my front crown broke he said I should definitely get a blood test.   

It was easy to enter my symptoms online and within a couple of hours I spoke to a doctor and was given appointment next day for blood to be taken at our local surgery.  This week I went back to the health centre to discuss the results with a different doctor.  I told her about my dentist’s concern, the state of my tongue etc.  She looked at my results which were all normal but said they hadn’t tested for anaemia as the doctor had marked weight loss as the problem, so now I have to go back next week for more blood to be taken. 

Then she asked me various questions from a script one of which was had I ever smoked, which I had for a few years in my 20s but mostly socially and never regularly. She listened to my breathing and felt my abdomen which she said were fine.

Now in addition to more blood tests I have to give a urine and a poo sample and also go to Skipton for a chest x ray.  At no time did the doctor look at my tongue or ask me how much weight I have lost or what I weigh now (8.5 stone/54 kilos).  I did mention that I am quite happy to be thin and the weight loss occurred when I struggled to eat for a month with a wobbly crown before I returned to Yorkshire. Now I am eating normally and healthily, not drinking alcohol, sleeping well and exercising regularly.

I seem to have opened a can of worms and we have gone completely off piste. I am grateful to be getting such thorough testing while wondering about all the people with serious medical issues who wait months and months for treatment.  Meantime at my dentist’s suggestion I have bought a tongue cleaning brush and a scraper (he suggested a butter knife was a good alternative to the latter).  Things are much improved and I am hopeful I shall be fixed before the results are in.

Into February

So far February has gone well.  Tuesday I was back at the dentist who said normally the stitches would have dissolved but mine hadn’t so he took them out.  It was painless and he reported everything looks healthy.  Now we wait 6 weeks before impressions are taken for my implant, then another 3 weeks before it is fitted.  What an age this has taken, my mouth still feels a little sore but I am grateful to be so well looked after and hopeful of a good outcome - eventually.  Meantime I have not been very sociable because I really don’t like wearing my temporary tooth. MrFF would have liked us to take a break somewhere warm but it would have been pointless for me, I’d rather stay home with a gappy smile.

It’s lovely to have longer hours of daylight with quite a lot of sunshine.  I am walking out regularly and climbing the 3 flights of stairs back to the penthouse.  I often return through the town with a dash into one or two of our charity shops for a quick treasure hunt.

Lovely recent finds are

A Kosta Boda snowball t light holder for £4.50, it is chunky, heavy and twinkles beautifully. My lovely Danish friend in Italy has several these that are always lit when we dine outside on warm summer evenings. I have admired them for many years and now have one of my own that even in February brings to mind convivial summer nights.  

200 grams of Trekking Hand Art hand dyed sock wool £4.99, just look at those gorgeous shades. 

The yarn 75% wool, soft and squishy, it speaks to me of men’s cable socks and I cannot wait to cast on.

Nice weather, time outside, good books, lengthening days, green shoots, it’s going ok here even if the outside world is a crazy scary place.  Sometimes we have to find comfort where we can.