Broken Glasses and Strange Sky

There was a really odd sort of sky yesterday morning. A sort of, how best to describe it?- Strange yellow diffused light through the sky. Really weird. But it didn't last long.

Yesterday I had another mishap with my glasses. One of the lenses just sprung out, and we spent a good half-hour or so looking for it. Fortunately it was found in the kitchen, on the floor, before it was stood on and broken. This is the second time this has happened. I have now been into Boot's Optician in the MK Shopping Centre and they've managed to fix the lens back in the frame, but I'm not convinced that it won't happen again.

Cold Symptoms Persist

I have been taking the medication from the doctor for five days now and I can't say I have seen much improvement. My head still feels as though it's full of cotton wool and my hearing is still dull. I realize that it will take several days for antibiotics to take effect but I was hoping that this would be finished by now. I think if it's still not much improved by Tuesday I will have to make a further doctor's appointment.

Doctor's Appointment

I went to the doctor's surgery before 8 a.m. today to get an appointment. You can book via telephone, but it can take so long to get through that it's far easier to stand outside and queue. Apparently several of the doctors are off ill so it was quite difficult to get an appointment. So, what do doctors do when THEY are ill? Do they manage to prescribe themselves medication of does someone else in the surgery, another doctor, give them the prescription or do medical examinations? Is it a case of 'physician, heal thy self?' I've often wondered. Anyway, got the appointment for 10.10, so I went home and then went out nearer the appointment time. The computerised check-in system was not working. I think most doctors surgeries now have this technology, whereby you check in yourself on the computer screen. I had to give my details to the receptionist and she checked in on the computer system, but what a performance having to go through all the computer 'menus.' Crazy. Anyway, I got into the doctor's surgery and was given a prescription for antibiotics to clear up the problem with my ear. My hearing has gone very 'dull' to say the least. Then went into the next-door chemists to have the prescription made up and then home, just in time to receive our post as the postman was several doors along, pushing his little trolley.We are waiting for an order from Amazon, but the parcel that was handed over with Amazon emblazoned all over it was for Daniel. My free book for being a subscriber to BBC History Magazine had arrived. Last year I had the first volume of Peter Ackroyds History of England: Foundation. This one is the second volume, The Tudors.

Just to say one little thing that somewhat narks me, annoys or whatever. I had parked the car in the carpark behind the doctor's surgery and was somewhat shocked to  come across a pile of cigarette ends around the back of the block  (which also contains a dental surgery and the Cox and Robinson pharmacy.)as I walked back to the car  not just in the gutter that runs along the side of the building but also in the drains and roadside. I know we now have legislation  in Britain which forbids smoking in public places, so those who smoke are forced outside, but do they really, honestly, have to leave the remains of their cigarettes in the road, in the gutter, just on the ground? Can they not place them tidily out of sight, or can their employees arrange for them to have bins to put the stubbed-out cigarette ends in? I have noticed this when going to the central shopping centre in Milton Keynes, you get groups of- presumably- employees of the shops within the shopping centre, standing and smoking just outside in the open, and one imagines, just throwing the remains of their cigarettes on the ground. It looks awful, untidy, and must pose a health risk or hazard of some sort. Also, it just looks plain untidy. I thought, and may or may not be right on this matter, that you can be fined for littering in this way.

Review of Medication

I have done our repeat prescriptions for this month. I thought it might be a good idea to get them done earlier than usual as the Christmas holiday as well as New Year will get in the way. I now put the prescriptions in by using the internet. It's a good deal easier than physically going to the surgery and filling out the relevant forms. It's saved on-line, so all you have to do is check the meds in the list and 'click'. It then should take 48 hours before you can pick up the prescriptions and take to a pharmacy to get them made up.

We have Ashfield Medical Centre in Beanfield  as our doctor's surgery. We used to use a surgery in Netherfield, but the receptionists there were not exactly careful with our privacy, particularly when we were waiting at the reception desk, so we moved to the new surgery. I went to collect the prescriptions early this morning and then went to the Cox and Robinson pharmacy which is next door to have these made up. I had to wait around 10 minutes for this and then the pharmacist came out with the made-up medications and said he wanted to speak to me in the consultation area.

I am used to having my medications reviewed regularly. Usually this is done by my doctor, but I presume they are now farming out this to local pharmacists.  When you have repeat medications, and for long-term health conditions such as a heart condition, which I have it is very important that these drugs are reviewed regularly so as to ensure correct administration and that they are working effectively. Also, with the current economic climate, the N.H.S. will be making sure that there is no unnecessary waste. When I worked as a Support Worker for the Learning Disability Service of the Bedfordshire and Luton N.H.S. Trust I was a keyworker and linkworker for some of the clients in my care, and part of the job was to review their medication. We had to find out if medications they were on would interact and to keep a sharp eye out for any side-effects. We used a standard N.H.S. book called the B.N.F. (British National Formulary) which lists virtually every known prescription drug in use by the N.H.S. as well as alerting professionals such as doctors, carers etc as to the side-effects of these drugs. There is also an on-line version, which you have to register with before you can use, so of you want to find out accurate information about a particular drug, I can recommend it. I have done several drugs administration courses as part of my former job, and also know how to handle and administer medications, including recording of what has been given and when, which is extremely important.

The pharmacist at the chemist went through all my medications with me, asking me what time I took them, and did I know what they did. In all cases I know exactly what they are for, partly as a result of research on the B.N.F. website and partly from asking the professionals I have appointments with as I always ask whenever my medications are changed, including when the dosage is increased or decreased. All dealt with in an extremly professional manner and makes me confident that I'm being dealt with properly. Any information deemed important would be passed on to the surgery.

Unexpected Snow and Ice

We woke this morning to snow and ice. The weather forecast on BBC 1 didn't predict snow this far south, mostly rain. Carol looked on the Academy website to check if the Academy was going to be open, as it seems that it doesn't take much to close that place.  Alfie and Poppy are somewhat surprised by the 'cold white stuff' which has taken over the garden. I think Poppy likes it, because last year, when we had snow, she seemed to relish being in it. Alfie's not so sure, as he doesn't like extremes of temperature, either very hot of cold. He's quite content to get back under the duvet until things warm up.

This photo was taken around 8.15 and shows snow in our garden. Not particularly heavy fall, but enough.

This next is showing the street outside our front door, again at around 8.15 this morning.

Yesterday when I went over to collect her at 3.30 I couldn't work out what was going on. Apparently they'd had an incident with a burst water pipe and there were firemen walking about the place. She later told me that the children had been sent outside as alarms were set off.

Coughs and Sneezes

I'm currently afflicted with the annual cold. Really unpleasant. Blocked up nose, sinuses, hearing very affected, generally under the weather. I know that the 'flu jab won't have any effect on getting a cold as it's caused by a totally different  strain of virus, but it's really annoying s it takes so long to get under control and to clear up. I can't take a lot of medications that you can get 'over the counter' at a chemist's or pharmacy, such as Sudafed, Night Nurse etc, as they contain ingredients that can effect your blood pressure if you are taking any sort of heart medication as I am. I know I can't take Nurofen or Ibuprofen and had a long conversation with the pharmacist in my local branch of Boots. I am currently using Olbas oil as an inhalation, a small drop in boiling water and then breathed in, and Olbas oil on tissues which does help to clear the nose somewhat, but I am now taking Covonia cough mixture three times a day which is gradually easing things. The worst thing is at night when all the phlegm runs onto my chest and makes me cough. I worry that too much coughing might bring on a further heart attack. Anything hot helps, even a cup of tea or coffee, a good soak in a hot bath or a shower does relieve things considerably.