{"id":20711,"date":"2015-12-17T13:14:29","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T13:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=20711"},"modified":"2015-12-17T13:51:34","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T13:51:34","slug":"grumpy-old-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/12\/grumpy-old-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Grumpy Old Man"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Grumpy<\/a>

Mr. Grumpy<\/p><\/div>\n

I don’t know if being 45 entitles me to become a grumpy old man, but it was my birthday last week, I was 45 and if this past week is anything to go by then I think it does.<\/p>\n

Opticians<\/h2>\n

First up I had my usual bi-annual eye test. I knew that my eyesight was deteriorating as I have trouble reading things up close these days and it takes a little longer to focus on things than it used to. Just reading things on my watch <\/a>or iPhone isn’t as easy as it used to be. The tests agreed and I now need glasses for reading. I’ve picked some that looked OK and will be collecting them on Christmas Eve so will be able to try them out over Christmas. Mind you, I can still read small print and such like just by moving it a little further away so time will tell if I find it easier to find my glasses and put them on just to read something close up or if it’ll be easier just to stretch my arm a little. I guess once my arms aren’t long enough then I’ll really need the glasses.<\/p>\n

During the eye examination they now use digital retina photography to take a photo of your eye to look for changes. They noticed a birthmark on the back of one of my eyes which wasn’t a problem, but also a haematoma which could be an issue so they referred me to the doctors to get that checked out. The digital retinal photography was pretty cool though and I guess it gives them photos to compare with next time I go in. It was nice that i actually got to see them as well. I should have asked for a copy of them so that i could have posted them here.<\/p>\n

Doctors<\/h2>\n

As a\u00a0grumpy old man. it’s my duty to avoid the doctors whenever I\u00a0can but I was told to make an appointment by the opticians so made one for the following Friday. However, I then had a bit of an issue several times where the side of my face would go numb and become really painful. The first time I assumed it was just related to sinus issues as I had been suffering with a cold. The next time it was much worse but in true grumpy old man style I just carried on regardless. The third time it happened it seemed to be brought on by a training session on the turbo trainer – nothing really strenuous, but this time it was really painful. This morning, the fourth time it happened, was the worst of all. It came on not long after sneezing and gradually got worse and worse. Once again the whole left hand side of my face went numb but it was incredibly painful at the same time, so much so that I felt quite sick with it too. I still thought that it was probably sinus related, but I’m not at all bunged up so maybe it was time to reluctantly call the doctors.<\/p>\n

An appointment was made for later that morning, tomorrow’s planned appointment thanks to the opticians was cancelled. Once there, they did all the usual tests to make sure I hadn’t had a stroke and convinced themselves that I was OK from that point of view. They checked my blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels and panicked a bit when they saw how low my heart rate was. It was at 47 bpm which I actually thought was quite high for me. They then decided that they weren’t sure what was causing the pain and numbness but they weren’t overly worried – probably ‘just’ an infection of some sort so they took some blood samples and we’ll see what they show. I was then free to go on my way and manage to pain with paracetamol and ibuprofen.<\/p>\n

More Tests<\/h2>\n

That’s not the end of my grumpy old man trips to the doctors though as I had a phonecall yesterday asking me to make an appointment for a blood test. I’m on statins and get repeat prescriptions for them so\u00a0every now and then they need to do a cholesterol and blood test to make sure they are still working as they should. It would seem as though those tests are due so I’d made an appointment for some blood letting. I’ve cancelled that now though as they took blood today so hopefully that will be sufficient, I just have to go back at some point for the results.<\/p>\n

I don’t know, I don’t go to the doctors for years on end and then all of a sudden I seem to be spending more time that is healthy visiting various health professionals.<\/p>\n

Grumpy Old man<\/h2>\n

I may feel and act as though I’m still in my 20’s, I may run rings around most people half my age, but it looks as though\u00a0physiologically I may actually be ageing, and if so surely that gives me plenty of excuses to be a grumpy old man?<\/p>\n