BONES TO THE RESCUE

Thursday 9th April
Over the last few days I’ve had some visual disturbances in my left eye – at first I thought that it was associated with migraine problems that I have had recently, then I decided that I had a ‘floater’, and that I would go to see an optician when I got back from this trip. However, yesterday I started to get more visual problems, and so decided that while in Oxford I needed to see a doctor or an optician. So, we asked Bones about it yesterday evening.

She asked lots of questions, and then offered to take me to see an optician in Oxford – she said that Boots is excellent, and said she would give me a lift into town in the morning.

At 8:15 Bones was there at the boat, she had decided that if there was a problem then I would need to be seen at the hospital, so she had rung them, and had been told to take me to A & E. We shot through the morning traffic, and into the hospital, where A & E reception said that I would have to be seen there first, because if I went to the Eye A & E, then I would just be sent back to the ordinary A & E. So we waited for a nurse to take some details, then we waited, and eventually a charming doctor came and looked at my eyes. She explained that she thought that it was a problem that ‘sometimes happens in women of your age, with long sight’ – hmmmmm. However, to be sure she wanted the Opthamologist to see my eye. We waited, then the doctor returned and said that the eye specialists were in surgery, but she hoped it wouldn’t be too long, then she came back again, and said that the eye department was really busy. Eventually, she said, that if I went to an optician in Oxford, they would refer me back to the eye department, and that might be the fastest way to get my eye seen!

So, back to the BonesMobile - sweeping through the traffic into what must have been the only parking space in Oxford. We went into Boots, where Bones marched up to the practice manager. “Hi, I’m Dr Bones…” then she went on to explain the problems. They organised an appointment for half an hour later, then we went for coffee.

I was given all the pre-tests – the eye puff, the field of vision dots, the retinal photo – then taken in to see the ophthalmic optician – who was somewhat unhappy that the hospital had sent me to them (as you would expect), and then said “You’ve got your GP with you, then?” “Um, she’s a friend….”

The optician gave me the full range of tests, then put drops in my eyes to dilate my pupils, then took me to have the pre-tests done again. Then he spent ages looking in my eyes with a very bright light. Then he said that my vision was very good (despite the long sight), and that he was almost completely sure that the problem is one that would go away of its own accord – however… He said that to be absolutely certain I needed to see a retinal specialist, so he faxed the details off to the hospital, who would ring me with an appointment for that afternoon.

By now it was 1pm, and Bones was meeting someone at 1:30, so she had to go, but she made sure that we knew all the right buses for the hospital, and then back to the canal. Without Bones we would have been completely lost, we would have had no idea where to go, or what to do.

So, Alan and I walked around Oxford waiting for the phone call – which didn’t come.

Eventually, we went back to Boots, and the optician tried ringing the hospital again, who were still busy, but said that they would ring back. At this point my phone rang, and I was offered an appointment for tomorrow – goodness knows what this is going to do to our tight schedule for the Thames Ring. However, you don’t mess about with your sight.

We gathered up some food at the Sainsbury’s Local and caught the bus back to Thrupp.

I cannot thank Bones enough for the help that she gave us. She used all her local knowledge and was a calm and sensible voice at a time that I was feeling quite fragile. I owe her far more than the pint that she suggested next time we meet.