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Good morning, Elle!
A beautiful day here but an hour ago it was heavy rain!
Wild weather coming tomorrow, though.
That's good you will be able to see the BBC4 programme.
I was reading last night about a woman, somewhere in England, whose husband was killed in the Great War, and she brought up their three sons on her own.
And, tragically, her three sons were killed in WW2.
How on Earth do you cope with something like that happening!
Just awful!
I have just been to Post Office.
I send the local paper to my friends in Norn Iron regularly.
That way they know as much as me about what's going on here!
Hope your husband gets on fine at hospital.
Our X-ray dept is "walk-in", too.
It seems to work very well.

Hello Rosalind

I have asked the surgery why I need an annual blood test for possible liver problems. It is because I am on statins (low dose) for cholesterol.
I have been on them for 3 years but have never been asked to do this blood test, which seems an oversight , putting it mildly, by the sugery.

I agree with you that many elderly people are over-medicated. My elderly, frail mother-in-law was on about 8 different pills, prescribed by GPs for various complaints. She recently went to hospital after a fall, had terrific treatment, and was looked after very well. The consultant took her off all but one of the tablets. She is now a lot better than she was previously!

Hi, Rusty!
I have duly set the recorder for the programme about the War horses.
I do hope that Sandy features in it.
Yes, that is a terrible tragedy about the woman losing first her husband in WWI, and then all three of her sons in the Second World War.
More than anyone should have to bear.
My husband is awaiting a call from the Physio dept at the moment.... the call should come through about noon.
The current procedure is that an online assessment is first taken, before making a face- to-face appointment for treatment.
I am wondering how well this works?
We shall see!
After that, he is hopefully heading for the hospital Xray department.........
I am about to take a look at the crossword.
Have you already done your puzzle?

Good afternoon, Elle!
Fine afternoon here!
Yes, my puzzle was done earlier today.
No real problems in it, I do not think.

I am very glad to hear about your mother, jigjag. That is excellent news. The problem is, all drugs have side effects. My mother was on 19 when she died, but she grew up when the Doctor Was Not To Be Questioned. I did ask her GP, after she'd died, why he hadn't known she'd had breast cancer 15 years before.
The story often seems to be, take elderly people off all pills or as many as possible and see what happens. Some come to life, apparently. Especially if they have been on statins, which do nothing whatever to prolong women's lives. Falls are sometimes due to low blood pressure, initiated by drugs which do just that. But this is my hobby horse!

Hi, Rusty!
A successful day medically....
Progress is being made.
I see that I had put an "online assessment"......I meant of course , to type "telephone"!
Yes, the idea of initially taking all necessary background details by phone, thereby saving time at the next meeting, appeared to work very well!
And my husband now has a firm appointment to see a physiotherapist in person, at the beginning of next month, once his Xrays and blood tests are through.
It was all very efficient.
That was followed by a visit to the hospital to have the Xrays taken.
Blood tests will need to be done in the early morning on another day, when he has fasted.
Getting dark and much colder now!

Hello Ros and Jigjag,

I entirely agree that too many drugs are prescribed to both elderly and not so elderly people - French doctors are renowned for this!

I am on daily BP tablet (only one) because I had a stroke in 2008 - it was a minor stroke, more of a warning sign really - My GP checks my BP on a very regular basis (once a month) to check that it is neither too high nor too low - it took us a while to find the right tablet for me, and he did try to reduce the power of the one I take, with for immediate effect a BP that went rock-high again. So it is pretty
obvious that I had better stay on this particular one.

I had a stent (with another one to be put in for another artery next
Wednesday), and I now have two tablets a day to take for at
least a year to make sure the stents do not get clogged - should I
take the risk not to take these tablets?

At present, I am under two different lots of Morphine, due to
extreme pain: one lot is to cater for my recent vertebrae accident, and the other (small dose) is there to cater for a chronic pain I have
following the stroke. I can't wait to finish the recent treatment once my back starts aching less.
But whether I'll be able to stop the second lot for the chronic pain remains to be seen. We have tried several other means, to no avail,
I think that permanent pain in my leg is a small price to pay for
a stroke!

I had an Asthmatic bronchitis a few years ago which left me with
breathing sequels - for this I take something in the form of an
inhaler twice a day - If I do not take it, I feel puffed after efforts - Again, I would like to be able to be without it, but simply can't!
I have reduced it to one dose a day, but dare not do without it
altogether.

How can one go about not taking any medicine when it is obvious
one needs it?

Sounds like you really need all those meds, pigale. You don't want the stents clogged or to be breathless. I was referring more to people without symptoms having one of those MOTs and finding themselves on medication for life. I personally know 3 men who were put on statins (none had cholesterol over 7) and found themselves with serious muscle pain and/or memory problems. When they asked their GPs if they could stop taking the statin, they were told not. But they did, whereupon the pain (and memory loss in one case and personality change in another) disappeared. One of them is now 91!
I have not been and am not going to any MOT. The computer program which is used to tell your chance of heart attack/stroke overestimates risk quite seriously, apparently.

I agree though that too many people take tablets sometimes in
double figures, and what gets me is that when asked, they do
not really know why they are taking them anymore!

We do not have, I don't think, MOT for the elderly as such;
here, you get medication because you have been to your GP with
a particular complaint.
Okay, every now and then said GP might ask for a blood test to
check everything is fine, but only if you have been known to have
complaints in the past. I do not think it is "systematic' if this is
an English word.

Having said that, I do not know what goes on in Retirement homes
etc...

Hi, Rusty!
Goodness, where has the rest of the day gone?!
Or the week, for that matter!
It is hard to believe it is Friday tomorrow......
Did your son come to visit you this evening?
How is your weather?
Are you and Miss L-B still hoping to get out to the Pine Cone tomorrow?