MEDICAL MATTERS

[Tizer]

Thanks for that Plaques. It's good to know exactly what Stanley's having done. I note it says: "The younger you are when you have cataract surgery, the more likely it is that this thickening will occur." No doubt he will point to this as further evidence that he has a young fighter pilot's eyes!

For anyone who wants to know what an Nd:YAG laser is...the solid-state laser uses a crystal of yttrium aluminium garnet which has been `doped' with neodymium. The doping means that the neodymium atoms replace some of the yttrium atoms and this gives the crystal the property of generating a beam of infrared laser light. Why do I find this interesting? It's an example of the importance of the elements we find in the Earth's crust, ranging from aluminium and garnet which are abundant and common and have been used for centuries, to yttrium and neodymium which are `rare earth elements' that have found use in more recent times. Yttrium is named after Ytterby in Sweden where Carl Axel Arrhenius found a new mineral containing this element in 1787. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by Austrian chemist Baron Carl Auer von Welsbach. He showed that a known substance was in fact composed of two very similar elements and named the new one neodymium after the Greek meaning `new twin'. As Stanley would say, it's those pesky scientists again!

[Sue]

My friend has had this done on both her lens after cataract operations which as a matter of interest she had done at the same time as Stanley. She has had no problem s since.

[Stanley]

Morning All!

I have to report that I had the laser window cleaning yesterday and was home by 16:30. Susan was wonderful, looked after me like the good daughter she is. It was a quick five minute procedure and immediately after the treatment, despite the anaesthetic and pupil dilating drops I could see clearly. No pain and no after effects. 12 hours later even after putting in the steroidal inflammatory drops I have to use every six hours for the next seven days my sight is crystal clear except for the very slight distortion in the sight of my right eye after the retinal surgery.
In other words it's as near a miracle as anything I have ever encountered, my sight has never been as good as this, ever! I can see clearly without my glasses apart from very close work, using my glasses it is fighter pilot grade. The nice thing about this is that it confirms that my retinas must be in excellent condition so that even if the implants mist up again, either cleaning or replacement will give me perfect sight again.
I have discovered that my new Samsung TV is brilliant clear quality, I shall really enjoy watching F1 today!
Thanks to everyone concerned for caring about me and my sight. Thanks to the doctors for their skill and most of all thanks to the NHS for a brilliant, free and effective service.
You can have little idea what restoration of sight at this level after months of struggling is like, it's a rebirth and reminds me how lucky we are if we have good vision and should look after our eyes. By the way, if you are wondering, no, I am not going to reduce the size of the text on my computer screen, it is so easy and relaxing as it is.
Life is suddenly crystal clear and brightly coloured, wonderful, I am so lucky. Very happy this morning......
Love to you all. Stanley.

[Cathy]

Wonderful news Stanley, so pleased (and a little bit gob-smacked to see you back on OG so quickly).
Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy

[Stanley]

I am enjoying it Cathy and thanks for your care about me. Lovely morning, everything is clear as crystal and I'd forgotten about the colours! It is a good morning and I wish you as much happiness......

[Wendyf]

Wonderful news! So pleased for you.

[Nolic]

Great news and obviously a happy chappy.......nice one Comrade. Nolic

[micktoon]

Hi Stanley, I have eventually found medical matters lol. Chuffed tombits for you that there has been such an improvement, there will be no stopping you now, looks like you might go for full engine build
Cheers Mick

[Tizer]

Fantastic news Stanley! You must feel like a new world has opened up in front of you. Another bit of good news came out last week - a `bionic eye' that can allow a blind person to see. It's not an implant but, I think, more like a pair of glasses that passes image data direct to the brain.

[PanBiker]

Excellent news Stanley, best possible, as I said earlier no stopping you in the shed. My dad was similar after he had his hips done after some years of pain. Onward and upward

[Pluggy]

Glad it went well Stanley.

[Stanley]

Thanks to all of you for caring so much.... As for full Corliss engine build, no way Mick! I know my limits! I'll see what those two castings are like that John is sending me....

[Stanley]

All is well, I went for a walk this morning without my glasses and was able to read the time on the bus stop clock (a small dial) at 100 yards clearly. Wonderful.....

[Stanley]

I got mail this morning from an old friend in LA who read my account of the laser cleaning and has been encouraged to go to his optician to see whether modern technology has a solution to his problem, severe astigmatism. I suspect they will have a solution for him. Nice to know some good has come out of it all.

[Stanley]

less that two days of the steroid eye drops (Pred Forte drops are an ophthalmic corticosteroid. Exactly how Pred Forte drops works is not known.) to go. They have a side effect of slightly blurring the vision so after tomorrow I shall be getting the full effects of my improved sight....

[Stanley]

Clear sky and full moon last night. Even without my glasses I could clearly see the craters on the moon......Hee hee....!

Later.... I put my last lot of eye drops in at 10AM. 7Days at 6 hour intervals.... and the first was at 4PM last Friday. Yippee, now my eyes will get even better as the effects of the drops wear off.

[Cathy]

Wonderful that it is all working out so well and improving more each day.
You must feel that you have been given a new lease of life and a new quality of life.

[Stanley]

Exactly Cath and this morning I was able to go for a walk in the rain with no glasses and so avoid the problem of rain-spotted lenses! It can be a big problem, they don't make windscreen wipers for spectacles!

[Stanley]

Marginal additional improvement now that the steroid eye drops have totally worn off....

[Nolic]

Onwards and upwards Comrade. Good news. Nolic

[Stanley]

Thanks Comrade.... I wish you the same luck if ever you need it! Give my love to the Boss and the Kids!

[Tizer]

`Everyone should consider taking vitamin D supplements to counter the lack of sunshine in the UK, government experts are proposing.' - BBC, 4th August 2015. LINK

Note: Vitamin D is turning out to have many more health benefits than just strong bones, so increasingly we realise the importance of getting enough of the vitamin. Scientists mostly agree on this, but there is still much debate about whether or not we already get enough. It's a complicated issue with many confounding factors involved and we can expect some strong opinions to be aired!

[Stanley]

I got there before them! I get about 600iu each day from my daily slurp of Cod Liver Oil. That's the recommended daily dose for adults. Some sources recommend more but there is no evidence that this is better. Main thing is I am covered....
There's a more important principle embedded in the latest advice. It is up to the individual to take an interest and find out what foods and supplements are a good thing for health. The major problem is that so few people take the trouble to do this, they just believe everything the advertisers tell them and scoff food I wouldn't give to my dog!

[plaques]

Hospital visiting and walking down the corridors following streams of people I couldn't help noticing how big and wide they were. If you saw a normal person you began to think that there must be something wrong with them and that's why they were in hospital. Forget ambulances we are going to need low loaders.

[Stanley]

I agree P! I reinforce my efforts to get my weight down by watching big fat bottoms wobbling down the pavement in front of me....
Mind you, I was walking down a street in NY one day with my friend Ethel who was not fat but very stockily built. In front of us there was an incredibly thin girl and Ethel said "I would like to be like that..... For one day!" She was right, there is a happy medium.