A Bit Of A Turn

It's been a funny old week. Last Wednesday I was sat at my computer minding my own business when everything started to go black. It was a weird sensation, like your consciousness is closing down because you have forgotten to put another coin in the slot machine. I knew I was going to pass out but I was more concerned about my inability to see properly. With the help of Isobel I got downstairs and to the door. Slowly the curtains began to open again and I was left shaken and stirred. The whole episode took about four minutes.

Isobel insisted I go to the GP and he started what turned out to be a marathon session of tests. He took blood, carried out ECG's prodded and poked me and decided that I should go straight to hospital. While he was writing the letter referring me to A&E we got a phone call to say that Alexander had been taken to A&E having been hit in the eye with a football resulting in him not being able to see anything from his left eye.

It was turning out to be like one of those plots from Casualty. Various characters (all somehow linked together) all arriving in the A&E Department at the same time. They are never believable, those plots. By late afternoon Alexander and I were in adjoining cubicles : Isobel running between us like a confused mother hen. Then we went our separate ways : me to the Medical Assessment Unit and more tests, him to the Ophthalmology Department and more tests. We both made it home that night (although it was almost midnight when I escaped) but the following morning we had matching appointments at the Eye Clinic.

In Alexanders' case it was eventually determined that nothing was broken or dislodged and slowly the sight came back. Eye drops and no sport for a week was the only treatment. In my case they decided there was nothing wrong with my eyes and the chances were that I had suffered from a mini-stroke. That diagnosis lasted for 24 hours until I saw the stroke specialist who assured me I had not had a stroke. We are still waiting for some test results but the best theory at the moment is "blood pooling" in my legs resulting in a shortage of blood getting to me brain. To me, that sounds almost as frightening as a mini-stroke but all those who know about such things seem reasonably relaxed about it.

My own diagnosis, I made just after it occurred on Wednesday. After enough tests to make a dent in the local NHS budget, that diagnosis seems to be gathering strength. All I had was "a funny turn".