"The NHS does work"

Anything else?

On Wed 26th June 2013 I woke to find I was blind in my R eye and the lid of my L eye was rapidly closing. During the previous 10 months I had been referred by Boots Opticians for Glaucoma Screening at the Eye Treatment Centre in FPH. On the 26th November it was confirmed that I did not have Glaucoma but to contact them if I developed acute pain in my eye. In January 2013 I experienced a slight twitching in my R eye but then had a bad case of Shingles On the L side of my head and face and lid of L eye but not in the eye and was prescribed accordingly and seen by my GP.Nothing was felt in my R eye again until May when I developed what I felt was a spasm in my R eye and spoke to my Dr who advised me to see the Optician who had my paperwork which was Boots - my eyes were tested by an Optomertist and I was advised it was "twitching and that the blurring was part of it and was most likely down to the Shingles which had probably affected my 6th cranial nerve and would clear up eventually but in extreme cases Botox was a possibility for the lid - I phoned my Dr and relayed the information back to her. Having been reassured by the Optomertist that had it been Glaucoma or Shingles in the eye it would have been so painful I would need A&E I assumed that there was nothing else anyone could do but hope it would clear up. Monday 24th June I had been to the gym for Zumba and Pilates class and felt fine however in the afternoon whilst in the car with my friend I felt tingling across the bridge of my nose and a bad headache which seemed to clear. I attended an event which included an hour long seminar on making healthy veg shakes etc and tried a "smoothie" which I hated. Once I was home I was quite sick which I thought was due to the "smoothie" I went to bed and stayed ithere all day Tuesday drinking just water as by then I thought I had a tummy bug. Wed was the first ime I realised something was really wrong. My husband called the surgery and I was seen by a doctor who was "on call" he reacted very quickly and wrote a letter to A&E FPH where I was seen almost immediately. From that point on I was seen, tested and treated by extremely competent and caring staff - no stone was left unturned, When the results of the MRI scan were known the Consultant kindly but firmly told me and my husband that I had an Pituitary gland tumour which was causing a bleed over my R eye and that she was in the process of organising the paperwork before sending me straight to St George's for immediate surgery. The Ambulance staff were superb, kind and compassionate as were all the staff at FPH and at St Georges. My consultant who performed the operation (I believe under guidance) was amazing, "a guardian angel" indeed and like all the staff showed showed great care, competence and compassion. I was discharged on Monday 1st July. Thank you everyone.