MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

The sooner this round of medical matters is over for all of you the better! I'm keeping my head down...

[Mags]

What ever will be will be dad........im just hoping I either get a knee replacement or something to sort out this

CT ARTHROGRAM RIGHT KNEE
Multiplanar non contrast CT arthrogram right knee performed post
instillation of 15ml iodinated contrast.
The ACL is attenuated but appears grossly intact. Intact PCL.
Radial tear at the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. Intact MCL.
Intermediate to high grade chondral ulceration at the central to posterior
weight bearing surfaces of the medial femoral condyle with osteophytic
spurring at the medial femoral condyle and medial tibial plateau. Intact
medial tibial plateau articular cartilage.
Complex degenerate tears at the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus. The
body and part of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus is not
visualised, suggestive of prior meniscectomy. Small longitudinal split tear
at the proximal aspect of the popliteus tendon. Large area of full thickness
chondral loss involving the anterior to posterior surfaces of the lateral
femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau with associated osteophytic
spurring.
Intermediate grade chondral ulceration and fissuring involving the middle to
inferior thirds of the lateral patellar facet. Intermediate grade chondral
ulceration at the middle third of the medial patellar facet. High grade
chondral ulceration at the superior third of the lateral femoral trochlear
articular cartilage.
Enthesopathic changes at the distal quadriceps tendon insertion. Intact
patellar tendon. Mild prepatellar, superficial infrapatellar and deep
infrapatellar bursal oedema. No Baker's cyst.

[plaques]

Getting results from a scan can be a long winded process. The scan itself has to be evaluated in detail. The Doctor/Consultant writes up their findings where these are officially typed up, add two weeks for this. The whole bundle is passed electronically to your local surgery where if you are lucky will be picked up by your doctor who is familiar with your case if not they just sit as part of your record until you start asking questions. Hopefully 'your' doctor may understand them if not they may be passed to someone else for action. All adding to the overall delay. From what I understand Barlick is lucky not to have multiple doctors practice so Sally may not get involved in this merry-go-round.

[Big Kev]

The whole bundle is passed electronically to your local surgery where if you are lucky will be picked up by your doctor

Fortunately, when it's passed electronically, it also shows on the NHS app (if you've requested the access to your records) so you'll be aware of it as soon as it's available. I've read all sorts of correspondence up to a fortnight before a 'physical' copy has arrived at my house.

[plaques]

Fortunately, when it's passed electronically, it also shows on the NHS app (if you've requested the access to your records) so you'll be aware of it as soon as it's available. I've read all sorts of correspondence up to a fortnight before a 'physical' copy has arrived at my house.

I've been using 'Patient Access' on my laptop for years. Under normal circumstances, medication, test results etc its good enough for me. Where it appears to fall down is on any big investigation. I saw your comment some months ago and thought of installing the NHS app but found I needed authorisation from my health centre. I'm beginning to think that I should get my finger out and see what the authorisation entails. Some may think too much detail can cause unnecessary worry but its down to the individual to decide.

A recent cock up between my GP and the Cardiology Consultant has changed my mind that access to results is essential.

[Big Kev]

saw your comment some months ago and thought of installing the NHS app but found I needed authorisation from my health centre.

It was quite a while ago I did it, if I remember rightly it was a very straightforward process.

[Tripps]

Some bad news for the followers of Dr John Campbell His recent video with Andrew Bridgen MP has been censored

Good news I'd say. Someone has put it back. Bridgen Campbell

I've watched it again, and made a copy - just in case it disappears again.

[Sue]

Sally had her CT scan today. Just has to wait two to four weeks for the results now.

Thats a lomg time. I have never waited more than 10 days.. hope all is ok

[PanBiker]

Thanks Sue, it could be quicker, the radiographer said two weeks was the target but worst case would be four weeks. I think a lot depends on the venue and the size of the trust and workload etc. Looking at the size of the car park at Blackburn, (massive) and the number of folk through the radiology department, (in and out patients) in the 45 minutes or so we were there. I can understand the possible delay.

My annual MRI brain scan which was at LGI last year came in ten days, from memory.

[Stanley]

Looks as though I have a daughter with a bum knee.

[Stanley]

Margaret has mailed me this morning. Mick (her husband) is in surgery now having five stents put in the veins in his leg. The operation will take an hour but then he has to lie still on his back for 4 hours. Sounds as though he has the same complaint you had Ken. (Or have I got that wrong?)

[plaques]

Margaret has mailed me this morning. Mick (her husband) is in surgery now having five stents put in the veins in his leg. The operation will take an hour but then he has to lie still on his back for 4 hours. Sounds as though he has the same complaint you had Ken. (Or have I got that wrong?)

Slightly off target Stanley. I have this perverse ability to make big holes in my leg generally through accidents. Gradually the number of serviceable veins reduces so its prone to swelling if the next wound gets infected. No varicose veins that could aggravate blood flow. At the moment the leg is behaving itself.
Only the old man's limp to show for all my efforts.

[Tizer]

The following news report is relevant to the UK because Oxford University says:
In the UK RSV accounts for approximately 450,000 GP appointments, 29,000 hospitalisations and 83 deaths per year in children and adolescents, the majority in infants. It also has a major impact on elderly adults; 175,000 GP appointments, 14,000 hospitalisations and 8,000 deaths per year in the UK.

I suspect that deaths in elderly patients in the UK are still being reported as `due to pneumonia' because UK medics are less familiar with RSV.

`US drug regulator approves world's first RSV vaccine' LINK

[Stanley]

First time I have heard of RSV. Had to look it up and am still no wiser. I shall ignore it and get on with my knitting.

[Sue]

First time I have heard of RSV. Had to look it up and am still no wiser. I shall ignore it and get on with my knitting.

Its been talked about a lot this winter, otherwise I am none the wiser

[plaques]

The last time I saw the Cardiac Consultant I was advised to go on some anti clotting medication. After a couple of weeks I thought I would put it to test. Trying to cut my toe nails I managed to shorten no2 piggy at the same time. Blood everywhere. The clotting is measured in INR units (international normalised ratio) Numbers 2 to 3 being the norm and anything higher if expressed in Latin is Et tu Brute'. Needless to say and at the disappointment of many I survived.

[Tizer]

NHS info: `Bronchiolitis is caused by a viral infection, usually the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is very common and spreads easily in coughs and sneezes. Almost all children have had it by the time they're 2. In older children and adults, RSV may cause a cough or cold, but in young children it can cause bronchiolitis.'

It's only recently that there's been a sharp rise in RSV in older adults. Whether this is due to a change in the virus or simply that previously we didn't test for that virus is not clear. It's often mild but sometimes very serious*. It's different from bronchitis which infects the upper airways - bronchiolitis infects lower down closer to the lungs.

*Only a minority of adult infections are diagnosed, as RSV is not widely recognised as a cause of respiratory infections in adults. Elderly patients are frequently not investigated microbiologically, as there are fewer viruses present in their respiratory secretions compared with children. This results in the number of adult infections being underestimated. RSV gov.uk

[Stanley]

"t's different from bronchitis which infects the upper airways - bronchiolitis infects lower down closer to the lungs."
News to me! I always thought that bronchitis was infection in the lungs! Shows how little I know.
What I can report on that front is that two years after stopping smoking my pipe my lungs are clear as a bell and I haven't had any infections or even congestion. And that includes when I had my mild encounter with Covid.

[Tizer]

Think of the airways and lungs as being like an upside down tree. Your trachea is the trunk. Each bronchus is a main branch off the trunk and going into the lungs which are equivalent to the leafy part of the tree. From each bronchus there spout bronchioles which equate to the thinner branches and twiggy parts of the tree. An infection in `the trunk' is bronchitis, while infection in the bronchioles is bronchiolitis. The latter is more dangerous because its deeper into the lungs.

[Sue]

The latter is common and very dangerous in young babie and toddlers

[Stanley]

Oneguy educates yet again!

[Sue]

The latter is common and very dangerous in young babie and toddlers

My youngest grand daughter had this at 6 months of age, she nearly died. She now has recurring respiratory problems whenever she has a cold, plus asthma which is apparently a common after effect. However she is a lively, bouncing 9 year old now.

[Tizer]

A few years ago a friend of ours, in his 80s but fit, well and robust caught `a cold'. Suddenly he was whisked into hospital and within a couple of days was dead. Cause of death was recorded as pneumonia. I suspect it may have been bronchiolitis. Doctors are not always up to date with the latest infections and tend to assume what they are most familiar with.

[Stanley]

I wonder if that is the same as what I have heard called 'Bronchopneumonia'?

[Big Kev]

I wonder how this will work? There are plans to ease the strain on GP surgeries by getting more people to use pharmacies for diagnosis and treatment.
Data shows there are now fewer local chemists than at any time since 2015. Rising operational costs, staff shortages and reduced government financial support have been blamed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65488030