14 January 2008

It was almost 4 years since I had had a BUPA health check up. As I was rising 74 I decided it was time I had another one. I wasn’t too concerned as I was in pretty good shape I had been going to the gymnasium for the past two years, three times a week, for one and a half hour sessions and as a result (or, at least so I thought) had got myself down to a trim 10 ½ stone.

My consultation was with a young female doctor – who was very charming but who is not as thorough as I would have liked. The problem was, that although I booked the consultation some two or three weeks earlier none, of the necessary appointment papers had arrived (this despite three separate telephone calls requesting the papers) and when it came to the consultation the doctor had to spend some considerable time completing the questionnaire which I had been unable to finish myself between the various tests. As a result, she did not carry out a muscular and skeletal examination. Had she done so she would have noticed severe muscle atrophy as well the fasciculations (under surface muscle twitching) which should have alerted any knowledgeable doctor to the possibility of a neurological problem.. However, her conclusion, from this particular health check-up was that I was in pretty good shape. A BMI and body fat, both of 21, an excellent waist to height ratio, good blood pressure and a better than ideal chance of not having a heart attack for someone of my age.

During the consultation I mentioned two particular concerns. One was a burning pain in my groin, on the site of the scar tissue from my artificial urinary sphincter operation. I told the doctor that the burning pain usually arose after I had been exercising (playing golf, for example) for a couple of hours. This she put down to a hernia and referred me to a general surgeon.