An Edinburgh lawyer in his mid-sixties reviews not being impressed by his surgeon’s prediction that with no remedy he had a 95 per cent chance of being alive and well in 15 years’ time. His very own projected time-scale was rather longer – indeed, he was hoping for one more 35 years, by which stage he would have emulated his father by producing it to 98.
The only way he could be specific that his (extremely) low-risk cancer would not compromise his possibilities of reaching that goal would be to have the operation. Three handful of years on he is, he says, delighted with his decision and, in spite of the inevitable troubles with potency and continence, is grateful for “the large peace of mind” of not possessing to attend hospital for the normal check-ups that would be needed had he opted to “wait and see”.
Pillow speak
The perplexing phenomenon reported in this column, where lying on a pillow at night can cause excruciating pain in the ear, has elicited several similar reviews. Proposed solutions incorporate variations on minimizing the contact among ear and pillow by, for instance, fashioning 1 from a thick piece of foam with a hole in the middle. Alternatively, it is recommended that the discomfort could be due to sensitivity to the chemicals in synthetic pillows, and may possibly be prevented by switching to the feathered range.
Backpacking mystery
This week’s medical conundrum comes courtesy of Mrs SD from York, writing on behalf of her 25-year-old daughter who, on returning from a backpacking vacation in West Africa a couple of years ago, was admitted to hospital with a severe headache, numbness down the left side of the physique and a high temperature.
Her physician suspected that she had had a stroke, but the usual scans, blood tests and lumbar punctures have been all reported as “clear”. Given that then she has continued to be troubled by vertigo (worse, remarkably, in bed, and improved by travelling by auto or bus), left-sided headaches for the 1st hour soon after waking, loss of sensation on the left side of the face and a feeling of fullness in the ear that “clicks” on swallowing.
She has witnessed a total selection of specialists and, despite the fact that learning to dwell with these troubles, “would love to come to feel healthier again”. All ideas gratefully obtained.
Email your well being concerns to drjames@telegraph.co.united kingdom answers will be published in the well being segment of the Telegraph internet site each Friday
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