Of ophthalmologists and other observations

I love a good murder trial and I have been following the Philip Polkinghorne trial with fascination.

It is incredible to witness someone totally blow up their respectable life.

I also find it deeply disturbing he was operating on the back of people’s eyes whilst living a double life that included a very expensive meth addiction.

He is certainly guilty of being a dreadful husband and a horrible human being.

The trial is a tiny bit topical in my journey because I had eye surgery at the end of July. My ophthalmologist played a supporting role in the murder trial. He was one of two of Philip Polkinghorne’s colleagues who left Auckland Eye acrimoniously and set up a new practice across the road. This reduced Philip Polkinghorne’s retirement pay out. Anyway, after my eye surgery I watched (with my one good, unpatched eye) as my ophthalmologist departed the premises in his cobalt blue Maserati. What am I trying to say? I have seen first hand how the money flows in the medical specialties and they also get lots of thanks - which must be nice - and in my opinion it’s much better to spend that money on cobalt blue Maseratis as opposed to sex workers and meth.

Oh, and by the way, my eye is fine. The lesion was scar tissue. The doctor described it as “weird”. I’m fine with that.

In other news I have just one more breast reconstruction operation to go. It will be in October or November (depending on whether a lady scheduled after me in October needs my surgical time - I have agreed for her to take it if she needs a double mastectomy and reconstruction rather than a single).

My work continues to be busy and fulfilling. I am trying hard to keep things in balance and to concentrate on my health. I have recently added some intense cycling workouts into my fitness regime and I’m making sure I sleep enough and eat lots of whole food. I am still teetotal as no amount of alcohol is safe for me. I intend to write a wistful ode to alcohol at some stage.

I have lots of things to look forward to so shan’t dwell on my lack of cocktails. In May 2025 I am catching up with a group of University friends for a scarfie reunion in Dunedin that has my entire first flat of 6 in attendance. I have not seen some of them for more than 30 years. There is a high school reunion in April (I drive by my old school most days so it’ll be nice to go in!) and I need to organise that party to celebrate the end of my treatment and surgeries and most of all, to celebrate getting through it all in good health and staying alive with my eyeballs intact (and away from meth addled ophthalmologists with loose knots in orange rope).

• I started to write a post about my time in London. It became obvious I need to write a series of posts. The first one is here