So, back in December I went to see my GP about a cyst that had developed on my lower right eyelid. She said she'd referred me to the hospital but didn't. When I queried this on March 12th, she said she would definitely do it this time. A couple of days ago, I called the hospital to check and they received her referral on March 17th. There was nothing to indicate that my cyst was in any way an emergency, so I was at the back of the queue. I asked how long the queue is, and was told it's currently 12 weeks. I'm going to be waiting until June for surgery.
Now ordinarily I wouldn't mind such a wait for a simple surgery for a minor condition. That's why I did indeed wait three months before asking why I hadn't heard anything. However, six months is another matter altogether.
I actually have two cysts, one pushed down by the other. They both seem to have healed up on the eyeball-facing side. Recently, though, the lower one decided to make a break for it. Here's what my eye looks like now:
What happens is that every time I have a shower or wash my face, the cyst swells up. When it contracts, it causes the skin to flake and come off. This results in a scab, so the next time it swells up it's tighter and causes more skin to stretch. It's looking to me as if it's going to breach my skin and eject gloop everywhere. Yesterday (after I took this picture) it did indeed start to ooze stuff, but from the underside rather than from the scabby bit.
I'm seeing my GP again next week. She'll decide whether she can make a medical case for me to be seen by the opthalmolagist sooner rather than later. I believe I'll have to play a game, though, in which she asks me leading questions and I give her the necessary answers. For example, if she asks "does it affect your driving?" then I say yes, it does, regardless of whether it actually does or not. This will enable her to bump me up the queue a bit.
What she should really be happening, of course, is that she should take one look, think "eww, that looks as if it could get infected", and send me off to the surgeon before I get blood poisoning and die because SHE FORGOT TO REFER ME IN DECEMBER AUGH AUGH AUGH!