Hmm, I guess it's too late to tell you to look away if you don't like pictures of gammy eyes...
In November last year I developed a cyst on the lower eyelid of my right eye. After my attempts to get rid of it with antibacterial eye cream failed, I went to see a GP to get referred to the hospital for surgery. She did indeed agree to refer me. This was on 19th December.
Here's what my eye looks like now:
The cyst is now in two parts ("cysters"!), one the size of a baked bean lower down and another the size of a metallic dragée on the eyelid. It's not pleasant to look at. I've already cancelled my attendance at one industry get-together because of it, and I'm now wondering if it's a good idea to be talking to prospective students this coming Wednesday (when I'm scheduled to give the "sample lecture"). It doesn't hurt, but it does affect my vision when I look down as I can't see past it. This makes reading irritating.
The worst thing, though, is that I haven't heard back from the hospital about when I might be up for surgery. It's entirely possible that my referral has fallen down a crack somewhere. However, it's far more likely that it made it safe and sound and I'll be getting a call to go in as an out patient fairly soon. The absolute maximum waiting time allowed is 18 weeks from referral, so I still have some time to go before I can complain, but it would have been nice to get a letter acknowledging that I'm actually on a waiting list. It's also a little annoying that if I'd been seen earlier then there would only have been one cyst to remove, not the two there are now.
I'm against private health treatment in the UK, but if I were for it the Internet seems to think it would cost me about £500 to get my cyst fixed privately (more like $2,000 if I lived in the USA). The lack of information is more of a concern than the cyst itself at this point.
Oh well, at least I get to frighten small children for a while longer, anyway.