Bachelor boy

A very lively,noisy night reminiscent of university parties in the old days,but with no booze (no change there, then?)the night duty staff nurse was an obnoxious so and so and we soon came to verbal blows, ending in her storming off with my insulin and blood tester kits. My regular night nurse calmed me down and lightened the load. My pain levels have considerably lowered,which has to be good news.

The old boy in the corner bed is named Cliff, so every time nurses call him,the old Bachelor Boy hit with The Shadows springs to mind. I refuse to do Congratulations 

The guy in the next bed ate his plastic pudding spoon last night and attempted the same thing with breakfast this morning. It is a lively ward with an age likely to be of interest to the Time Team.

Houdini Porter

Still in hospital surviving athletes feet. During late evening yesterday I was whisked-off for an x-Ray in a turbo-charged wheelchair. The Porter checked me in and parked me in a doorway where I watched the world go by until the x-rayist hung me over her machine, zapped a picture and wheeled me back to reception for another porter to rush me back to the ward. Where the hell did the first porter disappear to?

Yet another wasted day lounging on a hospital bed until Lynne arrived to sort them, like a demented whirlwind. A decision was made to give me an anti-pain patch to encourage me to walk a little and exercise my leg more. T

There was talk of me returning home but with the new regime it was decided to leave me in hospital and begin a pain-management recording system,the results to be reviewed in due course.

Musical hospitals

My leg had been particularly painfull  yesterday so in desperation Lynne phoned the out of hours GP service. The days of a GP finding his /her way to your house are long gone. These days you are given an appointment time with a GP at a local hospital, so off we jolly well went to meet a larger than life character  who obviously had missed his anti-flu jab this year. He recommended we persuaded our GP to send me for an MRI scan on my leg, so next morning that is what we did. To cut a very long story short I ended up on ward 36 of Leicester Royal infirmary where I remain to this day.As usual I have spent 2 days on a very geriatric ward awaiting a doctor's visit, only to be told I have atheletes feet !  To be fair they have upped my painkillers which makes life reasonably better. This ward is particularly noisy as most of the residents are the wrong side of 75 and obviously suffer with acute wind and low pain thresholds (though not necessarily in that order).interestingly when my blood sugar was low the nurse gave me a sugary yoghurt called Farticip. No kidding.

Bowling along

We are off to Coventry today to watch our youngest daughter competing in a bowling tournament. We aim to park next to the entrance so I can hobble in without causing too much of a human traffic jam. I managed some sleep last night so our plan of 24 hr painkiller supply seems to be working, even though the pain stills comes and goes. My frustration has reached the point whereby a wheelchair may prove the solution to my non- mobility. My reluctance to getting one is mainly down to sympathy with Lynne who will get lumbered with pushing me around (no comment ). Lancashire has fabulous scenery Due mainly to sweeping hills and valleys. In other words, not ideal wheelchair terrain.

From my couch the weather looks overcast and dull. I will observe the flood plains during my trip to Coventry and report later. Wear your poppy with pride.

I can confirm the Yorkshire team won the national inter-counties bowling tournament by a very narrow margin from Surrey. Leicestershire were nowhere to be seen, indicating they must have been eliminated earlier in the season, or perhaps they do not have a team? 

The rivers are full but the flood plains are no longer flooded. My leg has been particularly painful today.

Wine supplies replenished

WearOur friends with a house in France returned to the UK yesterday, somehow eluded port customs and filled our shed with white, red and rose boxes. We only drink "socially", so we will be very social over the next few months, either at home or aboard. Drunk in charge of a narrowboat sounds an interesting charge. Looks Warm and sunny from my couch but I expect the flood plains remain.....er.....flooded.

Wear your poppy with pride.

London news

As promised, the second opinion was phoned through from London this morning. The team concluded from my scan history the tumour remains at level 2 ( non cancerous ) , albeit a bit bigger, and therefore zapping  it with both radiotherapy and chemotherapy would be " over the top", radiotherapy will arrest its growth but chemotherapy will contribute very little , apart from damaging me,although it would be needed at some time in the future.

It appears the Nottingham team may have panicked ( unless they just needed biopsy practice ) Whilst pleased, I can't help feeling like one of those unfortunate laboratory monkeys or Frankenstine's monster. Leicester are going ahead with plans for my treatment.

Leg news is less encouraging. It still hurts like hell.

Stand off

Managed some sleep last night, but only after a quite unpleasant stand-off whereby my pain killers were used as a bargaining tool. I now understand how effective torture can be. The solution is for me to take charge of the painkillers and take them as required, rather than by the recommended 24 hr maximum doseage. Surprisingly pain recognises no timetable. The new painkillers are a striking shade of blue but , despite being taken daily, apparently take up to 5 weeks to kick-in, by which time I can phase out my current pill taking regime. I will then be on only 2 pills per day, albeit very pretty. As a couch potato I can only report on the weather as it appears outside my window. Yesterday was very dull with no sunshine. Today appears to be following the same schedule, but even so it is good winter cruising weather and we are missing it. Due to my short-notice GP visit yesterday I had to rearrange my first counselling session to next week. Great. I have waited many months to get it and then had to postpone it. Ho-hum.