December 2011

Well well well…I think I left you all wondering how the hell bagels and spines and kidneys ever got mixed up. Well here’s the story….can you bear to read on?

Shorthaul flights 17 18 and 19 took place over May and June. These were ‘minor’ procedures to try to establish quite where the issues in the spine were. Each time I groggily rose from the anaesthetic I managed to imagine myself lying on a hot beach drinking cocktails.  Never mind the oxygen mask where was the snorkel when you needed it most?

Having decided that operation 20 was indeed in the offing Daniel and I really did take a long haul flight to the sun we really did lie on a beach in Barbados and sip a little cocktail or twenty pretending we were a totally normal middle aged couple celebrating our 25^th Anniversary. It was utterly wonderful…our new discovery is that if you imbibe 3 glasses of champagne for breakfast the rest of the day is really an anaesthetic- like haze of jollity.  We only did that once…honest!

So not wanting the London surgeons Dodgy J and D. D, not forgetting dastardly Muttley or Richard in his oh so smelly fisherman’s jumper,  to get bored we returned to London to see what treats were in store. Urology tests revealed a bit of a hiccup to say the least on the bladder kidney ureter front. So now I’ve entered the world of catheters big small and oh so humiliating. Bringing with them their share of hassles and the need for constant antibiotic cover.  So urology not so great but met up with my old friends Brilliant Brenda she of knicker fame, Great Geraldine wonderful and Welsh not forgetting Ditsy Becky she of ….leave the catheter bag open all night fame.  Wow it makes a mess!

The spinal tests resulted in a spinal fusion in August lots of metal work into my back – that’ll cause problems at Heathrow!  but we managed an extra 25^th Anniversary party organised by Dan Harry Lou George in Cornwall with Eastons and Matthews too! So 3months on and spine is gradually improving.