Another week of appointments and days spent moving from hospital to hospital

First was foot. Dressings around the operation site had begun to unravel. I got that sorted on the same day a new midline was put into my arm. That’s a procedure in ‘interventional radiology’. Using an ultrasound to guide a tiny ‘line ‘ goes into a vein. It’s taped in place and then I can go home to do my own iv antibiotics. At home. This is all organised by the OPAT team. I don’t actually know what OPAT stands for. However the very awesome team headed up by Consultant Infectious Diseases is based in Tropical diseases. This is a small clinic filled mainly with malaria victims needing daily treatment. The downstairs is, as I’ve described before, the STD clinic. Kindly supported by the ‘Freedom’ shop through which everyone walks through at the building entrance!

Wednesday my mother was due a phone consultation at 10:20. By 10:22 she was off to pour a drink having decided he wasn’t ringing. I got her to calm down. Told he to save the drink til later. 11:05 the phone rang. It was indeed Mr Urology. Long story short. Decision to operate. Remove kidney fix aneurysm.  Date will be mid March. More waiting then.  No rush it’s only cancer. Ffs. 

Wednesday evening I was back to Luton and Dunstable max fax. First load of bands braces and wires fitted. This is the attempt to save what remains of jaw and teeth. It’s a two year project.  

Meanwhile the carers I’d fixed arrived to start helping Dad. They arrived on Thursday. Friday, mum told them not to come back.

Saturday Dad fell. Again. Mum went to get a neighbour to help. Unfortunately the neighbour had just died. Undaunted mum got the funeral director to come and help Dad. Which he did. Who need scarers when the funeral firm can assist?

You could not make this up!

Sunday a day off from the elderly. Twickenham was the outing. We met up with daughter 2. Found the Bollinger tent and compared our ‘boots’.  You will not believe it but she’s got her foot in an orthopaedic boot too. She’s awaiting scans. Meanwhile we limped off to our seats. Telling the ladies opposite us in the tent that we’d got injured playing rugby! 

The match was was so fun. Not least because England won. For once. But the crowd. The singing. The sheer exhilaration of being ‘normal’. 

Today was back to London. OPAT team removed midline at the clinic above ‘Freedom’ . Eventually saw a young 12 or so year old doctor too and wandered out to the street again.

Next stop was orthopaedic clinic. Dressings changed. Stitches come out later in the week. The pin to stay sticking out of my toes for at least six weeks. I must have more metal in me than Jaws in Bond. Teeth. Toes. Implants. Batteries. Fusion. Gawd no wonder the shop radar things go off anytime I pass.

On that note I reorganised one book. Only one, on the shelf at WHS today. SPARE. next to ‘ how to kill your family’ ….the rest of the shelf was already brilliant

Finally just to make you laugh, the super friendly train man at Bedford saw me limping onto the platform this morning. He asked me what was up. I glossed over it. But to my embarrassment he decided I needed a wheel chair escort at St Pancras. Nooooo