First Day Back

Not a long day. 130 e-mails waiting for me though. Still, good to be back. Feeling good.

Saturday was fun. Although the Market Restaurant was rubbish. They only had about three main courses left which is just crap for a city centre restaurant on a Saturday night. But the weddings in The Midland. Oh my dears, they had the worst weddings taking place. The clothes had to be seen to be believed. But they at least provided some amusement (and yes I know everyone is entitled to wear whatever they want and yes there are people out there who think turning up your jeans looks stupid - but trust me its really fashion forward - but I just don't care). That's all. J x

Day by Day

Each day I seem to be a little better. My temperature is back to normal and I'm sleeping properly (although I did wake up very sweaty in the middle of last night - hopefully a one-off). I foresee no problems with going back to work - apart from all the e-mails I'll have to catch up with.

Met Sara for a drink last night and out tonight for Michele's birthday so everything now seems back to normal. Will hear in due course when they want me back in for the gall bladder removal op. That's all. J x

Update

So we went to the Whitworth yesterday. The exhibition (The American Scene) is terrific. However, it was probably a bit ambitious for me to do having just been discharged from hospital. My back started hurting and I felt unwell so we got a taxi back home. My temperature was then up for most of the night.

Have now had a good night's sleep though and feel much better this morning and my temperature is back down to normal. Mother is to have her hair done and father needs to g to Boots so I'll let them toddle off and do their own thin whilst I take it easy today. We believe that Ms DD is back in the realm of the living today so hope to see her later. That's all. J x

Home Sweet Home

So they discharged me late yesterday afternoon. Blood test results were fine. Am off work until Monday though. No idea when they'll call me back. Presumably everything now needs to work its way through the system and an appointment will pop up in due course. The surgery doesn't sound too dramatic and shouldn't entail a long stay in hospital but there will be a 2 week period off work. (to be spent at the Aged Ps in Swansea).

Feeling OK. Glad to be out of hospital obviously. I don't feel fantastic but that could be the morphine withdrawal effects (God its a fantastic drug!). Will update y'all as things change. No other news at the moment. Going for a therapeutic visit to the Whitworth Art Gallery this afternoon followed by a quiet night in. Last night in my own bed was brilliant. No shouters and no farters. Bliss. That's all. J x

Update

Could be home tonight! Apparently they took a stone from my bile duct yesterday. It was this which was causing me the pain. The plan is now, following suitable results from the blood tests, to send me home tonight and call me back in 4 to 6 weeks to take the gall bladder. This is better for me as it allows me to plan things as far as work is concerned (but Annie has helped me out enormously there this time). I'll type more when I'm home because it takes quite a long while on the iPhone. J x

Starving

Have been nil by mouth all bloody day from 0600. Just had my first Ensure Plus half an hour ago. It's never tasted so good... No doubt today will contribute to my net weight loss. Had the endoscopy today. Can't remember a thing. Probably just as well since I understand it can be quite traumatic. My confidence was not boosted by the fact that the mouth guard I needed to wear wouldn't fit in my mouth. Apparently radiotherapy also affects the extent to which you can open your mouth wide (it tightens all your skin). The enoscopist (just guessing) had to take a scalpel and cut through the barrell of a large plastic syringe and improvise from there. After that the sedative was added intravenously and I remember nothing else. I'll update you all once I've seen the doctors tomorrow morning. That's all. J x

Scary Mary

So starting to feel a little edgy now. Which is bonkers as I've been through much worse than an endoscopy before. Indeed, I have even been through an endoscopy before. Still... Anyway. Busy day, Aged Ps are once again Manchester residents. They were caught up in a big jam on the M6 so not best pleased when they arrived (and, of course, not over the moon about having to visit their son in hospital for a third time...). They are both looking well though. Madam visited today of course and has taken them out for dinner tonight. Felicinis I believe. Jim called early doors and was full of tales of derring do as ever. And finally through the doors were Bryn & Michelle and I spent a happy time with them (once we'd got past Bryn's grim gall bladder tales) planning why we'll do for Muchelle's birthday - looking like Edinburgh or Newcastle. Of course ward was abuzz with arguments of how much extra time there shoul have been... And now it's just me again. Alone. On a hospital ward. Actually, should that be "an hospital ward"? Not sure. There I am being such a drama queen I'm forgetting my grammar! Anyway, I'll feel happier tomorrow (I'm sure) once I've spoken to a surgeon. That's it for tonight folks. When I know more, you'll know more. Here's hoping for another quiet night... J x

Weight Loss

So I've lost 2 pounds in 3 days. A good start but lets see if we can make 9 pounds by the time I leave? I am a little worried now about the calorific content of morphine. Some more research needed I think... J

Bedlam

So they've moved me to what they call a "general ward". I think "lunatic asylum is a more apt description. I've been here 2 hours and we've already had the 86 year old who has refused to be hooked up to a saline drip because he didn't want to be a "guinea pig" in the nurses "fucking experiments". The nurse, bless her, said that she'd never liked guinea pigs or hamsters which sort of defused the situation. And then because I was e-mailing about this some other octogenarian accused me of taking photos of Mr Shouty. Bloody photos. As if. Perhaps he thinks I'm a secret undercover journalist or some sort of pervert... Aaaah, I see his point now!

Anyway I've just had paracetomol and morphine which will hopefully get me through the night. Wish me luck. J x

Not in Kansas Anymore

No, I'm back in bloody hospital again. Only this time it's my gall bladder. And it has to come out. Hopefully this will only involve an endoscopy and keyhole surgery. But none of that will happen until next week so it's a long boring weekend in hospital that's in prospect. Although it's not boring at this precise moment in time because somone on the other side of the ward is having a fit and coughing up blood. Quite spectacular until they curtained us all off. Can't see a thing now and it's like listening to the radio. I have to say though that I'm not comforted by the NHS response to the crisis. Everyone ran around like headless chickens at first. The drugs cabinet was left wide open and it took 10 minutes for a doctor to appear. Not at all like ER.

Anyway, back to me. Started feeling ill on Monday night and throwing up. Felt not too bad on Tuesday but didn't go into work but went in Wednesday because I had a Team meeting and a new trainee starting. Felt dreadful and so went home in the afternoon and started throwing up again. Got DD to drive me to A&E that evening and they kept me in. Was in absolute agony Wednesday night whilst the nurses on Emergency Medical tried to find a doctor to prescribe pain relief. Eventually they found someone to write "morphine every 4 hours" and I've been happy as Larry ever since. I do feel morphine should be more generally available to the general population. And now it's just a waiting game and they won't even let me go home for the weekend with a stash of morphine. Spoilsports. We could have partied...! I'll let y'all know more as and when I know more. J x

Swansea Was Good

Travelled down on the Friday and just stayed in the garden chatting to the Aged Ps followed by a delicious home-cooked meal (including soup).. The following day we went to a watercolour exhibition at Swansea University (I'm getting one of them as a xmas present). This was followed by a trip to Cefn Bryn and Gower lots of fresh air and sunshine (probably a little too much for me if truth be told). In the evening we went to one of my parents' favourite restaurants in Mumbles (very nice) and then DD and I went for a drink (probably a mistake - Mumbles isn't what I remember). Taxi home.

Sunday was a trip to the National Botanic Gardens (hooray) which were lovely as always. Meal in Sunday night accompanied by margarine that was somewhat out of date (4 years! - see below re vomiting).

Monday back up to Manchester. Uneventful trip. Arrived home and got on with the washing. Started to feel a little ill and so went to bed. Lasted about 3 hours before I started throwing up and that lasted for most of the night. My stomach really hurt and I managed to convince myself that I had appendicitis but the pain never changed from dull to sharp so it couldn't have been. Also (today) checked the swine flu symptoms and whilst I do have a slightly elevated temperature I don't have 2 other symptoms so that's OK. Just the dodgy margarine then. So I'm off to bed now and, fingers crossed, will be fit for my Team meeting tomorrow. That's all. J x

Soupylicicous

Well it's been a souper (geddit?) birthday weekend. Mrs T et moi went to Manchester Art Gallery on Friday morning to see the Sting of Passion exhibition. Very good. The art gallery has commissioned 12 jewelry designers to design a piece of "jewelry" inspired by a picture in the collection. Some really lovely pieces. Thence to Harvey Nicks and Selfridges (via M&S) for some shopping. The afternoon was spent at Cornerhouse watching Broken Embraces - the new Almodovar with Penelope Cruz, absolutely loved it. The photography is amazing and I just adore Ms Cruz. Afterwards a night spent in front of the telly whilst cooking ratatouille soup (an old Taylor recipe). Saturday we did indeed go to Warrington Farmer's Market (disappointing) and watched some Morris dancing (fantastic - even though my Team member got it wrong once or twice). Come the evening and it was off to Restaurant Bar & Grill for cocktails (very good) and some amusing presents (hmmm....) and then to Luso for food. The food was very good but I didn't like the waiter's attitude. Not very welcoming I felt but others disagreed so I'm not writing it off completely. The plan was then to go to Corridor for some late drinks but I'd had enough by then so Mrs T and I toddled off into the night (she in her new high heeled shoes).

Mrs T left this morning (to see Penny whose dog has sadly died). I went to Cornerhouse again (this time with Denise) to see Some Like it Hot. Excellent apart from a couple of cackling lesbians sat behind us who seemed to have no clue as to which were the funny bits and which weren't and so cackled all the way through. V annoying. Will now spend the afternoon and evening relaxing before work next week. Off to Swansea next weekend (with Madam in tow) so watch this space. That's all. J x

Mrs T Est Arrivee

Mrs T has arrived as gorgeous and lovely as ever. Had a beer in Carluccios with the lady herself and Lady Penny then off to Zinc for some martinis, soup and Maltesers ice cream. Following this it was an audience with Madam at the Midland. Very nice and rather drunk (had been to the pub at lunchtime to celebrate my birthday with my Team in Warrington). They, rather appropriately, had bought me a bottle of Absolut. Bless. Had visited Christies in the morning, everything fine, back in 3 months. That's all for now. May be doing some art galleries today and Warrington farmer's market tomorrow. J x