Thursday 19th February 2009

Hi Folks,

First of all, quite a few people have mentioned that it is not easy to post a comment on this blog. I can't verify this myself on the pda, but I believe the simplest option is to choose the "anonymous" option when you post the comment (but please put your name in the text of the comment so I know who its from). You don't need to be a follower of the blog to make a comment and I don't think you need to sign in anywhere if you use the anonymous option. Maybe one of the regular commenters could confirm this?

Anyway, on to the blog ...

Today has been a harder day as I'm still trying to get the balance of the oral painkillers right so I've had quite a bit of residual pain today and its been harder to do the deep breathing I need to do to stave off any chest infection. Hopefully I'll get on top of it tomorrow.

Talking of the chest, the results of the chest X-Ray from the other day show a little fluid still in the left lung cavity, but no more than before the chest drain went in, so nothing to worry about as long as I keep doing my breathing exercises.

I've had two separate doctors provide opinions on my likely discharge date, and the consensus is that we are aiming for Monday, but it might end up being later in the week. So, if anyone wants to come in over the weekend, let me know so we can sort day/time like last weekend - it would be good to see you!

Thanks particularly to Andy T today who has sent me a cuddly badger, I think purchased from the www.badgerbadgerbadger.com website - excellent!

I have started eating today, if you can call it that - a mug of hot Bovril and a small bowl of jelly for lunch. Unfortunately it is so long since I've had Bovril made into a drink that I'd forgotten how horrible it is! Despite it being my first food for a week and a half, I couldn't finish it :( Jelly was nice though.

Tonight's meal was ordered from the hospital kitchen rather than from the York Suite kitchen, and they ordered "clear soup". What turned up, in a soup bowl, with a soup spoon, was a bowl of .... hot Bovril! D'Oh! Tried again, but couldn't finish it - it is truly digusting stuff! Still, Paula, the York Suite catering manager made it up to me with a big bowl of really nice ice cream, which has gone down very well (although I can still taste Bovril in my mouth!!)

In case footy fans are wondering why I am doing my blog rather than watching Spurs in the UEFA cup, I can assure you that I am watching it while I write and am gutted (again) that we have just gone 2-0 down. This is not our year!

Again, for the footy (or quiz) fans, there are 19 different footbal club names in the 4 UK football divisions - e.g. "United" and "City" to give you two easy ones. Can you name the other 17 without looking at the league tables? It's pretty difficult actually. Note that endings which are actually part of the place name, like West Ham, Crystal Palace and Port Vale don't count.

Boo, we just lost the game :(

The nurses have just been in to change the dressings on my main wound. I got them to take a couple of photos for the "before and after" gallery. It is the first time I have seen the wound in its entirety (needs two photos to get it all in!). Apparently it looks in good shape, but to me with the staples in it look like a huge zip! As soon as I get home, I'll post some pictures for the non-squeamish amongst you!

Still, I hope you are all well and I'll speak to you again tomorrow, and I'll tell you about the bloke who uses Viagra to stop him rolling out of bed at night! Ha ha!

Colin