"Cauda Equina Syndrome is a very rare but serious condition, where the bundle of nerves called the Cauda Equina at the bottom of the spine get compressed. The Cauda Equina control the function of the bladder and bowel, and the sensation to the skin of the genitals and bottom area. The most common cause of… Continue reading Getting Out of Bed
Category: NHS
Nature’s Infallible Rules . . .
You lose something and you tell your house-mate. She says, in my case Karleen, " Where did you have it last?"or perhaps "When?" Then you say "well I don't know, I only just realized I don't have it," referring to something precious, in this case the glasses I use all day except for close work… Continue reading Nature’s Infallible Rules . . .
My Hospital Bed at Home
Since I was delivered back home from three weeks in a hospital bed I've been getting daily visits from district nurses, healthcare visitors and physiotherapists. As soon as I arrived I found a bed installed in our front room. It barely fits - the mantelpiece had to be removed. Somebody pointed out that Vincent van… Continue reading My Hospital Bed at Home
From a Comfy Sofa
I've become 95% bedridden! There's a number of reasons and some remaining issues, which keep the NHS doctors very concerned as to my full condition. The basic one is this. All my life I've had a slight spinal curvature, not like that of Richard III's hunchback as portrayed in Shakespeare; but in the lower spine.… Continue reading From a Comfy Sofa
Driving again
I stopped driving three years ago, started to feel frightened of hitting other vehicles, or worse. Even in daylight. Carefully made my last journey up the hill to WeBuyAnyCar, was amazed to get back nearly half of what I paid for it new ten years earlier. (v. low mileage full, maintenance history—plus inflation?) But I'm… Continue reading Driving again
“Thank You NHS”
I went up to the hospital for a blood test and took these snaps of the approach road. They've been painted here for more than a year, and reflect a massive manifestation of affection for our National Health Service since the pandemic hit us. At various points it has drastically overloaded its workers at all… Continue reading “Thank You NHS”
Tethered to a Robo-goat
It's not curtains for me yet, much as I admire the views they bear of Chiltern scenes, as I saw again on my latest visit to Stoke Mandeville, which lasted two nights. I'll pull back the screen to show what happened. Let my goat be called Chemo. I was fed intravenously from her high-dangling udders,… Continue reading Tethered to a Robo-goat
Kindness (audio podcast)
click to to access the podcast transcript … I don’t know why, but the pain and the weariness started first thing Sunday morning, February 5th and here it is today, on the 23rd. I don’t even know what. At first, when I was told it was diverticulitis, I took the antibiotic and thought it was… Continue reading Kindness (audio podcast)
Released from hospital
It takes effort to wrestle the facts from memory. I thought that it was summer when I came out of hospital, and that it had been a six-month stay. But I was discharged in time to see a long queue outside a tobacconist / candy store in Harold Place, Hastings. The public record confirms that… Continue reading Released from hospital
a wayfarer’s notes 