Days 216 to 218

We are back from London. Normally I would do this journal in date sequence but today was an important one.

When we got back there was a letter from the Hospital in Southampton which suggested I was going to have another Endoscopy and nothing else. As we were due to see the Oncologist Judith Cave today we took the letter with us. We were delighted to see that whilst she was reading the letter she was as puzzled as we were. With help from Joya we worked out that what would happen was that the Endoscopy would be accompanied by a Dilatation. This will involve a widening of what I call the feeding tube. I should within 48 hours be able to swallow much better. This means whisper it not too loud that I may well be able to join in Christmas Dinner. The "procedure" can be done with me as a day patient.

I described how I was feeling to Judith. She looked at the notes and also checked chest, pulse and heart rate. Her view was that all the problems I have currently got are related. Because I am not eating proper meals I am frequently getting constipated. Because I am constipated I am passing a lot of wind. Because of wind there is a build up of acid. Because of acid I am coughing a lot. Because I am coughing a lot(particularly at night time) that is causing problems with the feeding area. The feeding area is narrowed anyway by scar tissue In short this is one giant circle.

Judith was concerned about my weight loss and possible vitamin deficiencies. I was sent for a test. This is one of those no news is good news stories in that if anything untoward is found I shall get a phone call. I suspect that were it not for next week's "procedure" I would be prescribed some supplements.

It wasn't the best of days because one of Judith's colleagues was off sick so she was having to run two clinics. As a result we were seen an hour later than advertised. However at the end of it all there is nothing wrong with me that can't be cured.

Going back to the weekend, we had a nice time in London. We saw my brother and sister in law Charles and Jess plus my ex sister in law Anne and her partner Gerry. We went into the West End to see the 39 Steps which was very funny and well worth going to see. The only down side of that was on the same day there was a big climate change demo in London. Piccadilly Circus Station was packed and the system couldn't cope. There was a crush and being London of course nobody gave way. Police and London Underground stayed the escalator side of the barriers instead of marshaling the queues. Thank goodness we don't have to put up with that every day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be uneventful. On Angel Radio my guest is going to be talking about the 150th anniversary of the floating bridge linking West and East Cowes.