Here we are back from two weeks at the always excellent Berkshire on the Ocean in Delray Beach, Florida. The time share units are kept immaculately clean. The weather was glorious.

On the health front, I can report only one acid attack and we put that down to a rather greasy pizza from you guessed it Pizza Hut. Apart from that, I ate well and I reckon healthily. We both probably needed the break and it was nice to spend some time with my Cousin David and his wife MaryAnne.

Mind you on our way I did wonder briefly if we would ever get there. As we had booked quite late, we were shocked at the price of tickets to fly direct to Miami. By travelling out to Fort Lauderdale by Air Canada via Montreal on the way out and by United/Continental via Chicago on the way back we saved about £1,000.

I should say the Air Canada flight to Montreal on the way out was great. The check in was smooth, the loading up process hassle free, the food okay and the cabin crew excellent. It was when we were due out of Montreal that the fun started.

We were settled into our seats when we became aware of the noise of someone trying and failing to close a door. The cockpit door was open and we could see a maintenance man talking to the Pilot. We were in a row of three and the bloke sat next to us in the aisle seat started taking pictures. The Captain then came on the intercom to tell us that not only were they having problems with the catch of the cargo hold door but a woman passenger had indicated that she now didn't want to travel so her case would have to be retrieved.

We waited with bated breath for the next announcement. The Pilot told us some minutes later that though they had managed to remove her case the catch still wouldn't work and that we would have to de plane. He said they did have a spare aircraft over in the domestic part of the terminal. At this point I groaned because as we were going straight through to the USA we hadn't gone through Canadian immigration and Customs. However he received a phone call and said he would get back to us. The bloke next to us was still taking pictures.

A number of events followed and I'm not sure if I have them in the correct order. The chief steward became aware of the pictures being taken and told the Guy he was not happy with this. The steward took the bloke's boarding pass off of him together with his three travelling companions. The passes were taken to the Captain. Looking back I could see the crew's point. With security a big issue pictures of the cockpit and crew could be useful to those who wish ill on the human race. Eventually the passes were returned and all the bloke got was a warning.

Hooray for maintenance followed. They had removed the catch from the other plane and glory be it fitted the door on our flight. The Chief Steward then told us over the tannoy that the woman who had got off the plane was a very nervous passenger who after she had got on the plane had changed her mind about travelling. This, we were assured had nothing to do with the carry on over the errant door catch.

Whilst this little drama was being played out we had become aware of one or two passengers going in and out of the plane. The cabin door had been of course open. At this point panic followed well for the cabin crew anyway. They thought we had lost a passenger and a number of head counts followed. Honestly it was like a Shearings Coach Tour as in is everybody back on the bus. It turned out that a woman had moved seats.

As a result we left nearly an hour late but made up quite a bit of time flying South. I am delighted to report that we both laughed at the silliness of it all.

I end this entry on a health note. When I got back there was a letter telling me I have an appointment with the ENT people on 19 May. My voice by the way though still not back to normal is better for my two weeks away.

Just a quck note to say that I am going to be away for the next 2 weeks. Therfore the next blog will be after Easter.

It's good news. The Ct Scan showed all clear. Apparently the sticky thing near the lung that the chest x ray found was in fact scar tissue from the operation.

I did raise with Dr. Cave the fact that I had had two violent coughing outbursts in 6 months. Her opinion was that the operation had meant that my wind and food pipes were much closer together than before and it was possible that food sometimes got into the wrong channel. She emphasised that at the first sign of coughing I should return to the GP for anti biotics.

We went on to talk about the strength of my medication. I repeated what the clinical specialist nurse Donna had said about staying on the stronger dose for at least three months, which were just about up. Dr. cave was emphatic that I should stay on the higher dose for the foreseeable future. Certainly since going on to the stronger ones I have not had an acid attack.

The only not so satisfactory part is that my voice still isn't right. Dr. Cave will be referring me to the ENT section. There is a waiting list which is fair enough given that it is not urgent.

Overall though, I am in good health and that's what really matters.