There has been a breakdown in communications. The nurse is coming to remove catheter tomorrow morning. Will report again tomorrow.

This is the second time for me in writing this blog so here goes.

I duly had my "procedure" yesterday. As is their won't you have to report to Hospitals well before they put you under the microscope. Thus I got up at 530AM to have my pills as nothing was permitted to drink after 6.00AM. Our day ended at 2.00AM today. Quite a saga so here goes.

We got to the Hospital at 730 the appointed time. You could tell the day surgery unit does not normally function on a Saturday because the heating wasn't on. Anyway blood pressure etc. checked, I was ready for what was to follow. In the event I went into the operating theatre at 11.00. The procedure was very quick, a short jab with a needle and that was that. The good news is that nothing untoward was found except from a back up of phlegm which may explain the cough and occasional voice croak. The consultant said he would see me again in clinic in a few weeks time.

After tea and toast Ev took me home for about 2.00PM. I first noticed something was wrong an hour later when I tried to wee and found that nothing much was happening. At first I was inclined to think it was because up till then I had had little to drink. As Afternoon turned to evening it got worse.

On the Island we have a phone number for a non emergency but you need medical help fast. It's 111. I had interviewed the Manager of this line on my radio show and he assured listeners that the call handlers were medically trained.

At about 630 I rang said number and told the call handler what the problem was and that I had had anaesthetic that morning. She went away for a few seconds and then came back to say I should see a GP within 24 hours. Now on the Island the out of hours GP and Accident and Emergency are in the same building. I was offered an appointment for 730PM so off poor Ev and I went to the Hospital. We got there for 720 to find a room full of people all waiting to see one very overworked Doctor. In the event we found the system operated on a first come first served basis. Getting more and more uncomfortable we waited and waited. Eventually we got to see the Doctor at about 940. The 111 operator had filled in the details of what I had said accurately but the GP told us we had been referred to him incorrectly as a catheter would be needed and that was the job of A and E. He added that urine retention was one of the possible side effects of General Anaesthetic. Given that the call handlers are supposed to be medically trained you would have thought she would know to refer me straight to A and E.

By this time , it being Saturday, A and E was busy. The GP did tell us he would see what he could do given that I had been in since 720 and was very uncomfortable. We went back to the waiting room at about 950. Half an hour later we went through to the area and were shown into a cubicle. I could lie on the bed but Ev had to make do with an uncomfortable chair. However it was gone midnight when a Doctor came to see me. To be fair he was both pleasant and very competent. He took some blood tests to check if the kidneys had been infected and then applied the dreadful catheter with great care. We then had to wait for an hour till the results of the blood test came back. Thankfully all was clear.

Finally the leg bag was attached(the catheter had taken 60 mils of urine)and were were given a number of night bags to take with us. We left the Hospital finally at 1.45. The 4 hour waiting time was adhered to as A and E's clock only started when we went in there at 1020.

The District Nurse is coming in tomorrow to check the bag and hopefully remove it. If however I can't wee on my own she will have to come back and put it back on.

What a farrago. I'll let you know what happens.

The NHS works in odd ways sometimes.

The Hospital rang to say that they had had a cancellation. As a result I am to have a pre med this Saturday(21st.) and the actual endoscopy on Saturday 28th January.

For those of you who thought the NHS didn't do this sort of thing on a Saturday you are not alone. Hopefully this is just routine but I'll report back on 29th January.

I saw the ENT person yesterday.

He did a brief examination by sticking a machine up my left nostril(charming).

He wants to do an Endoscopy. This one though will be by general anaesthetic. It will involve sticking a steel tube down my throat(oh joy. He did say that he was probably being cautious but better that than missing something.

Apparently my throat is both tight and sensitive which explains both the dry cough and the difficulty in swallowing.

I have a 4 to 6 week wait for this and I shall keep you posted.

A belated happy newe year to all our readers.

Healthwise things have been more good than otherwise. I am keeping my weight up and am eating well. Thanks to Ev I am able to go out in winter with a warm coat, hat, coat and trousers. Speaking of which I did use to joke about older people wearing Long Johns. I can however understand the point. It does of course help that we are having at the time of writing a mild winter.

I did though have one acid attack whilst on holiday at Christmas for reasons I still don't follow. What it did do was produce an irritating dry cough which took me two weeks to shift. I did go to a Local Doctor in Cheshire who did explain to me that I should avoid taking Gavescon and the anti acid tablets within two hours of each other. Gavescon in fact nullifies the effect of the tablets if taken either together or within close proximity.

Tomorrow I go to the ENT Clinic and I'll post the results of that on here.