For newcomers I am awaiting an appointment for replacement knee surgery ( the other one was done in May 2012.) I am making a note of progress towards that event.
8.9.17. Appointment with GP who said he would refer me to consultant (Mr. Patel who did the last one), and sent me to Kendal hospital so that an x-ray is on the record.
15.9.17. Phoned hospital to check if referral received. NO! Phoned GP's surgery and discovered it was only sent on 14.9.17.
22.9.17. Phoned hospital. Referral received. Appointment with consultant predicted for 8 to 10 weeks (i.e approx. end of November.) I asked if there were any cancellations could I be considered. They were friendly but said they were rare but I was welcome to ring, say weekly to see.
27.9.17 Phoned hospital again and, joy of joys, was given an appointment to see Mr. Patel on 17.10.17. so I am now a month and a half ahead of schedule.
As I have learned over the years a bit of polite making your voice heard with the NHS can work wonders.
In the meantime my knee is giving serious pain, but mainly at night in bed and I have been seeing every hour on the clock through the night. I can walk reasonably well with a stiff leg but there is no pleasure in it and I have been confining myself to DIY projects at home and reading. I have ripped out a 30 foot dying hedge in my front garden and erected a paling fence in its place which I hope to camouflage with rambling roses. I am no gardener and am always amused with the tv programmes when they get excited at the end of a garden makeover with the cliché phrase "the planting is the best part." Well for me none of gardening is the best part, but on this occasion, after all the hard work the planting may well be.
Reading has included A Kind of Blue - Ken Clarke's autobigraphy - a bit boring, and curently halfway through Structures by J E Gordon. This is a serious, but half entertainingly written account of the surprisingly fairly recent application of science to stresses and strains and the like in materials including biological as well as man made constructions. The sub-title reads "...or why things don't fall down."
PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE
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| Walking down the prom at Grange-over-Sands with Morecambe Bay on the left and a huge variety of shrubs and flowers in beds on the right - these stretch for a good kilometre making an attractive and colourful display at all times of the year Despite blustery wind causing flora to sway and twitch I managed some reasonably sharp photos |
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| Back across Morecambe Bay to Arnside. My house is behind the fold of hill indicated by the red arrow |
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| Harvest Moon I took this on Thursday night, hand held, sitting in my armchair, through the window and was astonished at the result. If you click to enlarge you can see several shooting stars and millions of other stars I could not see normally - it is on ten times zoom |
Followed your instructions to the comment section...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant picture from your arm chair - why venture out anymore.
Get ready tonight for the Draconid meteor showers.
Let's hope you can get lucky with a short-notice cancellation slot for the op too.
ReplyDeleteSome lovely flower photos there, although the one that stands out the most (at least in the tiny size I'm viewing on my phone) is the butterfly one.
Hi Conrad, glad you got in early. Politeness works in all walks of life I find.
ReplyDeleteOn your highlighted date 15.9.17 should the sent date be the 14th and not 4th, otherwise the X-ray was taken before you went.
BC - I reckon you are one of the commenters who justifies my remark about comments often being more interesting than the original post.
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Gayle - Not sure where you are at the moment. Yes, I am getting to grips with the TZ100. I specially like the colours it is producing.
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AlanR. - Thanks for that Alan - correction made.
Must be frustrating to have your walking constrained and to endure painful nights. Glad you are making progress towards your operation. Enjoyed the photos of flowers. I was impressed with the display along the promenade of Grange-over-Sands when I stayed there. Like you, I hate gardening, but do enjoy the results of someone else’s labour. That photo of the moon is stunning!
ReplyDeleteWe're in the south of France at the moment (at a place called Taussat today), heading to northern Spain. I'm wittering away about our travels, as usual, at: thegateposts.blogspot.com, although I will pop something onto the M&G blog when we come to do anything that qualifies as 'outdoorsy'.
ReplyDeleteRuth - Thanks for your comment. Are you going to continue your walk through the winter?
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Gayle - For some reason I can't explain I've never looked at the gateposts. I will do so now.
It's good to learn that things are moving quickly on the knee front Conrad and with luck and a bit more 'polite making your voice heard', surgery follows soon.
ReplyDeleteThe TZ100 is certainly giving good results and I think the moon shot is particulary striking. Brilliant.
afoot - my career path with the highly competitive Yorkshire Bank Finance Ltd demanded selling and negotiating skills which I enjoyed, and so, now, in my more benign leisure time I enjoy using those skills to get what I want (always of course trying to achieve the win/win outcome!) - oops! Idea for a post.
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