Onto the next

It’s done. The medical is over. Heaven knows what the results were. The doctor who came, seemed very amiable & made the affair as easy as possible. However, I don’t think that necessarily means the report he writes up will win me my benefit or even be, to me, a fair résumé of my medical condition. I’ve become very sceptical & untrusting over the years, especially when it comes to benefits. And to think another medical will probably be necessary next year as my other benefit, Disability Living Allowance, is due for renewal then! We’ll worry about that one when we’re nearer the time. Meanwhile we wait for the results of this medical.

I was so tense throughout the medical that I spent the rest of the day in severe pain, popping pills madly. Shattered as we both felt by the experience – it had taken over an hour & a half - we were both on such a high of adrenalin at first, a nap was impossible. We decided to  get the last bit of the food shop done. We had a trip over to the butcher’s for some chicken.

On the way back we decided to stop for a spot of lunch at a pub – a baguette filled with steak & onion in my case, with Cumberland sausage in the Fox’s. We were just getting me into the car, when a familiar face turned up, a friend from Geriatrics’ Corner. One of the sadnesses of no longer going to the Pub (see the Fox’s blog) is that we had lost contact with Henry. As we don’t know his surname or his address we didn’t know how to contact him. This was a real pleasure. We hastily went back into the pub & had a drink with him. We exchanged phone numbers so in future we can keep contact & arrange to meet again. We told him about our now regular visits to Snatchems where other members of the Geriatrics’ Corner meet up on a Friday, just as we all had at the Pub. Henry’s hoping to start coming along. It will be great to see him more regularly again.

I mentioned I’d been half thinking of arranging a Christmas dinner for the group some time in December. Fran & Den, & Helen have all been dropping heavy hints. If we do go ahead, Henry is keen to have details & hopefully join us. A festive meal seems more attractive now. Above all, it appeals more that I feel more settled within myself. On the whole my health has done so much better since my last hospital stay.

Talking of hospitals, my next trip to the hospital is on Saturday. At the moment my abdomen seems to have quietened down so I feel a bit of a fraud having this appointment. I’m telling myself it was very severe at the time, nothing has really been done to treat the problem so this is probably just a period of respite. I could do with finding out what caused the problem. This view is particularly important when the discharge letter from the hospital did suggest the cause may be pancreatic cancer – the form of cancer which killed my mother after being diagnosed with it at exactly my age now – and I do feel these days cancer is often survivable provided you treat it early. The fact I am not in constant pain would suggest if it is cancer, it must be at an early stage. I admit I am anxious about the fact I’ve lost 6lbs in weight within the last month despite eating normally. That sounds dramatic to me. Still I’ve survived cancer once already; I daresay I can survive it again. And at this stage it may not even be cancer!  

Meanwhile, today I’m going to roast a chicken as I doubt I will feel up to it on Saturday. One of the perks of not being obliged to go to the Pub, is that we can have a midweek roast for a change without upsetting others in the process.