Looking up

The trip down to Manchester proved worthwhile.

We decided to stay overnight in a hotel. Our appointment was for 3.30pm. We suspected it would mean coming out in the middle of rush hour, which has long been hell in Manchester, especially when we knew we would probably be overtired & possibly despondent. It also gave us an opportunity to meet up with the Fox’s brother & his wife.

As it was, the appointment was late starting. Mr Barr, the specialist, was thorough. He admitted an operation was borderline. He said he wanted a few days to think about it & possibly to make a few soundings with colleagues in the different cancer specialities. One thing was certain - neither chemo nor radiotherapy would eliminate the tumour without surgery. He would ring by the end of the week to tell us what he had concluded.

I was therefore surprised to receive a phone call from Mr Barr last night. He’d concluded the op was a realistic safe possibility. He’d found a good surgeon who would do it for me on the NHS at Wythenshawe Hospital. I should hear from the new chap at the beginning of next week. Mr Barr only works privately these days so he’d assumed we would prefer someone who would do it on the NHS. As for the man he has nominated he said “Put it this way. If my nearest & dearest were concerned, I wouldn’t hesitate to let him operate on them.” I gather the new chap will want to see me for himself & possibly organise some extra tests before definitely committing to the op but the signs are looking good. Needless to say that will mean more trips down to Manchester.

After our meeting with Mr Barr, we had a very pleasant drinks break at Christie’s with my relative. The time sped by as we caught up. Being of the younger generation she hadn’t realised we were both from Greater Manchester. Indeed the Fox’s old school was on the road the hospital car park was on.

After that we went back to the hotel, took off our coats etc. & went down to the bar. We had only just settled down to our first drink when the Fox’s brother & his wife arrived. We had a nice meal in the hotel. They eventually left around 10pm – another good catch-up.