Friday 30 April 2010

Hello again

Hi everyone. Sorry for the break in transmission but I'm feeling a little bit better now. I visited the hospital yesterday and my surgeon decided that this saga had gone on long enough. He's happy to put a plate in my leg and hopefully get some of the length back. I won't be able to do any marathons but I should be able to walk on a flat surface without too much difficulty. As an inveterate Eeyore I'm somewhat doubtful but any improvement will be welcome. I hope to go back to the hospital in the next two months and then I will have the rest of the summer to recuperate. My greatest wish is to travel to my beloved Portugal (see pic) at the end of September so with any luck I might make it.

14 comments:

  1. I wish you well in achieving your goal of visiting Portugal! Keep that in mind as you go through the waiting and the surgery!

    Good luck with it all. You have had such a long haul with your leg but it looks like the end is in sight. Don't give up!

    Take care of yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. good luck with your summer plans - let us know if you want any food parcels

    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome back. Do you think you'll be in the same hospital with the same food as last time or a new venue with new fodder? Maybe you might want to look into a video blog in realtime this time around. Jamie Oliver might be interested funding in a new educational venture in his quest to save us all. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Should we send you food once you're in the hospital again? Maybe Portuguese tidbits?
    Good to hear from you and keep your eye on September in Portugal.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear ETM

    Good news mixed with bad - at least it is progress!

    Hope you manage to have a good weekend and that Mrs ETM will feed you up in readiness for the next stage - progress and Portugal!

    Best wishes - Cats' Mother and the Chelsea Gang xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. After so much NHS food you should now be immune to Portuguese cuisine which is horrendous beyond belief (at least it is in the Algarve where I have lived for thirteen years). The Algarvians do to their fabulous meat and vegetable produce what the NHS does its raw materials - totally f**k it up!

    Still, the weather is better and I am sure that will give you a "lift".

    I wish you well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I go to the far north of Portugal, north of Braga. Food is pretty good except for the bacalhau!

    ReplyDelete
  8. so glad you are back with us again. I was getting worried due to your lack of postings. All the best for your surgery - shame you will have to endure hospital food again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. May your dinners in hospital be peas and custard free!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Matilde from Sydney30 April 2010 at 22:57

    Ah, bacalhau - my family is Italian and we call it baccala, but whatever you call it and however you cook it, it still tastes like shite! Shoe leather would be preferable.

    Good to see you back, but not so good that you'll have to endure NHS food again. Emergency Tim Tams can be sent to aid recuperation?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chris in Melbourne1 May 2010 at 12:12

    Hi XTM and family.
    The tone of your post sounds like you are a little bit chipper again. Do you have to go on a waiting list or something for this op?
    My bones and bits have also decided to play up over the last few weeks and while I was lurking in the clinic I thought to myself all these diseases are a bit like stamp collecting, but with a lot more pain. I said to my GP I shall have to get a bigger whiteboard for the study if this keeps going on. (family to chris-are you going doolally tap? chris to family- I'll confess to being eccentric, thats all)
    So repeats of inumerable scans, x rays and MRI's took place, and much handwringing and wailing when the results were available, and that was just the consultant! We'll get there.

    The old 'salted cod'trick eh? I see it in the deli windows and chillers here, with Melbourne having a large Greek and Italian community, seems to be all the go with a lot of the Northern Europeans, and also some of the Asian immigrants. With Macau having been a Portugese territory the influence on cuisine filters through for example. I'm with Matilde. One of my Greek buddies wedding reception featured traditional dishes, nearly all of it the good greek stuff, yum. Except for the cod.

    Ever tried to write Shakespeare in a text? Trying to send a piece to a young reli from Macbeth that he wants.
    '2mrw x 3, crpz n dis pety plaz frm dy 2 dy,'

    Going to be a long evening here,
    Think happy and well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Have you seen this XTM? On BBC's website.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8654929.stm

    I know it says 'for the elderly' but it is a start!!!

    Stay safe XTM!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fingers crossed you make Portugal in Sept. xxx Glad your feeling somewhat brighter hopefully one day many years from now you will look back at this whole episode of your life as a mere unfortunate blip.

    And you never know... not everyone 'runs' the marathon or finishes in under 4 hours. One day.

    Good luck xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. So glad you're feeling better. I guess it's good news about the operation, I wish you the very best of luck and of course good health. Fingers and toes crossed!

    You could take some piri-piri sauce in with you this time...

    Does the hospital know about this blog? Will it make a difference to the food they give you? Ah well, at least you know the worst.

    ReplyDelete