Scars, scans & lethal injections

I can’t believe its Friday already, the week has whizzed by.  Once again it’s been a busy one but busy in a different way compared to the last few weeks.  On Tuesday morning I was at Sue’s by quarter to 8.  Sue had several appointments at The Churchill and we wanted to be on the road fairly early to combat the rush hour traffic.  Sure enough, as anticipated, the roads were busy but it was all going to plan until we got to Buckingham when Sue picked up a voice message from the hospital to say that her radioactive injection hadn’t arrived.  Now, she was scheduled to have this injection at 10.15 but the nurse that called said the earliest it would arrive would be 11.30am.  There was nothing we could do but carry on with our journey to Oxford as it would be pointless to turn back.

We parked up and made our way to the Nuclear Medicine unit to check in.  The receptionist said that the injection which was coming all the way from Germany still hadn’t arrived and we were told to come back in an hour.  There is a very nice clothes shop at The Churchill and we managed to spend three quarters of an hour in there. Sue got a few bits for her winter wardrobe and I brought a pair of flats.  Next stop was the café for a much needed cup of tea and a hot sausage roll and then we went back to the Nuclear Medicine unit.  Thankfully the courier had already arrived with the radioactive injection and Sue went in for her jab and was back out in no time.   Originally Sue was scheduled to see the gynaecologist consultant at 4pm but the nurse in Nuclear managed to get this appointment changed to 1.30pm which meant that we had 2 hours to kill.  We spent this time drinking more tea in the café and reading our books before going up to the out patients treatment centre.

Sue had thought that her gynae appointment would be short and sweet, just a quick check on her scar and that would be that.  But it was not to be.  Sue’s surgery scar still hasn’t totally closed and the consultant wanted to check for injection.  Sue had to lie on the trolley behind a closed curtain while the consultant poked a swab into her scar and squeezed. The intrusion of the swab caused Sue’s scar to erupt and as I was in the room with her, I could hear her distress.  Escaping bodily fluid is not good at the best of times and for a few minutes it was a flurry of activity, finding tissues and dressings.  I really felt for Sue but there was nothing I could do.  Luckily her scar is not infectious; the fluid just needs to be checked so that the skin can close up.  We were in the gynaecology unit for a good half an hour and I think Sue was very relieved when we left.

Sue had to wait a good 3 hours before she could have her scan and after more tea and reading, we made our way back to the Nuclear Medicine Unit at 3 o’clock.   The scan she was having was to check to see if the doctors have got everything out so it was quite an important scan.  Unfortunately it was a good hour long so Sue wasn’t looking forward to it.  But these things have to be done and I guess it gone half four by the time we left the hospital.   We battled the rush hour ring road traffic which wasn’t pleasant but at least we were moving and it was quarter past six by the time we got back to the flat.  I wanted to have a quick catch up with Phil and we just had enough time to do this before picking up Jan at Westcroft.

I hadn’t seen Jan in a while and together with Sue, we went to the Nut & Squirrel just by the Westcroft centre for a bite to eat.  The food was good and we had a really nice girlie catch up evening which involved wine.  I had intended to drive but Sue persuaded me to leave the car and get a taxi which made sense because Phil wanted to go to the Pound Stretcher shop so he could give me a lift to collect my car.

Sue & I were back at Oxford yesterday as she had to have the second part of her scan.   Her appointment was scheduled for midday so we didn’t have to leave until after 10.  The roads were quiet and we had a good run.  Of course, as with everything in Sue’s life, the scan wasn’t straightforward.   She was in the machine lying very still when the nurse came in and said the camera wasn’t working properly, some IT problem which had to be fixed and the scan had to be restarted.  We left Oxford and stopped off at Tesco’s in Buckingham on the way home.  Both of us needed shopping and after unloading at Sue’s house we went back to the GP flat for supper.  Phil had volunteered to cook and he had prepared salsa and chicken fajitas.  Bless him, he’d done salad with dips and cheese nachos to start and he even done a pudding; meringues with fruit and whipped cream.  It wasn’t a late night, I think Sue was knackered after 2 days at Oxford and I was weary from the driving. 

Today we are back to Overstone. Phil drove to Melton Mowbray first thing this morning to pick up his mum and dad.  Their plumber started on their new central heating system on Monday (finally) and they are coming to stay in the caravan next door for a week or so or until the plumber has finished.  After a quick shower, I packed a case, well actually I packed the whole of my car and drove back to the caravan. 

There was lots to do before Phil got back with his mum and dad. First I had to put on both of the boilers and turn up the heating.  And then I had to unpack my car and sort out both fridges as the caravan next door was stocked up with beer. I had just enough time to sling a quiche in the oven and put spuds in a saucepan to boil when they turned up. I think Phil’s mum had brought everything bar the kitchen sink and it took forever to unpack but finally we all sat down to lunch.  I have left Phil doing the crossword with his mum and have snuck back to our caravan to catch-up with paperwork.  I only have an hour and then its back next door to make a pot of tea and watch Countdown.  I think its going to be a quiet weekend in this neck of the woods.