Z will relax in November

 It's a busy week, mostly because my Lowestoft china auction is tomorrow.  I haven't packed up the china yet, so that's the main job for the morning.  Everything else is ready, though I've spent much of the day cussing Microsoft, as usual.  And my printer.  I had occasion to print something on A5 paper a few weeks ago and it stubbornly kept on printing everything in tiny print on the middle of the page, however carefully I checked the settings.  Finally, I realised that, though it wasn't set like that, the last thing printed became the default and I was able to change it.  I'm not sure if Ro's field is user experience any longer - it used to be, in his last job, but it matters.  Very much.

Anyway, the morning started with a visit to the doctor - yet another GP, a very nice Polish woman who introduced herself by her first name (the first doctor I saw started with Dr Surname, then went on to Charles Surname, then Charlie Surname - on the phone, that is) and she wanted me to tell her my understanding of what's been found out so far, so that she didn't need to tell me what I already knew, but could expand on it.

She's prescribed me pills to cut stomach acid, to allow my oesophagus to heal and I've got an appointment in a little over a month for another gastroscopy.  I asked is I should change it to later in the month and she said no, hastily.  If I've got an appointment, keep it!  But now she wants an MRI scan too, just to confirm my (formerly) reproductive system is fine, though she thinks it probably is.  Just to be thorough.  But she thinks that the oesophageal thing may explain it all (Barrett's Oesophagus is potentially pre-cancerous, so they want to be quite sure I don't have it) and that the PPIs will sort me out, though I may have to carry on with a low dose.

17 years since I last saw a GP about my hip and 10 years since I last had a visit to hospital.  This summer and autumn, I've absolutely made up for it.  

The weather has taken a turn for the chilly and I've lit the woodturner for the last few nights.  I'm still resisting the Aga on grounds of cost, but another week and on it goes.  Once the weather is reliably cold, I'll dig up the tortoises and put them in a box for the winter - I'm not confident that the unheated back bedroom will be quite cold enough yet.  They'd probably be okay outdoors, but they didn't dig down very far last autumn and I'm not confident.  If I find that they are, I might put a box stuffed with straw on top of them and leave them, though.  The run is rat proof - those creatures are as much danger as getting frosted.

We have made plans for a short holiday at the beginning of December, with Al staying here as he usually and so kindly does.  It's a change from our original plan in fact, because Wink had been invited to a wedding on one of the Scottish islands and I'd volunteered to drive and make a break of it for a few days afterwards.  Sadly, the wedding has been called off.  But we are going to Derbyshire instead, just for a long weekend and we're visiting Chatsworth and we haven't quite decided what else as yet.  We will be flexible until nearer the time, because who knows what the weather will do?  Very much looking forward to it.

Z gives TMI and is both bored by and worships the NHS

 It was an interesting few days.  The thing is, when I was found to be anaemic, I alerted the medics and I can't be anything but grateful for that.  Sincerely, I appreciate it and am, more than ever, in love with the NHS.  I can't believe that it works so well as often as it does.

Wink and I have both, for different reasons, had a lot of tests in the past few months.  Turns out that none of the things that either of us were tested for have been positive.  So it's good, for the most part.  Not to talk about my sister, I'll drone on about myself, because it's all about me, innit and I have few limits, nowadays.

First doctor thought I showed symptoms of bowel cancer or possibly blood cancer.  No.  Second doctor thought I might have an ovarian cyst.  Inconclusive because the ultrasound was (sorry) affected by air in my intestines so it didn't show one way or the other.  I've an appointment booked about that.  But I do have a couple of fibroids.  I have no idea if that matters.  Anything in millimetres sounds tiny to me.

First doctor had referred me for a gastroscopy/colonoscopy.  This was on Monday.  I had to stop the iron tablets a fortnight earlier (for my American friends, a fortnight is fourteen nights, ie two weeks) For three days beforehand, I had to have a low fibre diet.  Darlings, this was difficult.  Literally no vegetables or fruit.  Not even freshly ground pepper.  There was a whole list of permitted and forbidden food.  I lived on fish and chicken, eggs and cheese with white bread, white rice, white pasta.  No garlic, nothing.  Then I'll draw a veil over the final evening and next morning, except to say that I spent a total of four and a half hours in the lavatory, plus a few dashes.

I do not have bowel cancer, nor even polyps.  I watched the screen, it's all pink and squeaky clean (and as empty as can be, as of 4pm Monday).  I do not have stomach cancer.  By the way, it's very unlikely I have cancer in my (defunct) reproductive system.  What I do have, which I was already pretty sure of, is a hiatus hernia.  This has caused some inflammation, which they need to lessen so that I can have another gastroscopy to check if I've Barrett's oesophagus which, especially untreated, can be a precursor to oesophageal cancer.  So I'm to be prescribed pills to cut right down on stomach acid so they can see that.  There's a small (2mm is small, surely) ulcer, non-bleeding, right where the oesophagus meets the stomach.  No symptoms.  

To sum up, maybe this will save me from a nasty cancer.  Nothing explains the anaemia, which I still think was the result of a virus soon after a blood donation, which stopped red blood cells from re-forming.  If there is a cyst, it might need treatment (honestly, they can remove anything, I've no more use for it) and if there are dodgy cells just above my stomach, I might need treatment for that.  Quite likely, the anaemia was a very useful red herring.

The colonoscopy was ghastly. If I need another at any time, I'll say that I need a whole lot of painkillers upfront, because - though I think I'm pretty good with pain usually - I didn't cope as well as I'd have liked to.  Apparently, I have a narrow colon with tight corners.  Who knew?

Z's blog.  Where she overshares.  I'm telling you so that I don't have to tell anyone else in awful detail.  And, if you have been, thanks for listening (always remembering the wonderful John Ebden on Radio 4's sign off).

Z goes through the tunnel

 I completed the sorting out on Saturday morning and was finally ready to leave by noon.  It was around 7pm or a little earlier when I arrived home.  Then I had three days to catch up with everything before leaving again.  I did everything that was essential and a bit more.  

Now we're staying in Bruges for a few days.  It's an arts society trip, so we're getting guided tours round Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent and seeing the art galleries, as well as various other places.  It's all very enjoyable - there are 27 of us altogether, some of us already knew each other and it's all very friendly.  We're having a good time.  Home on Sunday - Al is looking after everything there - and then I'll have to sort out the rest of everything from the caravan.  

One car is having its MOT done tomorrow (a friend picked me up from the garage as I wouldn't bring a courtesy car and leave it for the rest of the week) and the other is booked in for a fortnight's time.  Now I'm not exhausted all the time, I'm trying to catch up with everything that's been neglected.  There's a lot.