Going nowhere.

I've become addicted to Tomato juice, which is strange.

I'm not sure whether it's because when I was young it seemed very exotic and foreign and exciting. It was something my American grandfather drank when he was here.

Well, it isn't very exotic these days because you can buy a big carton at Tesco's for £0-65p and it lasts all week.
 
Anyway, I really like it and I think it's due to the chemo I've been on and the way it effects my taste buds.

But it still does feel very different to drink it.

I spent yesterday morning at hospital - I managed to get an emergency referral letter from my doctor and headed straight for West Middlesex Hospital. It has a lot of unhappy memories for me - of bad results and endless bad news.

Relying on their website took me to the wrong department and a very unhelpful and slightly unpleasant receptionist. But we were helped by some other people there and in particular by another patient who was the most helpful of all.

We walked the whole way back across the hospital (which is a very long way) and found 'Surgical Appliances'.

Unfortunately (and this wasn't obvious) it was shut.

There was a sign which told us to knock on a door and wait....it was only with the help of another patient that we found it. He'd already been waiting there for some time himself.

After half an hour of sitting in the corridor waiting, we went and asked a nurse - she checked the room and found it was empty. The unit has been privatised and only opens three days a week.

Today was not one of those days.

In the old days every hospital had a department where people in brown coats repaired things like this - not now.

Now it's private it suits the company to hand out expensive items like this - that's how they make more money from the NHS.

Unfortunately, staff cost money and they can save on that.

So it wasn't open.

I'm not any further forward although the nurse found someone to take a copy of my letter and I'm waiting to hear from them.

Grrrrrrrrrh!

I want to put an advertisement on the villages 'free and giveaway' site to see if anyone has an old brace they don't need anymore. Then I can use it for spares and fix mine.
 
Robyn isn't so happy about that!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com