Reaching out for the impossible.

Well that was a struggle - up at 0515, the taxi got us to Hospital at 0720 for an 0800 appointment and nothing happened - all day. They were really, really busy.

I had the operation at 1600 - so I went 24 hours without food and 19 without water. I'm not even sure that was necessary.

I'd have loved to post a selfie of the big screen during the operation but I don't think it would have gone down very well with the surgeon.

I had keyhole surgery on my kidney and it was OK in the end - I have no idea how they made sense of the fuzzy pictures.

It hurt more than I expected and it's funny; I've known a couple of people who were stabbed and they said they didn't notice it at all. In spite of all the painkillers....I noticed it, it felt like I was stabbed and beaten up, which in a way I was.

I don't need an expert to know that this is the start of a long, hard struggle - at the very least there's another operation in 6 months time and possibly worse when they've worked out what happened.

While we were waiting I noticed this amazing sculpture on the stairwell, courtesy of the Imperial College Healthcare Charity Art Collection.

I love the way the climber is impossibly reaching for the light;

I couldn't find any reference to the artist but I'm sure I've seen this before somewhere - maybe I've used the staircase in the past.

These are real carabiners;

I think it's good that a hospital should be encouraging everyone to think of reaching out for the impossible, it works for me.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me; helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Update;

Robyn went back and found the plaque for the statue of the 'Climber' I posted about yesterday.

It's by David Mach and is called 'Elevator 2006' and was funded by The National Lottery and The Arts Council.

It was commissioned to brighten up the stairwell when The Riverside Wing was refurbished and the artists description of what he was trying to achieve is roughly as I said but I haven't been able to find a downloadable version I can post here.