Author: siskinbob

Formerly employed by MOD and IBM, now retired

Blowing The Cobwebs Away


We have been in WA for nearly a month now. Having travelled out from the UK to support our daughter following the passing of Steve, her husband.

Up until now, our time has been filled with preparations for the funeral and general mundane household shopping trips and, most recently, collecting Steves ashes from the funeral home.

To be honest the weather hasn’t been the best but yesterday we managed to get out of the house for a couple of hours. This is the  first time that a trip out hasn’t had a purpose. By that, I mean it was, just to get some fresh air, for a change of scenery.

Interesting Sculpture – Rockingham, WA

We opted to drive down to Rockingham, forty odd kilometres south of Perth, to walk along the foreshore. After a forty-five minute drive, we found ourselves on the prom.

The sun was shining, and the sky was blue, and with a temperature of 20°C it really was very pleasant. We had already planned to have fish ‘n’ chips, and so it was we found ourselves sitting in the sunshine enjoying an al fresco lunch.

Gerry, Denise & Molly on Rockingham prom

Freshwater Cobbler in crispy batter with crispy but fluffy chips. The Cobbler was a first for me. The lady who served me in Nae’s Seafood & Grill informed me that it was a kind catfish. It was very tasty, but it’s not Cod or Haddock. However, it did hit the spot.

View From Rockingham Foreshore

Then, it was time to head back along the prom and back to the car. And, after a forty minute drive home, we were soon sitting in the lounge with a very welcome cuppa.

The brisk, but not unpleasant, sea-breeze definitely blew away the cobwebs we had accumulated.

Shame the weather forecast for the next few days shows a temperature drop and plenty of rain and thunderstorms.

Dog Walk


Not far from my daughters house, there are these pretty lakes.

On previous visits, they have been all but dried up, muddy pools only suitable for hippos.

However,  there have been days of wall to wall rainfall interspersed with beautiful sunny days. As a consequence, the lakes are perhaps a little over full.

I took these photos yesterday while out walking the dog.

Bobs Bowel 13 – Chemo !!!


It’s 19th May, 2025 and I have an appointment with an oncologist. This is to discuss potential precautionary chemotherapy following my hemicolonectomy at the end of March.

I am introduced to Dr Mutheramalingam, known as Dr Ram.

He seems to have done his homework, as he tells me all about the various conditions that I am receiving treatment or surveillance for, including Prostate Cancer, Type 2 Diabetes, and possible Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). And, of course, not to forget the main event, T3 N1b Colorectal adenocarcinoma, the reason I am in his office.

Dr Ram procedes to explain the situation i.e. the positive results of the surgery and that the scan prior to surgery had not shown any signs of cancer elsewhere.

Interestingly, he mentions that the lesion on my lung seems to have disappeared. This lesion was strongly suspected to be Prostate Cancer, and is the reason I have been on course of regular Prostap injections. We discussed the possibility of my no longer needing the injections but he wanted to defer that discussion to my Urology consultant.

Dr Ram then went on to describe my chemotherapy options, which appear to one of two.

  • Option 1:
    Combined tablet and chemo infusion over a period of three months
    This option comes with a range of potential side effects which also include damage to my liver which is already under surveilance due to the NAFLD.
    This treatment offers a potential 12% increase in my survival prognosis.
    The chemo infusion would be administered at the hospital and therefore require multiple trips to the Queen Alexandra hospital, parking fees, and the time spent during the infusion.
  • Option 2:
    Tablet only treatment over a period of six months
    This option also carries the full range of potential side effects with only a 10% increase in my survival prognosis.
    The tablets would be self administered at home,each two week cycle being 4 tablets twice a day, followed by one weeks rest. During the weeks rest I would have a blood test and a telephone consult prior to starting the next cycle.

It seemed to me that option 1 only giving an additional 2% and also introducing the risk of liver damage was not a good deal. Also, the regular visits to hospital for the chemo infusion was not very appealing, given the many medical appointments I have had since diagnosis of the tumour.

I have therefore opted for option 2, the self administed tablet only chemotherapy.

Bearing in mind the positive results from the surgery we, the medics and me, don’t know for sure if I have any cancer in my body. This chemo, being precautionary, may not actually buy me any more time.

Since that initial oncology meeting I have started the chemotherapy regime having been prescribed Capecitabine. I have just completed my third cycle.

Capecitabine comes with a whole range of potential side effects which include the following:
Appetite loss, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Nausea, Stomatitis, Abdominal pain, Fatigue, Weakness, Hand-foot syndrome, Oedema, Fever, Pain, Headache, Hair loss, Dermatitis, Indigestion, Shortness of breath, Eye irritation, and Myelosuppression.

So far, after nine weeks, I am only experiencing fatigue which manifests itself by me dropping off into a deep sleep with little or no warning, usually when sitting quietly reading of watching the TV. Thankfully, this does not happen while I am actively involved in something.

In the first week or so I did notice, thanks to my smart watch, that my heart rate was spiking quite high. That is I was hitting over 130 beats per minute with no apparent cause whereas prior to commencing the chemo it was rare for my heart rate to go over 80 bpm. I contacted the oncology department and they told me it was probably my body getting used to the chemo. Certainly, the spiking has reduced, both in frequency and magnitude.

So here I am, cycle three completed. What now?

Well, due to a family issue I have had to travel and will be away from the UK for three months. This means that continuing with the chemo is problematic. Because of the type of drug that Capecitabine is and the need for regular blood tests, they cannot prescribe sufficient doses in advance for me to continue the regime.

Apparently taking a short break from the chemo is OK but two to three months may be too long for me to restart when I am back in the UK.

So I am exploring getting access to the local medicare here in Australian so that I can then see a doctor and hopefully get prescriptions for Capecitabine and also the requisite blood tests. There is a reciprocal health insurance arrangement between the UK and Australia but this might just be too complicated to manage.

I have applied to join Medicare and I am hoping that having been previously been accepted it will be pretty much a rubber stamp exercise.

We shall see!

Bobs Bowel 12 – Home Again


After ten days in hospital, I was home, at last. And what a difference it makes.

To start with, home is much quieter. As I said in one of my previous posts, I didn’t realise just how noisy hospitals are, I think the staff become quite blasé  about their speech levels, they also don’t seem to worry about banging cupboard doors and trays around. And then there are the various bleeping machines measuring life signs, pumping fluids and inflating air beds.

On the subject of machines pumping fluids i.e. saline drips etc.  The nursing staff seem to be immune to the sounds of the various alarms emitted by those machines. For example, I was hooked up to a saline drip and my pump started beeping. Nobody came but, luckily, I was able to see the small display screen which was indicating air bubbles in the line. I’ve seen enough crime dramas to know that air injected into your veins doesn’t end well. So I had to press my help button and a nurse duly arrived to redo the connections.

Anyway, being home means I don’t have to contend with the noise anymore. Another positive for being home is being in your own bed. My first night home I got seven hours sleep. Amazing, considering I don’t think I had a decent night’s sleep all the time I was in the hospital.

Sad to say I wasn’t able to match that in the days that followed, typically only getting three to four hours each night according to my smart watch. Having consulted “Dr Google” it seems that lack of sleep is not unusual after significant surgery. Thankfully, my sleep patterns have, slowly, returned to normal.

Another big difference between hospital and home is the attitude of the staff versus friends and family. In hospital the staff, whilst caring for you, encourage you to get up and about. The want you to walk the corridors, go and have a shower, and so forth. Movement helps with the healing process and also helps get the digestive processes going. Apparently it also helps dissipate the gasses in the abdomen. These are the gasses used to inflate the abdomen during the laparscopic surgery. Once home I found that, family in particular, were very protective of me. Every time I moved, someone was asking am I all right, do I need something, when all I am doing is adjusting my seating position as my bum has gone numb.

I did find that, as predicted, I was quite tired and dozed during the day. But that wore off over a few days and I was soon able to help with meal preparation, despite my wife intercepting me at every opportunity.

Of course I had to be careful about what I attempted to lift, push or pull. The standard “boiling a kettle” to make a cup of tea for two was a definite no-no. However, I am beginning to question the advice I was given. I think the advice about lifting and bending etc. is somewhat generic and based on old surgical practices. That is to say, based on abdominal surgery, which involves being cut from stem to stern with massive intrusion to the  muscles. My surgery was robotic laparascopic, so I only had a few holes where the rods were inserted, so minimal intrusion to the abdominal muscles. Yes, there is a letter box cut below my belly button, where they extracted the tumour and colon after it was cut away. However, I felt no muscular tensions down there. Rather, all muscular sensation tended to be in the upper abdominal area.

The point I am  making is that I did not feel any kinds of pain, soreness, or any other sensations around the wound site’s while I was moving around. Obviously, I didn’t want to do anything extreme but was I being too cautious!

I was also told that I shouldn’t drive  for six weeks. Or, at least, until I was able to perform an emergency stop without any pain. Also I had to be able to make rapid turns of the steering wheel. What wasn’t clear was who decides that I am fit, and how do “they” decide?

With driving, there is always the question of insurance. I had read that you are supposed to inform your insurance company that you have had major abdominal surgery. However, my insurance company does not have that requirement, but recommend getting your doctor to write a letter stating that you are fit to drive.

Getting to see a doctor might be a bit of a challenge here in the UK at the moment. I am told I will have a meeting in surgical outpatients in five  to six weeks.  That would tally quite nicely, if it happens.

I did phone the colorectal team and was informed that the decision, of when to drive, was down to me. I was also advised to practice braking in my car whilst stationary on the drive. If I experienced any pain, that would be a good indicator that it was too soon.

Another positive aspect to being home was having proper meals, with more solid foods on the menu. During my time in hospital I transitioned from clear fluids, free fluids, nil by mouth, clear fluids, free fluids and finally on to low fibre meals. On discharge I was expecting to be given some dietary advice, but that didn’t happen. So left to my own devices I have pretty much reverted to my previous foods. I have had jacket potatoes and ate the crispy skins, had roast chicken pieces and ate the skins. Also my daughter cooked us a chicken curry, medium heat. Oh what a joy as these were all things I had to avoid, from the day my tumour was diagnosed, up to the day of the surgery.

A few days after discharge I received a call from the colorectal team. The purpose of which was to inform me of the histology findings.

Firstly, the tumour removed was confirmed to be a carcinoma “something or other”. She did say, but I promptly forgot the name. Anyway, they took the tumour with good margins which were found to be clear of cancerous cells. So good news.

Secondly, they took out sixty five lymph nodes, of which two were found to have cancerous cells. Again, good news, but followed up with a precautionary offer of a consult with an oncologist.  Heavy emphasis on the “precautionary” statement.

So it is likely I will have some chemo. What form that will take I have yet to discover.

In the future, after five to six weeks I should have a Surgical Outpatients appointment.  Six months down the road I should have a virtual (telephone) consult to see how I am fairing. At the twelve month point I will probably be invited in for a colonoscopy. It is also anticipated that I will have an annual CT scan for the next five years.

So watch this space, for future developments.

Bobs Bowel 11


So here we all are, on the other side. I survived the procedure. I guess that I should apologise for leaving you all hanging. Since leaving hospital I have had a few things going on with friends and family. And, keeping a blog going does require a degree of concentration and effort. Of which I have had none.

My procedure, I am very pleased to say went well, took place on Monday 31st March. Originally estimated to take 4 – 4.5 hours, actually  took six hours. On regaining conciousness, in the recovery room,  I was given two pieces of news.

Firstly, that they, the surgical team, had taken more than was originally planned. Originally, I was supposed to be having a “left hemicolectomy” but in the end I had an “extended right hemicolectomy”.

Secondly, a bit of very welcome news, was that I did not have a stoma and therefore would not be having to deal with a colostomy bag.

The Hospital Stay

After a brief sojourn in the recovery room I was wheeled along to ICU to spend my first night in hospital. But before I could contemplate sleep I was given a full body bed bath. That was a first for me.

I was also starving, not having eaten since Sunday evening, the day before. But at this time I was restricted to clear fluids.

How noisy are hospitals ? Staff banging cupboard doors, clattering of trolleys and trays and let’s not forget talking at elevated levels. At one stage there was a guy strutting the length of the ward, and back again, speaking into a phone which he held away from his face.

Don’t they realise there are sick people in ICU, trying to rest and recover ?

1st April – Operation Day +1

At around 10:30 the staff in ICU got me out of bed, had me sitting in a chair and brought me stuff to have a wash. To be fair I didn’t stay in that chair for long. It was too upright, not very comfy, made my back ache and my tummy was a bit sore.

But there was a nice view away to the south and west looking out over Portchester, the Isle of Wight and down to Southampton Water. All with blue skies and sunshine.

Still no food, just clear fluids, black tea, black coffee,  water !!! and I’m starving.

Later, on the evening of the same day, they moved me out of ICU and shipped me off to the surgical ward. Sharing the ward with six other inmates and no view.

If I thought ICU was noisy, they had nothing on this ward. I couldn’t see what it was but there was something at the far end of the ward making a sound like a diesel truck on a fast idle. Thankfully after about thirty minutes it stopped. Rumour has it that the noise was from an air bed being inflated !!!

Apart from the noise, another issue I had was the temperature of the ward. On arrival I broke into a sweat and I know, when at home, I  break out at around 25°C. One of the nurses very kindly brought me a fan which improved things but, under cover of darkness, someone snuck in and turned it off.

How Rude!

2nd April – Operation Day +2

A nurse brought me a bowl of warm water for a wash and a change of gown. Ablutions completed I tried to put on the fresh gown which was way to small. When I flagged the size issue I was told that they had no gowns my size and offered me a “shirt”, i.e. an NHS pyjama jacket which was even smaller. The nurse said she would order a larger gown.

Order ? How long was that gonna take?

Anyway, thankfully, someone turned up with a large gown. I should point out that I did have my own pyjamas but due to the various tubes attached about my person there was no way I could get into them. At this time I was catheterised and also having a saline drip.

Time in hospital can pass very slowly. I had prepared for this by bringing in a book to read, also a book of crossword puzzles. I also had my phone on which I do soduku and read via Kindle. The problem was that I couldn’t focus on anything. In fact trying to focus took so much effort I kept dozing.

I had a very pleasant visit from my granddaughter in the morning and, later, my wife and daughter arrived to break up the afternoon.

At last, I was told I could have something to eat. My first meal for three days was a supper of chicken soup, yoghurt, jelly, and vanilla ice cream. Not very substantial but you would not believe how good that chicken soup tasted.

Throughout the day, with each and every visit from a nurse or doctor, I was constantly asked if I have moved my bowels, or if I  have broken wind. At this time my answers were all in the negative.

After supper I was asked what I wanted for brekky. Options were orange juice and/or yoghurt. I opted for the yoghurt.

3rd April – Operation Day +3

I had a visit from the surgeon.  Nice guy. He introduced himself and I promptly forgot his name. He said he wanted to try me on real food, with more substance. He also said they were planning to remove the catheter… yay!! Also, there was mention of the possibility of me going home, either today or tomorrow. This is all sounding good. All of this was discussed while he tapped, squeezed, and generally fondled my belly. Oh, I didn’t mention the gaggle of other medics, around half a dozen, gathered around the foot of my bed. Any privacy or dignity I had rapidly flew out the window.

I was given some of my own daily blood pressure meds. I’ve not had any since before the op. I was also given a dose of liquid paracetamol.  It is thick in texture, very sweet and it tastes of strawberries, Yuuukkk !!!

I don’t remember lunch but supper was Pea Soup with an awful bread roll.  Think the roll was made without any fat, it fell apart when I tried to cut it so that I could butter it. Tried eating it but it just clagged up my mouth. There was also an egg mayo sandwich. I only ate half as it was on some strange, strongly flavoured, malted bread, and again a weird texture. I tried dunking it in the soup but it didn’t help. Obviously my tastebuds had become confused. Hospital food isn’t really that bad. or is it?

During the day I have been getting an acidic feeling at the back of my throat, like indigestion. I mentioned this to a nurse who got me some Gaviscon. It helped a bit.

4th April – Operation Day +4

Bad news, I’ve been sick!! I was told that if I  am sick twice in the day I will be aspirated i.e. have a tube put up my nose and down into my stomach. This sounds unpleasant, and definitely something to be avoided.

Now they are taking bloods to see if I have an infection, and are concerned about the low volume pee. So, I definitely won’t be going home today.

Supper time arrives and I was feeling sick and requested another anti-sickness pill. Supper was chicken soup but I don’t recall eating it.

Even though I’m just drinking water it seems to be sitting high in my tummy. I’m not feeling comfortable at all.

5th April – Operation Day +5

So, I was sick during the night and as a result I was intubated. That was not a pleasant experience. As the tube goes in it causes you to retch and then once inserted you can feel the tube in your throat every time you swallow. The nurse siphoned out nearly a litre of dark green fluid. It appears that my vomiting is due to Ileus, a not uncommon post operative complication after abdominal surgery. In essence the bowel goes on strike

So now I have two bags hanging on the side of the bed. One for  my catheter and one for my nasal tube. I also have a saline drip attached to the cannula in my right arm. It’s almost like being at the centre of a spiders web.

While the tube is in I am nil by mouth,  just sips of water. So back to my starvation diet.

6th April – Operation Day +6

Due to all my attachments I had to call for the commode last night. And, whilst sat on the commode,  my nasal tube took it upon itself to sneak out and fall on the floor. I buzzed for the nurse who got a fresh tube and installed it which again caused me to retch and vomit. Just wonderful. That was at 03:00.

During the day they disconnected my nasal tube from its bag and told me I could go on free fluids. So I had an ice cold glass of milk, and boy did that hit the spot. The milk was, later,  followed by a cup of hot chocolate.

I was told that I can stay on free fluids but they will reconnect the tube to the bag at night time. Some good news, it was confirmed that Bovril is allowed under the free fluids plan so have asked Gerry to bring some in.

Bad news, the blood tests have shown some negative markers, and so, they think I might have developed an infection. Therefore, as a precaution, I have been moved to my own room. Bonus, I have my own window with a view and can open said window, so plenty of fresh air.

In the early evening I had a lovely video call  from my granddaughter and her kids. Jax, who is autistic, saw my nasal tube and immediately wanted to know what it was. We told him I was in hospital. His response was “go get Grandad, bring him home” Unseen by me, Jax trotted off downstairs, let himself out the front door and was trying to get into his mums car. Their dog, Milo, alerted my daughter and she caught him outside. Cute.

7th April – Operation Day +7

Thankfully the nasal tube has been removed and so, it appears, I’m back on the free fluids diet which is some kind of progress. Lunch today was tomato soup, orange jelly, and vanilla ice cream, bliss!!!

In the afternoon, friends, Eric, Mary, and Mo visited for a couple of hours. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Eric and Mary left after an hour which left Mo to entertain me. Unfortunate for Mo, she was soon treated to the sight of me sliding out of bed clutching the back of my gown, carrying my bag of urine (golden handbag) and shuffling across the corridor to the loo. She took it all in good heart.

Todays supper treat was mushroom soup, more jelly, and ice cream. The soup was, once again, very tasty.

After Mo’s departure and having nothing better to do, I read the ingredient list for the orange jelly. Shock, horror, there is no orange in it. There is carotene, I assume that’s for the colour. I had thought that the flavour was a little odd, now I know why.

8th April – Operation Day +8

Finally, I got a decent night’s sleep, the first since the surgery. Also, my tummy is feeling less bloated which, I guess, means some of the gas used during the operation is beginning to dissipate.

Brekky today was rice crispies, orange juice, toast, and marmalade. Actually, to call it toast was a bit of an exaggeration. I think the slice of bread had seen a photo of a toaster but not actually been in one. Still, after being starved and then only getting liquids to eat this was definitely a step up and in the right direction.

After breakfast I was asked to select my lunch, so I chose Beef Lasagne,  scallop potatoes and gravy. More solids … yes!!!

The lasagne was blooming marvellous although, surprisingly, I had to confirm that it was beef, to me it tasted like the best herby pork sausage. So that has triggered the idea that I will try making a lasagne with italian pork sausage meat, when I get home.

I also had a bit of a revelation today. I had a shower, my first since prior to my surgery, and I was so pleased to get my hair washed. The whole shower thing was a bit weird as I still had the catheter in place and so I had to take my golden handbag along with me. But sitting on the provided stool and just letting the water flow over me was superb.

I also had lots of visitors today, so it was a good job that I had that shower … lol.

Todays supper was Lancashire hotpot with extra mash. The hotpot was very nice but the mash was very dry. And, I  didn’t get the recommended extra gravy I requested. However, I did get two Vanilla ice creams. They really are very nice, smooth and creamy.

Finally, my catheter has been removed but, unfortunately, I haven’t pee’d since. So I was given an ultrasound of the bladder and, apparently, there wasn’t much pee in there so retention isn’t an issue. Bottom line, I have to up my fluid intake, then if I don’t pee they will catheterise me again. And we don’t want that.

With the catheter gone I am now in my jim jams which are much more comfortable than those horrible hospital gowns. And finally, at around 21:00, the dam burst and I managed a pee. This was followed by several others during the night. All were captured so the nurses could check the volume and, apparently, all is good.

9th April – Operation Day +9

Hallelujah, the surgeon has told me that I can go home, shook my hand and wished me well. I asked a nurse what the discharge procedure was. I was told that getting meds from the pharmacy was usually the thing that dictated when I could go, but that I should expect late afternoon or evening.

Shortly after this the ward sister came to see me, told me my meds had been requested and the indications were that they would be available sooner, rather than later. She told me to order lunch just in case it actually was later. In fact meds and lunch arrived together. I was told to have lunch and then the discharge process could be completed.

Wow, lunch was a celebration. Roast turkey breast, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, and, wait for it, banana stuffing!!!! Who ever heard of banana stuffing? Certainly not me, and it wasn’t for my palate.  Apparently, it is a carribean thing.

Anyway, food eaten, sister returned with my meds, my discharge papers and one last bit of education. New news to me was that I was going to have to inject myself with an anticoagulant.  She had a syringe and rolled up pad to simulate my tummy. I was directed in the correct use. The two carrier bags of meds contained, primarily, several boxes of preloaded syringes. I am to inject myself twice daily, for thirty days.

So, formalities completed, the porter arrived and I was soon loaded into a wheel chair and propelled to the main exit where my son-in-law was waiting to drive me home.

And there we have it. My hospital experiences around my robotic laparoscopic right side hemicolonectomy.

Bobs Bowel 10 – The Big Day


Finally, the big day has arrived. Today is the day I am to have  my tumour removed.

I’m due at the hospital at 06:30. I have been told that I am the only patient on the list, so I am hoping that means first into theatre. No hanging around.

So my next post will be after my procedure when I am compos mentis again.

It’s funny how it seems to have taken a while to get to this point, but in reality, it has been just over three months, from diagnosis to surgery.

If all goes to plan, I’ll be in theatre for about three hours. Then, after time in recovery, I should be on the ward in time for tea. Although I doubt I’ll be in any fit state to eat and who knows what diet I’m going to be on.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Bobs Bowel 9 – A Grand Day Out


Not so much a day out, more an afternoons tour of the hospital as today I have three appointments.

First up is an ECG. Making sure that my ticker is still ticking. No specific time for this, I just had to turn up and present myself at reception. I arrived at about 11:45 and was seen just after 12:00, which gave me time to find the venue for the next appointment.

This session, at 13:00, is with the Stoma Nurse. Although a stoma isn’t planned, this appointment is to talk me through the what ifs. Also to mark where the stoma could/should be if the surgeons deem one is necessary. Although the colonoscopy and subsequent CT Colonography show the tumour hasn’t spread my internal physiology could present other problems. The surgeons won’t know until they get inside and start rooting around.

So the stoma nurse explained all the why’s and wherefores of how a stoma is formed. She then had me lay on an examination couch while she felt my abdominal muscles and ultimately marked the primary site for a stoma on my right hand side but also marked a secondary site on the left side. Viewed from the front I now have a face on my belly with my navel as the nose. I was toying with the idea of drawing on some ears but various folks have deemed that a bad idea.

Having had the spots drawn on I was then shown how a colostomy bag should be affixed to my belly. She demonstrated how to fix the bag on, how to seal it and also how to empty it. And then it was my turn. To prove that I had been listening I had to apply a bag over one of the spots on my belly. Having passed that test I was told to keep the bag on for the rest of the day. “To see if I had a reaction to the adhesive”. To be honest I actuall forgot I had it on, until I went to bed, by which time I was to tired to mess with it. So I slept with it still on. The following day I found out how good that adhesive was. It was not an easy job getting it off.

The final part of my stoma education took the form of a kind of homework. I was given a number of bags to practice with. A couple of them had some kind of tablet in them to which I was supposed to add water. The tablets, when mixed with water, form a sludge of the same consistency as wallpaper paste. This was intended for me to practice emptying a bag. Needless to say, I failed in this task. And it is too late now.

After an hour or so in stoma class I was sent up to E Level to meet with a doctor for my formal preop interview. She went through many of the same questions that had been asked at each of my previous appointments. In this day and age, with the technology available, you would think that all staff in the hospital would have access to all of this information. Still, all the questions and drawing some more blood, and taking my blood pressure, took another hour.

I was eventually released to go home at just on 17:00.

An interesting point is that none of the folks that we visited knew when my operation was to take place !!! This, despite the fact that I had been informed the previous week.

So, my procedure is due to take place 31st March, 2025

Tiny Tiny TV


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/story/full_page_image/11th-march-2025-page-5_4f3907df/content.html

The  News strikes again !!!

Yet another faux pas from the team at The News. Does nobody proofread their articles before publication?

5mm Screen?

25.4mm = 1 inch in old money.

So this new, “big” screen is less than one fifth of an inch!!!

RIP Eddie Jordan


Eddie Jordan, namesake leader and owner of the Jordan F1 racing team, has died.

A family statement on Thursday read:

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Eddie Jordan OBE, the ex-Formula 1 team owner, TV pundit and entrepreneur.

“He passed away peacefully with family by his side in Cape Town in the early hours of 20 March 2025.”

He will be missed