Tag: England

Bobs Bowel


A few days ago, I posted about the NHS Poo Sticks game. There then followed a visit to the hospital for a Colonoscopy which led to my cancer diagnosis.

Apparently my tumour is positioned up at the top right corner in the diagram, where the transverse colon joins the descending colon.

Of course, that is not the end of the saga. We are only just getting started.

Shortly after the colonoscopy, at the meeting with the doctor along with the bad news I was given an appointment date for a meeting with the consultant. That is scheduled for 28th January.

After being discharged I headed home to find that the hospital had already been on the phone. I returned their call and was informed that they had an appoinment for me to attend the hospital again. This time for a CT colonography (CTC). Lucky me. I was scheduled in for Tuesday 21st at 08:30.

That was the good news. The bad news was that I had to go back on the low residue diet. OK, it was only for two days this time, starting on Sunday. On the Monday before the CTC, I was to start taking a liquid laxative. Two doses, one at 08:00 and the other at 18:00. No food after that time, just clear fluids until after the CTC.

The liquid laxative, Gastrografin, also contains a dye (contrast medium) that contains iodine and it helps to clearly show the colon on the scan.

Once again my imagination ran riot but reality was a lot simpler. I was expecting to spend the day on the loo, but after a brief eruption in the morning, I suffered nothing until the following morning. Even after the second dose.

Tuesday morning arrived soon enough and I took myself of to the hospital. No sooner had I arrived in the reception area than I was called through. Given a hospital gown to change into and told to take a seat in a waiting area.

I was then called through to have a cannula fitted. This was needed for the dye that they would inject during the scan. After a brief wait I was shown into the scanner room. I have had CT scans before so my anxiety levels were really low. And so it was up onto the scanning table where the unpleasantness started.

Firstly I was asked to lay on my side with my knees up towards my chin. Once in position a tube was inserted into my back passage. This was for the gas that they were going to use to inflate my colon.

As the gas flowed, so my discomfort increased. Initially there was the sensation of my abdomen bloating. This was soon accompanied by stomach cramps which grew in intensity. I was asked to lay on my back and I was threaded through the eye of the donut.

The discomfort was increasing.

They then injected the dye and we played thread the donut again. After a couple of passes I was asked to turn on my side.

Still the discomfort was building. So much so that I was muttering to myself. Something along the lines of “enough already”, “get me off this thing”, “please make it stop”. You get the picture.

After a couple more passes through the donut they came in to put me out of my misery. The gas pipe was extracted and I was led out of the scanning room, across the corridor and shown to a toilet.

It was there that the process of decompression began. It was also there that I got changed into my street clothes. I then went and sat in a waiting area but it wasn’t long before I headed back to the decompression chamber, and then back to the waiting area.

After a short wait I was invited into a small room where my cannula was removed, and then I was discharged.

Over the last few years I have undergone numerous procedures. But this was by far the worst. I have had CT scans before but the added gas takes them to a whole new level. Definitely an experience that I am not keen to repeat.

I am not Jumping Jack Flash and it definitely was not a Gas, Gas, Gas.

Now, I am eating a relatively normal diet but to ensure that my bowel doesn’t become completely blocked I have been prescribed a different laxative, Molaxole. This I have to drink twice a day. It doesn’t taste nasty but it isn’t pleasant. I have to add some orange squash to make it more palatable.

Yuukkk!

So, now I have to wait until Tuesday and the appointment with the consultant.

I’ll be in touch…..

Goodbye And Good Riddance


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/story/full_page_image/21st-january-2025-page-5_4f2607de/content.html

Well done to the police and keep up the good work.

E-Scooters – Should be banned


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/28th-october-2024-page-7_4f8307e4/content.html

This is just one, recent, example of how dangerous these E-scooters are. Of course they in themselves are not dangerous. It is actually the misuse by individuals that is the danger.

Locally, the only E-Scooters that are legal for use on our roads are those from authorised hire companies. Privately owned E-scooters are illegal.

I don’t understand how the government allows the sale of these scooters in this country. Unlike cars and motorbikes owners are not required to have insurance, wear safety gear i.e. helmets and the vehicles are not even registered.

Frequently they are driven in an unsafe manner. Personally, I once saw one of these scooters veer off the pavement. It moved diagonally across the road directly in front of me. So suddenly that I had to perform an emergency stop. Clearly the rider did not look to see that his way was clear.

I have also seen one of these scooters, three up. i.e. three females hurtling up the centre of the road.

In this case the victim was Raquel Delgado-Calo. She is a veterinary surgeon. She suffered deep lacerations to her forehead which will leave permanent scarring. Raquel also received stitches to her nose and a fractured skull. She spent three days in hospital and three weeks off work followed by a three week phased return. In addition, she has suffered from eight weeks of concussion. She has experienced dizziness, which has caused the cancellation of surgeries at work. And then there is the ongoing anxiety when crossing roads.

In my view, the E-scooter rider, Joseph Pedalty has gotten off way too lightly.

He has been disqualified from roads for eighteen months. He also was handed an eighteen month community order. He was fined £120 plus costs taking his penalty to a total of £319. This includes charges for no insurance, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to stop at a red light.

The law is an ass.

Pedalty has 10 past convictions and had been disqualified from the roads for drink driving in 2021.

How do his fines and convictions possibly balance out the impact that he has had on this woman’s life.

I’ll say it again. The law is an ass.

Happy Returns


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/story/full_page_image/2nd-january-2025-page-17_4f1407dd/content.html

A warm tale for the new year.

Perhaps, only in England …

Let Down Again


https://app.portsmouth.co.uk/full_page_image/11th-october-2024-page-4_4f0207dc/content.html

A few years ago this site was the home of Marconi Underwater Systems. The site was closed, and the Marconi buildings and surrounds became derelict. The site has remained an eyesore for many years.

Around 2012 I, as a member of the Waterlooville Residents Forum, attended a presentation on behalf of a potential developer. At that time, per the presentation, the plans were to build a 60 bed hotel and restaurant. They also planned a car showroom and a drive thru restaurant. The developer went to great pains. He assured us that the drive thru was not going to be another McDonald’s.

Outline Application APP/12/00652 was submitted 4th October 2012. The recommendation was that permission be granted for this application. Since that time, the Marconi (BAE) buildings were demolished but the site remained undeveloped.

Until that is, along came Lidl and, yep, McDonald’s. But the remainder of the site remained untouched.

And now the council appear to have given the go ahead for a new KFC, Aldi, and Costa.

It’s not as if our little town doesn’t lack for coffee shops and cafe’s. As for fast food drive thru’s, we are surrounded. Nor are we short of Aldi stores, we actually have seven within a ten mile radius. Costa Coffee is even more pervasive with ten in a four mile radius.

There is a significant amount of residential construction in and around Waterlooville. With all the new residents I would agree that there is a need for eateries. But I would argue that there is a greater need for entertainment centres. Waterlooville residents frequently call for a cinema complex / bowling alley. Sadly nobody hears the call

And so, the construction of these three businesses leaves me disappointed. I feel that we, the residents of Waterlooville, have been let down again.

Last Knockings


This is pretty much the last knocking of our tomato crops this year. There are just a few green tomatoes yet to ripen.

We have had a good crop this year, but sad to say, it could have been better. We sort of  screwed up.

We have two pyramid planters, but we, by mistake, planted bush/trailing varieties in one.

Oh well, lesson learnt. Overall, we are pleased, and the flavour of homegrown fruit and veg is always superior.

These varieties are all very sweet, but the little orange ones are sooper sweet.

View From The Conservatory


This squirrel was keeping a watchful eye on me after beating a hasty retreat from the neighbours cat.

View From The Conservatory


I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK
I sleep all night and I work all day

He’s a lumberjack and he’s OK
He sleeps all night and he works all day

Well, thank you Monty Python.

Today, we have the guys taking down a dead tree, which is threatening to fall in mine and my neighbours backyard.

The tree doesn’t belong to us but we couldn’t cope with the bureaucracy of dealing with the Highways Agency, who moved their boundaries, and the local council, who have not “adopted” the remaining, abandoned, strip of land.

So, we have taken matters into our own hands.

The tree is a goner.