I slumbered fitfully, propped up on pillows for fear of waking up covered in blood out of a snatch of deep sleep, and stayed in bed dozing tiredly until late. At ten, Debbie phoned to say she'd had no success getting a response from the surgeon's secretary, yesterday or this morning, but she expressed determination to get answers using all skill and clout as practice manager.
In the afternoon, Clare and I walked into town and had tea in John Lewis' upper restaurant. On the way, down the Taff footpath, we caught sight of a heron on the east bank, and then a jay, taking off and flying across from west to east. It the first sighting of either this year. I got two heron photos at maximum zoom range, but the Sony HX50 is now malfunctioning so often due to a mechanical fault when opening up, that it's become too unreliable for used. That's after five years of use and ten thousand photos.
I called into Cardiff Camera Centre where all but one of my cameras have been purchased and confirmed my suspicion that it's beyond economical repair after a longer than usual lifespan for a consumer pocket camera, very well travelled. I'm now looking at getting a HX90 to replace it with, when I get back to my usual level of regular photo snapping. It's something to look forward to. The HX90 is a bit more sophisticated, even smaller and just as capable. Better still, factory refurbished cameras with full Sony guarantee are available at 27% discount, when I'm ready to buy.
As we travelled home on the 61 bus, a call came through on my mobile from an administrator at UHW, who to had been given the thankless task of calling my to explain and apologise for the past day's chaos. It seems I was misled about the requirement to have another ultrasound scan. The good news is that the anaesthetist who'd read the pre-op report is apparently satisfied that I'm fit to be sedated so all's well on that front.
The bad news, however, is that the day's surgical schedule for 17th Jan has been cancelled altogether, heaven knows why but that's how it is. I have to wait for another five weeks until St Valentine's Day to have this dealt with.
Well, it's a relief to know I'm not lost to the medical system, and tough to have to wait even longer, for Clare as much as me, but there's nothing that can be done. And for the moment, I am in a stable enough state with regular life simply on hold.
A small parcel arrived for me in the post from Kath. I'd asked her to find me a novel in Spanish that was short enough for me to try reading and not losing heart, with so many dictionary calls needed to clarify the narrative, when getting the general drift isn't enough. Good practice! She bought the book before leaving Tenerife on Tuesday, and says its un regalo, love her. It's Crónica de una muerte anunciada (Chronicle of a death foretold) by the Colombian Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez. It's in Latin American Spanish rather than Castilian, but as DuoLingo is more Latin American oriented at intermediate level, it's not as foreign as a novel in Valenciano or in Catalan might be. It's something to keep my mind active while I'm on hold, it will do me good.
Last night we watched Steven Spielberg's move masterpiece 'Bridge of Spies' about the negotiated swap of U2 pilot Gary Powers for Soviet agent Rudolf Abel in 1960, something I remember well from my teen years when I was fascinated by state of the art aviation technology and knew a little more about the hush-hush U2 spy plane's existence. Abel is portrayed as a placid stoical guy, who when asked if he was worried about the prospect of capital punishment or a life sentence would simply reply: "Do you think worrying would make any difference?" It's a great line, an attitude to aspire towards.
The thought of being forgotten, lost to the system was a terrible blow yesterday, but worrying achieved nothing. I have to get used to waiting without worrying, and trust in the amazing care I am getting already. After all, it could be so much worse.
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