Thursday 19th March, 2015

Oh yes.

Agony has been replaced by pain and believe me when I say that is cause for celebration.

Tonight because I had no handmaiden to help me (Mulan will tell me she will be back at seven and turn up at eleven) and Joan having late classes, I had to fend for myself as far as dinner went. Easy enough to get the pie from the freezer and put it in the oven, less so to actually get it to the bedroom once cooked. I had visions of dropping it, smashing the plate and going hungry but hey I managed it. Things are on the move. Four weeks in bed - I don’t think so.

However, naturally it still takes me a while to ascend the stairs to class and descend from it and there are still boys, girls and teachers who insist on trying to help me. Of course their solicitations are very much appreciated indeed hut when they ask “Can I help?” I simply have to reply that unless they are an East End Wrestler and can carry me up or down on their back then no, sadly they can’t.  It is very heart warming to receive the offers but when you are between the 2nd and 3rd floors the last thing you want is to have to explain to someone with limited English what is wrong and that you can do it yourself. Absolutely lovely and that is why I love China - they either ignore you or want to be your Mother. It’s the ones who almost unbalance you from the crutches when they grab you that worry me - mark my words, Chinese steps will be the death of me yet!

It’s late now so I will resume this later in the day.

Monday 23rd            1245

Well this is certainly later in the day! To be honest Friday utterly drained me and of course by close of business for the week it is my good leg that gives problems. I also needed an early night as Anna and I were going to the hospital on Saturday morning, me in the hope of having the cast removed and Anna for a heart check. I am not quite sure what her ailment/condition is but from what she described it sounds as if it may be arrythmia.

We went for breakfast and then took a taxi to A&E. I went there purely because it was there that they removed the cast on the previous visit. I was equipped with a small bar of soap pinched from some hotel or other as the first thing I wanted was to wash my foot. On this occasion though we were told it wasn’t their job and we had to go somewhere else.

By now my top speed was barely above “stop” and it took ages to find the right department elsewhere. Of course, seeing as we arrived there at 1150, they had just closed up shop for the two hour lunch break. Wonderful. Had we only been there for me, I would have simply cut my losses and gone home but seeing as Anna needed tests I waited. I should have gone home though, because when I was finally seen they wouldn’t do anything without the x-rays from the initial accident. These were in my flat. To make matters worse, Anna had an ECG after lunch and was also told she needed a CT scan but the latter can only be carried out on a weekday morning so she has to go back on Wednesday.

We had all but wasted a complete day and so to console ourselves we went and had an American style beef and chicken sizzling platter which Anna very kindly treated me to. Once again when I got home I was exhausted. With Joan and Anna both willing to accompany me back to the hospital on Sunday, we left an hour earlier in order to break our fast and be there in plenty of time so as not to have to wait until after lunch again.

Armed with the x-rays I was seen by a doctor. I was then told to go and get another set taken and at this point I was on the verge of simply buying a pair of scissors and doing the job myself. The x-ray dept was miles away and I was losing the will to live but the girls got a nurse to liberate a wheelchair, which Joan very capably used to get me there and back. I laid on the table and had my foot done, then they wanted to do the hip (quite why is beyond me seeing as they haven’t treated it)  but the trousers had to come down. Flat on my back this was a struggle for me, so both girls can now claim to have debagged a teacher!

Back with the doctor (no such thing as a waiting room here - well there is but nobody waits in it, everyone just crowds into the doctor’s room gawking at everyone else’s x’rays), he took an age to decide what to do with me but finally produced scissors and started cutting, thus providing a floorshow for everyone else present.

Then it was straight to the men’s toilets, where Joan and Anna found warm water, I sat and leaned back in the chair with my leg up on the sink  and they washed my foot. Pure heaven. It is still very swollen but it just fits into the shoe and all the frustration of the weekend evaporated. It felt so much better. We even managed to leave before they knocked off for lunch. The girls were treated to theirs by me once we got back to the business street and they ordered chow mien. Joan had a party meeting shortly after so I lent them the bike and waited for Anna to return.

When she did she dropped a bombshell. Her mother has told her she thinks she should join the army and Anna agrees. I was all in favour, as I think it will give her the confidence she so badly needs but I was shocked when she said if she is accepted she would be leaving school immediately. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I now have mixed emotions, half of me really wants her to do this, the other half is being selfish in saying not just yet. Of course, whatever happens will in all likelihood depend almost entirely on the results of her cardiac tests this week. I do hope her aspirations are not dashed.

On Saturday night our internet was deathly slow so I had no chance of streaming the 6 nations and accordingly I think I probably missed out on the most exciting string of three games of rugby in one day that there has ever been.

Now I am going to get cleaned, happy that there is no need for a plastic bag and although I can’t stand for a shower I can sit there without worrying where the water is going. Later I might just venture out and have a chow mien (saves cooking or getting the girls to do it) - Anna had one with a fried egg that looked appetising. It will get me out of the house.