Good old Florence!

A very positive day in the end. When I got the hospital appointment out of the blue two weeks ago I was surprised and a bit stressed about getting there safely. 

As it was, the taxi I booked locally, turned up this morning 10mins early, with a lady driver, and had me in Derby in good time for my appointment. I found  the department, then went and had a coffee. I was attending the valve surveillance clinic.

It’s almost 5 years since I had my ascending aortic aneurysm removed and “Big Bertha and highway 95” inserted. I named her as we were going to have to be friends for me to survive. This was in the midst of Covid and communication was a bit patchy. I’m now the responsibility of this clinic in Derby for annual monitoring, as we live in the catchment area.

It was interesting, I learned a lot and really felt cared for. I was able to copy the letter documenting my surgery from my NHS app and another letter to accompany the forms that they had sent me. They were able to scan areas of particular relevance.

Getting home was the next challenge. R was on the case of this. I texted her when I got to the front of the hospital. Within two minutes a Uber arrived, I’d got his details on my phone, he had mine and he was looking for this ‘old bird’, my words not his. He did say that I didn’t look as old as expected. I think that R overplayed the description of the lady to be collected. He was a pleasant chatty bloke who had me safely home in under half an hour. 

I’ve never used an Uber before but it was a good experience. R uses them when she is working in Saudi. She was able to see where I was and when I was home. Also it was about 20% cheaper than the taxi. Actually a lot cheaper for me as R had to pay on line up front. I needed to have cash for the taxi.

I’ve rabbited on a bit today, but it has been eventful!! I’ve added an extra, my blood pressure. Just within acceptable limits!!!