Surgical Day Ward

After thirteen months of a wait, I finally had the scope-down-the-throat examination today to see whether or not I need a valve replacement.

My appointment was for 6:45 am, and anxiety had me up and about at 5:00. Things didn't get off to a great start in terms of getting to the Mater hospital. For the first time ever, a HailO taxidriver scored a 'Bad' rating from me. At first he didn't know how to get out of my road to begin heading for the hospital. Half-way there, after fiddling over and over again with some contraption on the dashboard he asked me if I'd been to the hospital before. It took a moment before I realised that he meant had I been taken there by taxi before. I said I had, and he asked what the charge had been. I told him it was about 8 euro as far as I recalled. 'I don't think so", he said. "I'm sure it's more than that." I was in no mood for a row, so I said okay, and suggested we agree on a tenner. There was more fiddling with the dashboard gadget after that, and all the while I was increasingly aware that there was no meter on display. When we got there I handed over the agreed 10 euro and told him I was far from impressed at the lack of a meter, and told him he shouldn't be on the road without one. To add insult to what was already injury, I received the usual HailO receipt by text message. This said I'd paid 8 euro 50, and that no tip had been involved. So I rated the driver 2 stars out of 5, which equates to 'Bad'. I've since filed a report with HailO.

Inside the hospital we all had to register for the Day Ward surgery and then were moved on to a second waiting area. It wasn't too long before we were called on in groups of three and shown to our beds in the ward. The doctor on duty came to see us one at a time, in what I think was the order of our check-in. She explained the procedure to me, warned me of possible side-effects and had me sign the usual disclaimer.

It was after 10:30 before a porter arrived to take me down to the whatever-it-is room for the scope procedure. I had to wait for another patient to be finished with, and then it was my turn. Despite a numbing spray at the back of the throat and an injection of calm-me-down stuff, the procedure was a bit distressing at times. It took perhaps twenty minutes, and then I was whisked back to the Day Ward, feeling really groggy. No food or drink was permitted for two hours after (and I'd already been fasting since 10:30 the previous night), so a glass of water was most welcome when it was eventually permitted, and the pot of tea and slices of toast which followed tasted as good as any gourmet meal would under other circumstances.

The doctor came back at 3:45 with word. It's inconclusive! The examination showed some slight narrowing of the aortic valve, as expected, but the findings will need to be considered at next week's meeting of the cardiac big-wigs before any decision is made about how to proceed. It could be that continuing medication will be sufficient to control things, or it may be decided that a valve replacement will in fact be required. The decision will be passed on to my GP, and I'm to see the cardiologist again in six weeks.

Instructions were that I should be picked up and not left alone tonight, so Carl came over after lectures. Rather than go straight to Glasthule we decided to stop for a bite to eat on the way. We first thought of somewhere around the Financial Services Centre, but the system of one-way streets made it really difficult to get anywhere suitable. So we plumped for The Schoolhouse instead and had really good, highish-class pub grub. Since this was Arthur's Day, the pub supplied everyone with a free glass of Guinness and some complimentary finger food.

Back in Carl's we watched a bit of recorded TV and then headed in to Carl's Kino to watch The Master. I'm afraid we weren't able to stay the course and gave up after about 30 minutes. Judgement reserved until we see the rest.