A lot happened in November. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. Here were the key events:
4th November 17 – I went Smoke-Free, Day 1. Smoke-Free Logo |
5th November 17 – I was given the cold shoulder by Dylan. He just walked away from attention to sit with his back towards me. I called him by his name and was ignored. Blanked by Dylan. |
6th November 17 – My week made with the arrival of my pre-orders from Amazon. My Pre-orders: Despicable Me 3 and Monster by Michael Grant. |
11th November 17 – I tried on silly Christmas hats! Silly Christmas Hats! |
12th November 17 – My lovely Grandma passed away. I am sure she is missed dearly by all who knew her. I am also very lucky to have some wonderful memories with her. My Lovely Grandma. |
14th November 17 – I went to the GP about an abscess in my groin. I was given oral antibiotics and told if it gets any bigger I must go to A&E to see a Surgeon. |
| 15th November 17 – The abscess had doubled in size. So went to A&E, was given a dose of IV antibiotics and eventually saw a Surgeon. They decided to operate first thing the following morning.
I had been Nil By Mouth since arriving in A&E at around 1PM and had not eaten since breakfast. They let me go home well after 9pm to eat, rest and with instructions to fast from 3am and be back at the hospital for 8am.  Oh pink…just my colour. |
16th November 17 – The day of the surgery. All of the NHS staff were kind, compassionate and understanding. But communication could have been better.
I arrived on the ward at 07:50am and was instructed by a Nurse on the night shift to wait in the waiting room, while the early staff had handover. The night shift Nurse didn’t tell the day staff that I had arrived and meant I ended up waiting over an hour. Apparently staff had been looking for me everywhere. After the surgery, I didn’t know whether my open wound had been packed or not, because it wasn’t documented in my notes. It has been uncomfortable, a bit tender and at times painful. I have thanked my family and Steve who have been amazing in supporting me pre and post surgery. The surgery and waiting for the open to heal has been very frustrating for me. Everything has had to be put on hold. I’ve had to rest and haven’t been able to do very much apart from watching Netflix, reading and napping. A huge positive is that I have remained Smoke-Free throughout. |
| 17th November 17 – I became super excited after watching a video clip that revealed the title of the new Fantastic Beasts (Harry Potter) film: The Crimes of Grindelwald on Twitter @BeastsMovieUK. The film will be released on 16.11.18. | 22nd November 17 – The day of Grandma’s funeral, which was really a celebration of her life. The service was touching and well attended. Grandma’s family and friends came together afterwards to share memories and the many things they will miss about her. |
| 25th November 17 – Day 21 of being Smoke-Free. Smoke-Free Logo |
29th November 17 – Last day working at my old job. I will miss the people and liked the work, but am excited to start my new job. |
Write soon,
Antony
