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A Day in the Life: Morning Routine and Hospital Visit

Maplewood Medical Centre reception and waiting area with rows of chairs
A bright, welcoming medical reception features organized seating, natural light, and a landscaped garden view.

I felt okay this morning after a good sleep, getting up around 6:20 with Kathy. I got ready for work and made coffee before heading out to West Middlesex Hospital for a 9:00 am nerve conduction study to check for possible carpal tunnel issues. The waiting room was calm and quiet. I felt fine about the test and just wanted to get it done since I had to be at work by 10:50. I made sure I wouldn’t have to leave the hospital later than 10:15, and if there were delays, I planned to call work.

The test started only five minutes late and, despite being told it would last twenty minutes, it wrapped up in just over five. Afterwards, I stopped by Marks & Spencer in the hospital lobby and picked up sausage rolls, a quiche, and a litre bottle of traditional lemonade. I waited a few minutes for a 117 bus and still arrived at work an hour early. I used that bonus time to visit Ballucci for a coffee and a cookie, did some journalling, and caught up on some blogs. The day was cooler and cloudy—a much more comfortable temperature for working. I always hope for an easy shift.

When I got home, Kathy’s new IEMs had arrived to replace the one she lost on Saturday in Warminster. We had a little trouble connecting them to her iPhone, but got it working fine in the end. For dinner, Kathy made meatballs and marrow from the garden (she had prepped the marrow yesterday by peeling, slicing, and storing it in water in the fridge), plus some soup. After dinner, we played a little music for a short while. I printed out a couple more Imber photos because the latest iOS 27 beta finally let Epson Print Layout software work properly again. One photo was a group shot with Leon Daniels, Malcolm Claridge, Peter Blake, and me.

By bedtime, I was tired but relaxed—a good finish to the day.

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A Day in the Life: From Blood Tests to Costco Runs

I was awake at six. Went out with my wife. She went to work. I went to the hospital for a blood test. Then a bus to a coffee shop. Priorities! Then another bus to Costco. Waiting outside for them to open at 10:00. 

Well, half an hour and £260 later, Costco shopping is done. Waiting for Uber now, as too much to get on the bus!

When I got home, it took me much longer to portion the meat for the two of us. Still, we have enough meat for 44 days. I also got yoghurt and cheese. I do prefer cheese from the cheesemongers, but the Costco stuff is better than regular supermarket stuff, and good enough for my sandwiches for work. Now, I think I might have a stroll to the pub for a couple of pints. I need to check when Amazon is arriving first, though. It’s Subscribe & Save Delivery Day.

I had 3 pints of London pride and a Lamberger and fries at the Queen’s head and then I’m on my way home because Amazon delivery flagged that going to arrive any time from 315 actually turns out that I’m more than one delivery but the first one only arrived at 5:15. But it doesn’t matter because I didn’t really wanna have any more to drink at the pub anyway. I feel quite tired, and I have to get up early for work.

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Staying Productive at Home: Bedding, Tech, and Gardening

We did consider going out today, but then we changed our minds and decided to stay at home and get some jobs done.

It’s bedding day today. Everything. Bottom sheet, pillowcases, duvet, mattress protector, the whole nine yards. We’ve ordered some new pillows too, and thrown away some old ones.

On the computer front, I’ve bought a new monitor. My old Widescreen ASUS still works fine, but I’ve had it for at least a decade, and it doesn’t do 4K or HDR, which I really need for photography editing and any video work I do. I’ve changed DACs too. My Topping DX! does a decent job, but there’s no balanced output, so until I decide what I want to get next, I’ve swapped it with a FiiO KA13, which does have a 4.4mm option. I’m using a Kiwi Ears Allegro Pro with my iPhone now.

Gardening: I’ve put some nets over the strawberry plants, and topped up the compost in the potato grow bags. Looking forward to those new potatoes in a few weeks. Runner beans, peas, marrows, and tomatoes are coming along nicely. 

Now, I’m sitting in the back garden with a coffee, on my MacBook, enjoying the sunshine for a while. There’s a nice cool breeze. Next I need to get a new umbrella for the patio, as this one has seen much better day

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Daily Life Updates: Coffee, Weather and Gas Works

I’m off today and tomorrow. I woke up a couple of times in the night, but I didn’t sleep too badly. I got up with Kathy and made her coffee and saw her off to work, but I’ve got a bad pain in my lower right back this morning when I move, it hurts, and I’ve had this pain there for some time on and off, but it’s particularly painful this morning and keeps giving me sharp Twins when I twist or move around. I’m sitting quietly at the computer at the moment, making some updates, writing in this journal, and thinking about doing some gardening later if my back feels better and the weather warms up a little.

Somehow, my main glasses ended up in the bed overnight, and one of the arms is broken, so I’ve had to tape them up. I’m going to be going to the optician before too many more months have gone by anyway, as I’ll be due for my annual eyesight check by the end of the year, and I like to get those done and sorted, new glasses, before my license renewal for my birthday.

Talking about the weather it’s a bright sunny morning outside the temperature at the moment is 47 Fahrenheit so it’s not too cold but it’s supposed to be in the low 60s this afternoon so I think I’ll wait for it to warm up a little and the sun goes round the back as well in the afternoon, so it’s likely to be a little warmer out there. I know I’m being a big softy, but so what?

I’m on my second mug of coffee, and I should think about having something to eat before too much longer, probably a bacon sandwich.

The gas people are working outside the little way up the street towards the small green at the moment, so they’re not right outside, but I can hear them backwards and forwards. They connected our new piping to the house. We had the gas off earlier last week, and that side of it is done, but they’ve got the work to do out in the street now, so we’re getting on with that. I spoke to the guy who came and put our gas back on, and he told me that the new plastic pipes that they were installing are guaranteed for 100 years, so let’s hope they last that long.

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Recovery Under Way

I’m not allowed to lift much. I’m not allowed to turn my head much. I’m not in any pain, just discomfort. I feel rather drained, but other than that, I’m fine in myself.

I have a ton of jobs to do around the house, but I cannot do the mright now. I wanted to get out in the garden and get some stuff sorted out, but it will have to wait.

What can I do right now?

Well, I can sit here and write like this. I can read books, blogs, and magazines, and I have many of each, so no shortage there. I can take myself out for a walk. That’s fine as long as it’s not raining or too cold. I can listen to music. I can watch TV, which is my case will mostly be YouTube videos of interest. I can do some photography editing indoors, and if I go out for a walk, I can take my camera with me. I could walk to the pub for a couple of beers, as I’m not on any medication that would prevent it. At the moment, though, I’m not really feeling like that.

Right now, after I’ve posted this, I’m going to go get myself another mug of hot coffee.

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My Thyroid Surgery Journey: From Diagnosis to Recovery

So the day has finally arrived. I was told initially that I would have this operation last February. I was told this the previous August, so it’s a six-month wait.

Non-urgent operattions are often pushed back, which, although this can lead to extra discomfort, and perhaps a longer time in pain, have to give way to the life -theatening events.

The whole thing really goes back about ten years or more. I started getting a cough. Not all the time, but sometimes when sat down after walking about or other exercise, or after eating. Down theyears it got slowly but surely more persistent.

I went to my GP. As I have a history of Acid Reflux, he prescribed an extra dose of Omeprazole. That didn’t do any good, and I didn’t really want to be taking more Omeprazole, as there’s some evidence that long-term use of it isn’t always good, in any case.

In 2016, I had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. In 2023, I mentioned this cough to my gastroenterologist, as I know that Crohn’s can effect the digestive tract anywhere from the mouth to the anus. He didn’t think there was any evidence that it was Crohn’s causing the cough, and he referred me to ENT for investigation.

I was also referred to the Royal Marsden Hospital, which is the UK’s leading cancer centre, to check if the cough was due to anything malignant. I waited a little while to get the result, but it was returned negative.

Meanwhile, I had a CT scan in ENT, and then a further CT scan that found nodules on my thyroid. Many people over 50 have such nodules, but in my case the nodules were growing inwards and pushing against my osephagus and my gullet. This is what was cause the coughing and it was gradually getting worse as they grew.

I was referred to the thyroid team at St. Mary’s Hospital, and after further scans, I was offered an operation to remove the offending part of my thyroid. As i said above this was originally, scheduled for February 2025, but got pushed back. I would have had ot when it was rescheduled for August 2025, but as I unfortuately had a major DVT in May, it was felt that August was too soon afterwards. It is generally felt that at least a six month wait after such an event is prudent, and safer.

So, I was then offered the date of January 16th 2026. I had to go through a number of tests and appointments to determine I would be OK to have the procedure done. Everything was completely and clearly explained to me, and I was a reassured as I could be.

As the day approached, I felt rather apprehensive of course. How much pain would I be in afterwards? What if I had a bad reaction to the annesthetic? It turns out there was no realy reason to worry..

The pre-op care was excellent. The operation went well, and the post operative care has been very good too. Im in a room of just four beds.

It’s relatively quiet, and I have no complaints about the food either. I have to stay in until at least tomorrow for observation, after which, if all goes well, I will be allowed home

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Under The Knife

This time tomorrow, I could be under the knife. I will certainly be in hospital in any case.

I’ve had this annoying cough for some years now. Lingering coughs should be investigated, of course, and it was.

I had a CT scan, which revealed extra growth around my thyroid. Then I was sent to the Royal Marsden for a PET scan to determine if I had anything malignant, and after a worrying wait, the result was negative.

It seems I have thyroid nodules, which apparently many people over 50 get. Most people aren’t even aware of them, but mine have grown inwards, pressing on my oesophagus and windpipe. This causes me to cough when I sit down after walking, and also after eating.

It doesn’t appear to be getting any worse, but it’s not getting any better, and it can be quite embarrassing when in public. Coughing my guts up for ten minutes in a restaurant, or on public transport, certainly gets disapproving looks and people moving away from me on the bus or train, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hopefully, the operation to remove these nodules will cure the coughing, which can be quite tiring for me at times, even when on my own.

There are risks, of course. One is that my voice could be affected, and the worst-case scenario is that I could lose my voice altogether. Some would welcome that, methinks.

Selfie with a coffee


Today, I can eat and drink normally. I can even have water and black coffee as late as 6 am tomorrow, and it’s fortunate for me that I drink my coffee black these days!

Hopefully, the postoperative recovery won’t be too painful or take too long, and I’ll be back in the swing of things soon.

Perhaps I’ll take up singing if this cough is finally dispelled.

What’s that? You’d rather I lose my voice altogether?

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Online Grocery Shopping

It’s so civilised. Sunday morning, make coffee around 7-8 am. Take it back to bed. Use my iPad to do the grocery shopping at Morrisons. Get up and have breakfast. After breakfast, usually 2-3 hours after placing the order, the groceries arrive. Plenty of time to make dinner, with some of what I’ve ordered. No need to sit in traffic, hauling bags on and off buses, and standing in lines at supermarkets!

That’s what I call Sunday shopping.

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Home Grown

Why so many potatoes, you may ask? 

I grew these myself in the backyard, and they are delicious. Even my wife, who would almost always choose rice over potatoes, said so. I didn’t say anything at first, but she commented on how good they tasted, and it was only at that point that I told her they were from the garden and not those from the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator.

Now, I’m no gardener. I don’t have that green-fingered luck that some have. Don’t we all know someone who seems to be able to grow anything, almost anywhere, with apparent minimal effort?

I didn’t pay too much attention to the instructions. I picked a patch of earth in my garden that I knew was in decent condition in terms of a reasonable depth of soil, but beyond that, I didn’t do any testing or add anything either.

I followed the planting directions and spaced them out, but other than watering them between planting in late March and starting to harvest them now in late June, I did nothing. Perhaps I would have got more potatoes from each seed I planted. Perhaps bigger potatoes? I don’t know, but I do know that these taste so much better than anything available from supermarkets or greengrocers. 

Now, I’ll see how the tomatoes are when they’re ready to pick, and then there’s the broccoli, cabbage, mini corn, red lettuce, and Brussels sprouts in the next few months.

I’ll report back. Watch this space.

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Out For Brunch

We got up around about eight this morning. I’d already been awake since about 615 and made some coffee and then we had a discussion about breakfast.

We got ready and got dressed and went out but not before I noticed that my leg was rather swollen and my right ankle, but we went out anyway.

My leg did feel rather sore as we were riding on the bus to Richmond. We went to Hagan coffee which is a new place on Hill Street and the coffee was good. They were very friendly staff and it was very pleasant coffee too and after that we walked down to Cocotte for brunch.

We had never been there before and we found the food was very nice and the total bill came to £55 which I guess these days is not too unreasonable. I had a ham cheese and mushroom omelette. Kathy had chicken and waffles and we had some Mac cheese to share between us and it went down very nicely and we had two of their freshly made juices which were really delicious.

We decided to come home as it was a bit cloudy and chilly and my leg was acting up. I didn’t really feel like walking around too much and so we came home and then I called 111 to see what I should do about my leg because it’s swollen from the foot ankle and the leg all the way up to my thigh. I waited a couple of hours or so and I did get a call back from a medical professional who suggested I should go to West Middlesex Hospital and get it checked.

At the time of writing which is 4:15 in the afternoon I’m laying here willing it to go away on its own and hoping it’s gone down a bit and I’m laying down in bed not because I feel unwell because I’m trying to keep the darn thing raised up.

I went downstairs and I watched some YouTube videos and Kathy made some dinner and I had a couple of cups of green tea and about 730pm, I was feeling quite tired so I took myself off to bed and I rapidly fell asleep.