Saturday

Good morning peeps,

Did you wonder where I went?
Ah, I wandered off. Been to London. Sudden appointment came up.

Anyway, on Wednesday I helped out at the community gardens and did an evening shift, and on Thursday I did the care home.

Yesterday was an epic day though.

I was given a short notice appointment for scans in London.

So yesterday morning I was up at 3am, it was meant to be 4.30 but I woke at 3 and decided it was best to get up. Those who know me know I need a lot of sleep and as little stress and change of routine as possible, so you know I am sitting in bed and medded up right now :)

Anyway, it wasn't such a bad thing being up so early as I had plenty to do before setting off, it just meant a fearfully long and stressful day.

So I got my breakfast and tea and a wash, I had showered the previous evening due to not planning on having time in the morning.
And I made sure I had everything on my little list, and  then I was off.

I drove Max down to near where I work, a few miles away, near the terminal. There is unregulated parking near the place I work there, it's an advantage knowing that but I hate leaving Max all day, I worry.
Anyway, from there I walked to the terminal in the biting wind, I told the wind that biting is wrong but it ignored me. The sea was a far tide but lively.

I was in good time for the next leg of my journey. And I had with me a new book, a writing book, to read eagerly.

Then that leg was over and it was still so dark and early.

I got to the coach terminal and there was a coach in but not mine. I get booked on assisted travel, which helps a lot, but it means I can't change to an earlier coach, so I had to wait and drink tea.

Eventually I was on my coach, reading my new book as the coach sped steadily to London. It's a long way but actually I seem to travel better on coach with assisted travel than on the train. I mean I recover better from coach travel than train. Any new readers, I get very ill from the impact of travel.

When I got to London I panicked slightly about finding my way to the place where I was to be scanned. But I was fine.

I got there and they were all so nice.

I did my forms, and then they did the physical assessment. Quite thorough. I yelped when she did something with my neck, I knew that would set it off. I told her so. She was very nice and careful.
When she had finished the assessment she went and got a man in a blue shirt, and he sat and talked to me and asked more questions. And he showed me spine pictures and he showed me four neck pictures, a good neck, a very bad neck and two in between. He said my neck won't be the good neck or the very bad neck, but one in between.

Then it was x-ray time. A different man did the x-rays. He told me that the level of radiation was low, it was like 5 or 6 hours in the sun, and then he grinned and said 'You spend a lot of time in the sun anyway'.

I had to take some of my things off and put an x-ray gown on. I want my own x-ray gown, they are dead funny.

They did neck x-rays first, including one that they call the 'funny' x-ray, because you have to open your mouth for it.

The neck x-rays went well, but they with the lower spine, the machine started playing up. When the man said 'oh, no' and went out of the room, I was sure it was the machine and not the state of my spine. It was the machine, it was having problems, so another man came in and re-set the machine and took over the x-rays.

The x-rays all got done. And I get the results of the whole consultation soon, I have to go back and discuss the results and see what can be done.

While the machine was blipping I glanced at the x-rays. My neck doesn't look wonderful, I am sure it shouldn't look like that. I am not versed in x-rayology but I know that aint a normal neck.

Anyway, then I was heading home after arranging a results session.

I hadn't cancelled my evening shift due to the short notice of the London appointment.

When I got on the coach, my neck decided it was going to start complaining about being handled, so I put my collar on, took painkillers and squash, and dozed off.

I must have slept for a large part of the journey, because next thing I knew, one of the co-drivers was phoning the police to report a crash on the opposite carriageway.

I stayed awake then, and we were on time which is good when you have tickets for the next leg that can't be changed.
There was another accident, quite a bad one, further on, but we got through.

The man at the kiosk asked why I was wearing my collar now when I wasn't this morning, and I told him about the neck injury and the assessment. He is the same man who was there years ago when I was a rough sleeper.

And then onto the next leg of the journey and finally the walk in the light snow, to collect Max.

And then I was off to work.

I got to work, they were on the phone and handed me a delivery without looking up. Unfortunately it was a cash order and I had no change and no float, so I thought that was a bad start. I had to tell the lady I would be back with her change, and she trusted me. So that was OK. But it got better, I was on all the long distance runs after that, and because I was tired, the boss said I could finish early, which was sensible. Driving needs concentration and alertness and I was pushing the boundaries by working after a day like that. Although, saying that, I didn't feel significantly sleepy or anything. Which surprised me.

I got home early and went to bed. The landlady's daughter and her friend were there but they were certainly not being a problem.

And to my surprise I woke at about 7.30 this morning, certainly in pain but lively and not feeling too terrible considering.

I am medded, fed, and sitting in bed, thinking about a shower before the girls get up and hog it.