Dear family, friends and ‘followers,’
This time in a week I will be under the knife. Consequently, I anticipate a bit of a hiatus in this blog, as there will probably be this week-end owing to the wedding, honeymoon etc (I’ll try to update you on these events next Monday when we’re back, not least to help keep my mind off the op next Tuesday morning…)
Anna is going to post a bulletin every day that I’m in hospital (anticipated to be May 12-17 inclusive), briefly keeping you updated with how I’m getting on.
I’ve only been told in very general terms about visiting hours. I won’t have anything more specific until I know which ward I’ll be assigned to post-op (apparently each ward keeps its own hours.) However, the general rule seems to be two hours a day and max two visitors at a time (we don’t even know whether this also includes / applies to partner/ wives). Anna will post visiting hours in due course.
In terms of visitors. I would in theory love to see folk, but only in the right conditions i.e. I am not in pain, high on morphine, thoroughly depressed etc.
So Anna and I have decided the best way to manage visits is that for the five days I’m in St Mary’s (that might change) is for her to act as gate-keeper; so that, for example, not too many people turn up at the same time only to find they won’t be admitted because there are two people with me already. So, if you really want to come and visit me, please email her ahead of time on
annahartnell@hotmail.com
or text her on 07789 886265
Please only use these contacts if you want to visit and rely on her daily bulletins for all other information. She is going to be extremely busy while I’m in hospital, not least with Maddy care and I don’t want her overwhelmed.
To be honest, I may exercise my prerogative as a grumpy old (and vain and proud) man and decide I don’t want any visitors until I’m back home and convalescing. It all depends how I feel after the op. Please don’t be offended if you learn this is the case. You have been utterly amazing in all the support you’ve offered and I couldn’t have got this far this relatively unscathed without your love and help. But it may be that I decide I just want to recruit my strength and not get tired, so I can get home all the quicker.
Further down the line, and assuming all goes to plan, I anticipate winding down this blog towards the end of May (when life gets back to something like the normal routine.) I’ll post on special occasions, like Maddy’s birthday in June, and when my lugs are next scanned but I don’t want to bore you with the mundanities of my life as it returns to ‘normal.’
However, given that I am (allegedly) ‘incurable,’ I anticipate that the posts of April 02 – May 11 will only be the first part of the blog. In the event that my oncologist puts on his / her black cap, I will resume posting for as long as I can.
Therefore, if you want to get what will be intermittent updates as they happen after 01 June – please ‘follow’ me. It’s so easy to do – just follow the instructions in the ‘posts’ entitled ‘Following’ (see left hand side-bar / menu on the blog)
Lots of xx Bart
ps: a proper ‘post’ follows later today
oftherightkidney 