Sad news on a busy day

Quite a day for me today. I scarcely know where to begin the blog, so I guess begin at the beginning ...

I am still not sleeping very well, and awoke a little groggy for breakfast. The diarrhoea is still making life a little tricky at times, as we shall see later.

Rose came to visit in the morning, and no sooner had she arrived than my brother rang with some sad news; my Dad passed away last night. He has had alzheimer's for quite a few years now, but this year his physical health also declined and I guess his death is a release. Certainly we have had time to say our goodbyes over the last few years. I have scarcely had time to even think of happy times we had, but I am sure i will find time later. His funeral is Friday; I will not be able to attend which is a shame.

I had no time to think about this because the physio arrived and got me walking and exercising! I find that I can put more and more weight on my bad leg. I can stand with my weight more or less evenly spread between both legs. Also, I can almost walk, as in bring one leg in front of the other, still using the walking frame. This seems like an amazing advance from just yesterday.

Lunch arrived, but the catering standards slipped, and the scrambled egg was overcooked. Rose took a picture for me to forward to the manager! I realised that my taste has improved enough that I can eat a packet of cheese and onion crisps! Rose popped out for more snacks, and we got by.

And then, the porters turned up to take me for my MRI scan! They had to take me down on a narrow bed, because the department has only narrow corridors. I arrived a little early for them (they were running late), and had a substantial wait. Eventually they took me in. The scan would take about half an hour they said, but it seemed like much longer. For someone with diarrhoea it was a long time to sit still!! The machine is very noisy - they give you ear defenders and you need them. I was surprised to find that I could feel a very gentle tugging as the scanner moved over my feet! I finally got back to my room after two and half hours! Even a mad dash for the bathroom did not quite save me (maybe you think this is too much detail, I say: feel my pain).

The doctors tell me that my bad leg has an osteochondroma, and the MRI scan will tell if there is any infection there. It is not possible to say if the osteochondroma was always there, or grew after the 1992 incident, but either way it is moot now. It will be good if there is no infection, as it will take a long time (years) to treat if there is.

So finally I have some free time for remembering. My Dad was a great man, with a wonderful wit and genuine love of life. He was a workaholic, and I am sure I have his work ethic strongly within me. During the war he had to endure things that we can not even begin to imagine, and yet his spirit was never bowed. I shall cherish the memories of growing up in our hotel in Margate, his undoubted culinary skill, and continuous banter both preparing and serving food. I would love to tell some more, maybe another time ...