A few days ago I sent the
leccie and gas meter readings in to the power company. From being
comfortably in credit I suddenly went to being overdrawn. Over
brekkie I checked my emails to see that they've reviewed my readings
and decided not to change my monthly payments at all. I wonder what
that was all about.
I then spent a little
while feeling jealous. Some geocaching pals are currently on holiday
in Vancouver. It's a lovely place. I've been there twice with the
scouts and had plans to go back there again when finances allowed.
Unfortunately I doubt they ever will now.
I set off to work through
the rain. Today was rather damp. I can't really complain; the
weather's been really good recently but there are so many who never
seem to remember the weeks of sunshine.
As I drove the radio was
fussing about the
price of milk. Apparently there is consternation because milk is
being sold in supermarkets for less than it costs to produce the
stuff and consequently milk producers are going out of business. I
can't see how this works. Surely market forces would prevent this if
people truly want millk? Or (just perhaps) the entire concept
of "market forces" on which our capitalist society
is founded is seriously flawed?
Something else which is
seriously flawed is the way in which people from overseas are
entitled to no end of benefit handouts. For all that the Government
are trying to stop this, it turns out that the only way to prevent it
happening is to cut all benefits to everyone. Apparently it is
illegal to give handouts to deserving British citizens (who have
lived in the UK) for years and not to those who've just arrived
because that is
discriminatory...
I got to work, and for
the morning I was "sexy office girl"; a role at
which I was surprisingly good. At mid day I left and went to another
hospital where I had an appointment.
Some months ago I went to
my G.P. about a lump in my neck under my chin. A couple of months ago
I saw the cancer specialist at the hospital who referred me for an
ultrasound guided aspiration of the lump. That took place a little
while ago; at the time the ultrasonographer had a good scan all round
the sides of my neck. He was especially thorough, but after some
fifteen minutes I suggested he might like to have a zap at my
windpipe (which is where the lump was). He declined;
apparently air-filled structures don't respond to ultrasound
visualisations. The fact that my lump is actually up against my
windpipe (hence the pain on swallowing) didn't cut any ice
with this chap. He assured me that a palpable lump is probably
"referred pain".
After a lot of
ultrasounding he announced that I had some lymph nodes in the side of
my neck and asked if they were troublesome; I said no. He said that
I'd come to have an ultrasound-guided aspiration and so he was going
to aspirate those nodes. I suggested he might prefer to aspirate the
lump I'd actually complained about in the first place, but his mind
was made up.
It turned out that the
aspiration of the nodes which seemed to be fine was inconclusive, so
the specialist sent me back to the ultrasonographer for an
ultrasound-guided biopsy today. After a little waiting around the
chap had a good scan all around the sides of my neck again and
announced that the nodes he was worried aboout a month ago are now
insignificant. He said they were too small to biopsy; apparently the
dangers of doing so outweighed any potential benefits (the BMA
frown on mishaps involving the jugular vein).
So I've had the
all-clear. But...
It's an all-clear on
someething that was never actually a problem in the first place. The
lump under my neck still hurts when I swallow. I have another
appointment with the specialist in a fortnight or so. I'll see if I
can get him to have a look at the lump about which I went to him in
the first place...
Perhaps I should have
gone back to work after the appointment but I came home; I wasn't
feeling up to being sociable. I took "Furry Face TM"
for a walk to gather my thoughts, and as I walked so my piss boiled.
The shop over the road
was having a delivery of crisps. Only the van delivering the crisps
wasn't a crisps van. It was from a "specialist in retail
snacking solutions".
And then not fifty yards
up the roaad a council van pulled up. This van had an equally
ludicrous title emblazoned over it. "Bus stop cleaner"
would have been a more apt description.
Personally I would have
thought that bus stop maintenance would have been down to the bus
companies but it's not. Bus stop maintenance is something the
council contract out.
We didn't walk for long,
and once home I dozed in front of the telly. I'd only had an
ultrasound zap of the neck but I felt drained.
I could have gone out to
the Tuesday gathering this evening but what with my experiences of
the day I wasn't feeling up to the late night. Instead I stayed home
and slobbed in front of the telly. James Bond is on in a minute. I
shall sleep through that...
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