Claire's Ketchup

I am pleased to say that after a long horrible journey here and a few blips since we’ve arrived, I have finally started to chill; which is a good thing because the day before departure was a very stressful one; Wednesday didn’t start well; I got up to have a wee and my prescription glasses slipped off my head and into the toilet pan just as I hit the flush bottom. This was a first even for me! Not the best start to the day you would agree and things didn’t get any better when I got downstairs only to notice that I’d lost one of the diamonds from my engagement ring. There was no chance of going to the gym because the day before we go away I like to change the beds and the towels; I also like to go away with an empty laundry basket so there was much to do. I managed to strip the bed and get several loads of washing and drying done before leaving for the hospital at half ten to accompany Phil for his appointment at the Out Patient clinic.

We arrived a little early; the waiting room was packed with mostly men all around the same age as Phil. Naturally Phil was nervous, and so was I on his behalf and finally after an hour of form filling and waiting, it was his turn to be seen by the consultant. He came out looking rather ashen and he didn’t need to say anything, I knew straight away that it hadn’t been pleasant. After some more waiting we were ushered into a room for a chat with the senior nurse. She explained that after an internal examination of Phil’s prostrate, the consultant wasn’t satisfied and wanted to do a biopsy. She explained this procedure and booked Phil in for this test a few days after we return from holiday. I was a little cross with the nurse because she then went on to explain the various ways they would treat the prostrate cancer, which in my mind, seems very premature seeing as he hadn’t even had the biopsy let alone received the results which could come back clear. Yes, I like to have all the info, but only IF and when it’s required. My phone bleeped with a text message but I waited until the nurse had left the room to get Phil a prescription for antibiotics only to pick up a message from Mads to say that Steve had been admitted to MK hospital that morning. I sent a text back straight away to ask what ward he was in as we would visit as we were actually at the hospital.

Mads didn’t text back so we made our way to the main reception to see if we could find out which ward Steve was on. No joy and they’d got no records so we went to A&E but again they had no record of his admission. Phil was looking a little peaky by this time so we fed the car park meter and headed for the car. On our way home Mads phoned to say that she was driving back from Terminal 5; I hadn’t realised she wasn’t with Steve when he was admitted and that it was Ed who had taken him in. Apparently Steve has been poorly with a virus for nearly a month. He’d been in the hospital the week previous and was released last Friday. I told Mads about Phil and promised to pop to the hospital a bit later. When we got home I had just enough time to do the ironing before heading back to the hospital. Phil would have liked to come with me but he had last minute solicitor stuff to sort which had to be done by 5pm.

Steve was on Ward 18 and I got there at quarter to 4. He told me that he’d lost a stone in 2 weeks and on seeing him, I could quite believe it. He looked awful bless him and was hooked up to a drip and was very weak. Ed disappeared for a bit and I had half an hour with Steve before Mads turned up. After a few minutes the porters came with a wheel chair and whisked Steve off for a barium meal x-ray so when he was gone Mads, Ed & I went down to the coffee shop. Poor Ed had been at the hospital since 8am and looked fairly done in himself; it was 5pm by this time and I had to make my apologies and shoot off. When I got back I had just enough time to set up BACS payments from the business account and then set off to Kingston to pick up my parcel from City Link. What a nightmare in the rush hour traffic but parcel retrieved I made it back at half six, just in time to clean my teeth, kiss Phil goodbye and meet Christine at the door. We’d arranged to go for something to eat at The Barge and Christine very kindly had offered to come and pick me up.

I very nearly cancelled our engagement earlier in the day because of time restraints but in the end I was glad that I hadn’t. We ordered a large glass of merlot and fishcake and chips and settled by the open fire. I hadn’t seen Christine in weeks and was keen to know how works were progressing at her new Surrey cottage. It seems that it’s been all guns are blazing and now she has now front gates, painted skirting boards and her second bedroom is now finished. Her new IKEA kitchen had been delivered and units already made up. The old kitchen has been ripped out, okay there were a few problems with gas pipes and electrics but all should be ready for her house warming party on the 28th. Shame we can’t be there but I shall look forward to seeing photographs of completed works. There was much to talk about and it was pretty much non stop until Christine dropped me back at quarter to nine.

I packed the little ruck sacks, well as much as I could and then phoned Sue to tell her about Phil. I was very surprised when Alan answered their mobile but saddened when he told me he was back in MK hospital having been admitted the day before because of another blockage. It was nice to speak to him although I obviously I’d rather he’d been at home instead of in another hospital bed but he sounded okay albeit a little tired. Sue came on the phone and I apologised for my timing; she was her usual cheery uncomplaining self but she did admit to feeling a little weary which is not surprising, having she’d spent 2 nights sleeping in a hospital chair. She assured me she was going home to sleep on Wednesday night and let’s hope Alan was discharged on Thursday. The ironic thing was that Steve was in ward 18 and Alan was in ward 19 and had I of known I could have popped in to say hi. You are both always in our thoughts guys, hope you know that, even if we are far away from home. xxooxx


Hearing news about both Steve & Alan (and Phil) in the same day rather dampened my mood and there was certainly no holiday excitement in our house that night. It seemed rather wrong to be jetting away on holiday when those around us are suffering in one form or another. But what can one do? I did some last minute jobs and waited for Phil to get back from his Wednesday night with the boys. Phil set the alarm for 5.45am and what with one thing and another, we were much later going to bed that I’d of liked. Harriet said that she’d drive us early to the coach station but she’d been acting as a taxi driver for her dad the night before and also collected Phil from the pub on the way home so I thought it only fair that I book a taxi and give her a lie in. I’m not sure that she actually got a lie in mind you because I’m sure we made lots of noise before we left so I hope we didn’t disturb you too much HH.

Phil has already blogged about the journey here which was pretty hellish from start to finish so I’ll fast forward to the here and now, which right now is The Falcon Guest House. I wasn’t expecting much but to be honest, it’s very clean, we’ve have got good bedding and we have hot water. The weather is cooler than we’ve known it from previous visits, there’s been lots of power cuts and last night we had storms and rains and then it got very humid. People tell me the weather was bad last week but I don’t mind the cooler temperatures, it gives us time to ease in gracefully and acclimatise. There have been a few blips especially on the blogging side of things; Phil was just beginning to chill out and revert back to his old smiley non-grumpy-old-man happy self but the internet saga escalated big time yesterday afternoon and such was his angst that I shall let him expand upon this. Otherwise no big dramas to report other than after a couple of fairly long walks my hamstring problem has got much worse. Its one thing not being able to run but another when you are struggling to walk. The pain on my right sight now goes from my hip through to my thigh and is now in my calf and foot. I’m not sure whether this is simply down to sitting on a plane for hours on end but if it’s no better tomorrow, then once we get South I am going to seek out medical attention.

My other niggle is my bloated tummy; I don’t know whether it’s the Kingfisher beer or all the chicken tikka masala and rice that I’ve eaten but I look like I’m six months pregnant! Not a good look! As I said our guesthouse is fine and I am glad we gave north Goa another shot; Calangutte itself is mental and certainly not my idea of paradise but I’m glad I’ve had the experience. I’ve agreed with Phil to stay 1 more night but and then tomorrow we head south. It will be good to be back on familiar territory and seek out old acquaintances. Worries from home will still be there of course, and will no doubt will still be there when I return, but for the next couple of weeks I am going to try and put these to the back of my mind, work on my tan, eat, drink, read and get plenty of R&R.