Radio Silence

 Still waiting for Manx Telecom to connect our broadband znd Internet.   May be 5th January if we are lucky.

In the meantime I shall be absent from here as I don't have much data allowance on my mobile.

Hope you all enjoy your festivities,  whatever you'll be doing.

We Have Keys!

P collected the keys on Friday and has spent the past couple of days ferrying boxes and small items of furniture up to the house.  Thank goodness it is only around the corner from here.

I have been very frustrated being confined to the sofa here but as I am no longer in pain and the wound doesn't appear to have been bleeding  I asked him to drive me up there to take a look around.

I took a few photos to remind myself of room sizes and configuration etc so thought you may like to see some.  Excuse the mess. 

(That is a waterproof TV on the wall at the end of the bath 😶)

Plastic Surgery

I am not going to bore you with a blow by blow account of the gory details but my lesion excision and biopsy went well yesterday,  thanks to the Plastic Surgery team at the Cottage Hospital.  The utterly charming Professor Rai and his team of wonderful professional, kind and supportive nurses all did their utmost to put me at my ease.  They are a shining example of all that is great about our National Health Service.  Not for profit but for the patient.

I was impressed by the little hand held buzzing device that the surgeon held against my leg to block the pain whilst he injected the anaesthetic.  Apparently it works by blocking the pain signals from travelling along the nerve to the brain. What a great little gadget.

The lesion was quite large and the healing and recovery process is going to be longer than I originally anticipated.  Two weeks of complete rest at first, keeping my leg raised as much as possible and six weeks of further care before it is properly healed. No walking around and just limited activity for a while.  I should get the biopsy results in a couple of weeks and feel hopeful that further surgery will not be required.

Although only a minor procedure it has still caused some pain, discomfort and inconvenience,  however, for me it is worth it if it means that I am less likely to become seriously ill from skin cancer.

I really do not understand how so many people are willing to put themselves through far more invasive procedures purely in a quest for youth and beauty.   It seems like madness.

P has been looking after me since the op.  He made lunch,  endless cups of tea with hobnobs and paracetamol and even braved the rain last night to get a takeaway.  He's a softie at heart really.

Timing

I have just had a call from the hospital to tell me that the appointment to remove the lesion from my leg is 8:30 this Thursday.

The day before our house completion.

I was told that I shall need to avoid touching or accidentally knocking the wound for a couple of weeks whilst it heals.

That should curtail my house move activities a little.   I shall just have to supervise instead.

Oops.

I decided after lunch today that I would get on with writing all the Christmas cards as we are likely to be busy packing and moving very soon.

An hour or so later I felt very pleased with myself, with a pile of cards duly enveloped, securely sealed,  addressed and stamped.

Until I realised that I was supposed to have enclosed the change of address notes that I have yet to print off.

Silly me. 

Typical December Day

... weather wise anyway.

Woke up late this morning after a restless night.  The "suspect" mole on  my leg was itching like mad and keeping me awake.  Much as I dread scalpels and blood I just want the thing gone now.

It was blowing a hoolie outside with horizontal rain so we gave up on the walk into town and got the car out instead for the 3 minute trip to the Co-op store for the Saturday newspaper and some fresh fruit.

Although it has now stopped raining it is still windy and a sharp overnight frost with icy roads is forecast.

I have  a beef stew bubbling in the slow cooker,  some olive sourdough bread warming and the Croft Particular is about to be opened.

Tomorrow is another day as someone once said. (Wasn't that connected with wind too?).

Festive

We don't usually bother too much with Christmas trees and decorations but last week I saw this fellow in a  shop window and thought he was quite sweet.

He is now on the mantlepiece, reminding me that we are supposed to be starting to feel festive as it is 1st December.

That is the extent of our decorations for this year (although I am sure we may be tempted to be less Scrooge-like after the move).

Ho. Ho. Ho.