h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mrs Vestie has been waiting for surgery since last autumn. Then, with two weeks notice, we were given a date for 30 May. I booked time off work to help (or hinder - depending on your view of me) her recovery. A letter arrived from the hospital a couple of days before saying that the op had been cancelled.

We waited for a new date. This duly arrived as 20 June. Then just before the op we got a letter cancelling that one and were given a third date of 27 June.

We await with bated breath... My supervisor has had me change mhy leave dates twice over this - I don't want to do it a third time. And what it's doing to my wife is desperate.

Blimey. *crosses fingers*

"Schedule your own operations: Do them yourself!"

Or get Dr EV to do it....

How many times? I'm not a doctor of medicine!

Then what are you a Doctor of?

I'd quite like to be treated by this : http://www.dr-bob.org/

No envelopes from the hospital so far so keep fingers X'd.
EV, you can operate on me anytime you want!

Mrs Vestie is a little pickier than me about surgeons though. She prefers them trained.

Thanks for the kind wishes folks - we'll keep you posted.

It's amazing how the number of horror stories about waiting times and cancellations increases in direct proportion to the number of speeches made by government ministers saying how the NHS is getting better all the time (my mother's been given a similar runaround recently)

Got my fingers crossed Vestie

Thanks Trin. I hope you mother has been sorted.
The first time the Surgeon's wife had a baby and he inconsiderately wanted to see if it was a boy or a girl or something - like it matters!
The second time a woman was having a mastectomy and wanted a reconstruction done at the same time. Aren't some people just so selfish!

Anyway, don't worry we've dealt with them. They are both off our Christmas card list.

We were slightly worried at the time that the NHS may have said "Look,don't worry! We've got a lad here on work experience who says he saw it on ER and thinks he can do it for you. We're just trying to find a video of that episode so he can remind himself."

Well, that would certainly speed things up Correspondingly, I suppose the refusal to 'rush' and to cancel and reschedule if they have to is a good sign on the medical team's side of things. Even if it's a rubbish sign on the mangement's side of things.

I wonder how many ER viewers harbour the secret belief that they actually *could* do a tracheotomy if they really had to and the chips were down because they once watched Carter do it? Slightly worrying. I have visions of choking on a crisp and having someone rush up with a steak knife and a biro saying: 'don't worry son, I've watched that episode at least four times.'

*fingers crossed*

& !

Mrs Vestie was a little maudlin yesterday and got to talking about what to do if she died on the operating table. I listened to her saying that she wanted the docs to take anything that would be of use to anyone else and at the funeral she wanted people to be honest about her.
I summed it up by saying that she wanted to leave her toenails to medical research and we'd have a time in the funeral for everyone to slag her off. She laughed at that and I felt a bit better.

Still no word from the hospital so we hope we're on for Monday/Tuesday.

Well, no post tomorrow ... *crosses more fingers*

*crosses fingers and toes*

luck!

I'm feeling really nervous for her now. She's due to go in at 11 am (British Sumer Time) tomorrow morning. We know of people who were in pre-op fully gowned and pre-medded who were told their operation had been cancelled, so we can't be sure until the operation actually starts.

Greetings, it's just after 10am and I'm edgy as anything. Mrs Vestie got an earlier time for the op so she is in theatre as I am writing this. I tried to phone her this morning before she went to be operated on but in my haste fell down the stairs. Judy (the dog) and Vestie Jr turned up mildly amused while I was trying to work out whether all of my vertibrae were still in the right order.

When I got to the phone she'd already gone. She'll probably be there until about 2pm.

At least the waiting's over.

I'm glad she's gone in, and I hope that everything goes well. *crosses everything crossable*