Saturday, May 9, 2009

Congratulations you may eat pie!

Cutting a long story a little shorter the GP tought that it was weird I was having chest pains and given my family history sent me off to get checked out. Now Sheffield is a good sized city but it has some of the best hospitals in England in it's boundaries. Off I trot to the Northern General, anyone who doesn't know the Northern (NGH) it used to be the work house in Sheffield and is a mass of huge buildings sprawling over a massive site in the North of Sheffield.

The NHS gets slated for lots of things but for me they couldn't have been better. Walk into x-ray, 5 minutes later i'm resting my chin on state of the art machinery and 2minutes after that I'm out and looking for the ECG room. Round the labyrinth of corridors up stairs down stairs and in. 2 minutes later I'm having pads stuck all over me, anyone who knows me will know that i'm part man part bear so the prospect of sticky pads is not filling me with love. Beep whirr the machinery goes, "I'll just check that's all we need" goes the friendly nurse. "Yes that's fine" she says as she walks back in, now how's this going to happen? Will she remove the wires then the..............ooooooooh that smarts............ow..............so it's everything coming...........ow off at.......mmmmmm didn't like that bit of chest hair...............at once then. Corr blimey it was worse pain than the one in my chest.

Two days later i have some bloods done by the nurse at the GP's. This I was convinced was going to show high Cholesterol and possibly the start of diabetes.

"Nick, we've got an appointment at the GP's tomorrow" Wendy never phones me at work and never with a panic in her voice. "Bl**dy hell they're making us an appointment, I'm guessing it not good news then!" But Wend didn't know, just what time and where.

For some reason the corridor at the GP's surgery wasn't working. As I took a step the door got further away, it felt like a mile rather than the 5 metres (sorry for mixing my units) it really was. We'd been called through and were coming to the door now, open the door and there's someone int here already, shut the door sharpish in embarresment. False start. Phew it was a receptionist.

"Well the results of your ECG were good and your bloods have come back as being clear too. Your choloesterol and blood sugars are normal", "You hear that Wend cholesterol is fine i can eat more pies, excellent". Not sure Dr. Hilditch was expecting that but she took it well, she was looking concerned and a little apprehensive. "It was the chest x-ray that has shown an abnormality." Abnormality, what's she on about I feel pretty good except for this breathing lark. I can kind of see her talking to me and I take in some of the information like there are a few options it could be, the headline act is it could be cancer. It could be a bit of testical...... I'll leave that one I think or it could be something left over from my embryotic stage (possibly the testical bit but it's kind of blurred now). "Within two weeks you will see a consultant at NGH and there will be a cancer specialist there as well as a precaution. I'm sorry it's not brilliant news." Dr.Hilditch did really well, enough sincerity without being simpering and enough emotion not to come across as being cold hearted.

As you may imagine the arse fell out of my head at that point. I had been thinking why do they want to see me, what could it be? A little voice in the back of my head had said it's cancer but I had dismissed that as I had never smoked more than a handful of cigarettes (I had a Clint Eastwood cigar thing at one point when i was much younger which lasted one packet). My mum had breast cancer when i was about 14 but as far as i know there is no link between families. Could it be hayfever playing up and I don't know a lump of pollen getting stuck......... slim, kate moss slim but still a theory worth hanging on to!

Wendy had come with me to the GP's and so we were both shell shocked. After a cup of tea (it's the British thing to do) we drove over to my parents new home. Mum knew, she stood at the top of the drive and just looked at me. There has been talk in the recent years about us moving to New Zealand or Wales (no it's not a sheep thing) and my dad asked where were moving to. Mum had that look though, it's during a school day and we're there talking to them, something is up.

Over another cup of tea we explain as far as you may have read on this very cathartic (for me at least) blog. So the first of many less than cheerful conversations. "Are you going to tell Viv?" Oh bother I hadn't thought of that. Viv is my younger sister and she is going on holiday at the weekend, last time she went on holiday she had a rubbish time due to one thing and another so I decided that until we had the facts I wouldn't tell her or her husband Dave.

So now the waiting begins.

1 comment:

  1. Pies! In Sheffield?
    Now we really don't
    mean to upset you Nick,
    but as in many a Yorkshire
    V Lancashire matter you
    must know that us folk from
    Lancashire - especially WIGAN
    are the pie experts! We will
    bring you a special one over,
    it will make your toes curl!

    We have had the Queen over to
    Wigan today, she was given a
    tour round the famous Heinz 57
    factory, followed by a inspection of
    Uncle Joe's famous Mintballs!
    We will bring you some of those
    too, they will make something curl,
    not sure what though!
    Sarah & Mad Wigan Geoff xXXx

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