Day 11 (19/11/15) - Baggy's Wound is Uncovered and the ECG Removed. Boomedy, boom, silence, boom, boom.

Sleeping with the ECG attached was interesting. Baggy's brain is still stopping her from moving so that her stomach is protected, so as long as Clever Bird attached it on the side that Baggy wasn't sleeping on, all was good. However there are three sticky pads monitoring Baggy's heart, with sticky-out metal bits that the wires attach to. One was on her breast-bone above her boobs, the other two were on either side of her rib cage. So when Baggy lay on her side she was lying with the pad effectively sticking into her ribs. But that wasn't too bad until Bracket decided to lie on top of Baggy then it pressed in quite a lot. But Furry Mama couldn't bear to boot Bracket off. Actually Baggy slept well. Boom, boom, boom, boom.

Freda Fretter was a little worried about taking Baggy to the Doctors to have the dressing taken off her wound. Boom, boom, boom. As Baggy sat in the waiting room Freda caused Baggy to have a hot flush. Boom, boom, boom. The appointment was on time for once. The ECG wires were moved to one side. The Nurse started to pull off the very sticky, very large dressing. Boom, boomedy, boom, boomedy, boom, boom. Ouch!

Clever Bird looked at the scar. Apparently it's healing well. But yuck. Freda Fretter shouldn't have looked as well. Of course, on leaving the Doctors with the wound uncovered for the first time, Baggy's trousers, (albeit very loose, elasticated, pre-weight loss ones) seemed to be really rubbing on the raw bits. But in spite of the seriously inclement weather, Calum suggested that we have a pootle around the little town of Hadleigh as he and Baggy were feeling rather house-bound. Two hours of pootling and a cappuccino later, Baggy started feeling very spaced-out and breathless. Boomy, boomedy, boom, boom, silence, silence. Boom, boom, boom. Time for a sit down. Another café. Another cappuccino. Boom, boom, boom, boom. More pootling. Creative Clara spotted a clothes shop. Baggy got treated to two gorgeous, loose-fitting winter dresses so that Baggy would feel good about herself and be comfortable because they don't rub on her wound. Besides, it's Baggy's 56th birthday tomorrow and she's worth it. Lawrence will be 56 tomorrow too. Creative Clara hopes that he's happy in his new life.

By the time this little shopping spree was over it wasn't really worth the one hour round trip to go home. So another couple of hours were spent mooching and having a cup of tea in yet another café with a friend Baggy bumped in to en route. Back to the Doctors, only to be told that there was no afternoon appointment booked for Baggy. Boomedy, boomedy, silence, boom, boom, boom. Fifteen minutes later an appointment appeared as if by magic. Boomedy, boom, boom. More stickers ripped off. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Then the Nurse told Baggy that the Doctor had requested that she have an instant ECG. More pads stuck back on. More wires attached. Boomedy, boom, boom, silence, boomedy, boom, boom, boom. ECG done. It wasn't normal. Quelle surprise! It showed a very irregular heartbeat. Boomedy, boom, silence, boom, boom. No surprise there then, eh Clever Bird? But the Nurse said that she needed to show the printout to the Doctor. Hmmmmm! Calum looked very worried. Baggy pretended not to be. Boomy, boomy, boomedy, boom, boom. Five minutes later the Nurse reappeared saying that the Doctor was happy with the ECG. Clever Bird decided that presumably it was no worse than when he'd felt Baggy's pulse a week ago. So, clearly abnormal, but hopefully not about to pack up.

Home to the furries and a log fire. And a letter from Ipswich hospital asking Baggy to attend a pre-op. assessment meeting in four days time for her cubital-tunnel surgery. on her right arm. This is a fairly minor operation that takes the ulna nerve out of the cubital tunnel on the elbow and moves it round to the front of the arm. but it's still a thirty to forty-five minute operation under general anaesthetic. An anaesthetic that the Anaesthetist might not want to give Baggy so soon after the last one, knowing that she has a dodgy ticker. But the best plan as Clever Bird has pointed out is to assume that Baggy will be having the op. and to go and discuss it (honestly) with the Consultant........