Sunday, October 29 – All Saints Day. Sunny with a chill. Clocks have just gone back. I drove Dot to St Luke’s for a Joint Service, where she’s playing. Afterwards she will be going to a concert at the Assembly House. I took her because she didn’t want to take the car to the concert, quite rightly, and is hoping for a lift. Des has been round with two large bags of compost, but I haven’t been able to locate the garage key to lend him our sack trolley. Oh well, as Peter Green would say. I’m feeling a bit fragile, although I had a good night.

Going back to last Tuesday, it was quite chilly by evening, but still mainly dry. Dot and I managed to put a new securing point on the catheter, plus a new leg bag. Complicated. Seems to work ok. In the evening after we had soup delivered by Phil Gazley, Dot went to the football match. Sadly, another narrow defeat, 1-2 to Middlesbrough. Watched more episodes of a dramatisation of the Yorkshire Ripper case.

Wednesday was mild, dry and sunny.  Felt very tired after morning drink and went to sleep for a couple of hours. Don’t know why. Dot went into city at lunch time for Jarrolds appointment, and ran into Kim, who had already rung me to see if she could come round in the afternoon. She actually arrived here about five minutes before Dot , and we had a nice time talking and drinking tea. Always very encouraging talking to her. Afterwards had the second jar of soup that Phil Gazley brought round, and Dot drove herself to orchestra in the absence of Janet. I wrote most of a possible article for my website and read a bit. When Dot got home we watched the penultimate episode of the Yorkshire Ripper dramatisation. If it was accurate, the police were hopeless, basing their whole approach on a wrong assumption.

Thursday – if it’s a hospital visit, it must be pouring with rain. Got up late; we left after lunch, and the travel was straightforward, though wet. Met someone we knew vaguely in reception (sugar organiser Polly) and didn’t have to wait long before I was called to one of the outside cabins, where I had three scans, including one where dye had to be injected. Lower abdomen, kidneys, bladder. Very pleasant woman supervising. No problems. Dot waited outside and did puzzles. We parked in the new multi-storey, which is relatively straightforward. Dot has it sorted. Back home before Bridget arrived to do cleaning. I had a feeling I was being looked after at the hospital; so although I had a stomach upset before I left home, I wasn’t too worried, and the stomach was ok. Earlier Dot and I watched the end of the Yorkshire Ripper saga – fascinating and frustrating. Bridget managed to smash up one of our photos. I cooked salmon, potatoes and peas and felt pretty well, but I got tired and went up to bed early. 

Friday was dry, cloudy at first. Didn’t feel too good in the morning, but ended the day feeling considerably better. My brother Phil called round at lunchtime, and we had a longish chat about our respective families. After lunch Dot and I  went up to surgery to pick up a specimen vessel for next Tuesday, then continued to Morrisons to buy food. Finished writing a piece on Israel for my website, then went out for street meet. Bit chilly, but not too bad. Later watched rugby. Not terribly inspiring. Date for Rosie’s funeral is Nov 17 – first day of our Quiet Waters retreat – but early enough that it probably won’t matter. 

Yesterday Dot went to a fete at Pilling Park, and bumped into Carrie and Judy; then went on to the Garden Centre, then filled up the car with petrol. I played through a month of En Passant chess games. After lunch Dot practised hymns for tomorrow and listened to football. Norwich lost again, 3-1 at Sunderland. Felt a bit ropey in the afternoon – possibly prawns at lunch. Ok later. Watched a brilliant new film on Apple TV – C S Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert – beautifully done, very moving and highly recommended. Think it’s also available on YouTube, among other places. Watched cricket as usual, then rugby World Cup final in which S Africa beat New Zealand 12-11. Lucky. NZ had a man sent off and were then denied a beautiful try by TMO.

Heavy rain overnight last Thursday. Woke up feeling fragile, but things gradually improved. Was expecting my catheter bags to arrive, but nothing transpired. Dot drove up to the chemist’s to pick some up from there, but they said they hadn’t got the prescription, at which point she got fairly angry. When she got home she rang Anne, to see if she could have a couple of Philip’s, and then went off in the car, intending to call on Anne, then move on to Saxlingham School, where she was due to carry out a DSSO visit. And that’s what happened. I got up, had a cheese roll and watched a bit of TV. Catheters are pretty uncomfortable, it has to be said.

Friday was Amy’s birthday. She’s a gorgeous 19 and having fun in Canada. In Norwich it’s been raining all day, but not as disastrously as in the rest of the country, where there’s been loads of flooding. No street meet of course, but Des got us some fish and chips. My catheter bags came this morning, and I had another phone call from the hospital. I now have three appointments: CT scan on the 26th, investigative op on the 31st and catheter removal on the 9th. Was up quite a bit today: we finished watching an excellent thriller called Payback. Still feel a bit doozy. 

Saturday was mainly dry. Dot went to Carrow Rd. City were 2-0 up against Leeds, but I (and they) went to sleep and they lost 3-2. England lost to South Africa at cricket and rugby. I cooked chilli con carne with extra meat. FaceTime with Amy and David. She showed us her presents and David said he was about to have extensive dental work: three crowns over six weeks. Not much fun. Got more catheter bags this morning!  

On Sunday the weather was much nicer. Dry and sunny. Rosie died early this morning. Dot went to church and did the prayers. Phil Gazley preached. Lots of people asked about me, apparently, and not in a bad way. Watched cricket and football, and Dot did some clearing up. I walked up to the post office with a letter (National Trust for Scotland renewal). Felt OK. Then Dot went to Taize service at St Luke’s and I cooked evening meal for her return (very simple: second day chilli). Started watching French thriller, Dark Hearts. Based on Iraq. Suspenseful.

Yesterday was mainly dry but autumnal. Mark is back home. Dot walked to the shop and with some additional steps got up to more than 6000.  I had a shower, which made me damply uncomfortable for the rest of the day. Watched an awful lot of TV. Catheter leg bag becoming uncomfortable. Must tackle fixing a new one. 

Today is very overcast with light rain, as I write just after midday. Had a bit of a panic overnight as my catheter didn’t seem to be functioning – but it was a false alarm. Had our hair cut this morning. Phone call from Judy, who is not well herself. Bad cold or covid. Rang dentist and fixed appointment for Dot.

Big storm threatening: it has just started to rain. Dot is at orchestra. I hope she’s feeling OK, because she had a stomach upset earlier. I have been feeling a bit down and was in bed most of the day, but I thought I’d come down and write this – as well as renewing my parking permit. Did not receive a reminder, but I did get a parking ticket the other day, in the midst of all the other problems. Will pay that soon, if they don’t let me off.

Things are a bit chaotic, but let me start last Tuesday, when they weren’t. It was fine and fairly warm. Dot drove out to Catfield for a DSSO session. Everywhere she goes people say they’re sorry she’s leaving, and they obviously mean it. She is a star. From Catfield she drove to Rosie’s. Rosie was a little more talkative, with a different carer. I was at home, of course, preparing for our retreat next month and sorting one or two other things out. Dot’s new radio arrived yesterday, and Naked Wines arrived just after lunch. She spent the afternoon writing up her reports – the bit she won’t miss.  Cake and Compline was at Claire’s; so there was a small gathering at ours first! Jude and Eleanor went with Dot, and I went with Phil. Full house – eight of us. Later watched England beat Bangladesh rather easily at cricket. 

Not in a position to write anything on Wednesday and Thursday; so let’s skip to Friday, which was a very wet day, especially afternoon and evening. Torrential rain as we drove back from the hospital by a strange route that took in Hethersett. That was around 5pm – not the best time, but I had just been discharged from hospital with mixed feelings, glad to be at home but concerned because I hadn’t been fixed.

I went into hospital on Wednesday with much blood in my penis and an inability to pass urine.  Very odd. In A&E for a long time, then taken up to Urology Surgery. Here I was seen by a doctor who seemed run off his feet. He left me with a catheter half-inserted, and when he came back he tried a lot of painful methods of getting different sizes in.  This resulted in quite a lot of bruising, especially when he used a camera. Eventually I was left to try to get some sleep, then early on Thursday morning I was moved into a different ward – Edgefield.

Happily I didn’t see that doctor again, but did see various nurses, nurse practitioners and a female doctor, who did their best to sort things out. I was in a private room; so that was good. But I was still in quite a bit of pain and disappointed that they were concentrating on getting a catheter in, whereas I wanted to know what the problem was to start with. (I still don’t know.) Had a little to eat and had some morphine by canula, which enabled me to get a fair bit of sleep. Situation was eased because Dot sat with me for quite a lot of the daytime.

In the morning she had been to Wreningham for DSSO, then bought some petrol. Meanwhile I was still getting a lot of pain. Eventually they decided to send me home with a catheter in place. Dot came to fetch me, but there was the usual long  wait. I was – am – still worried, but David on FaceTime cheered me a bit by saying it sounded like his kidney stones. At home had a hard time sorting out catheter bags, but I think we did it right in the end. Dot informed most of Norfolk about my plight (I’d had to cancel Bible study on Wednesday). On the plus side I’ve finished All the Light We Cannot See, which is a brilliant novel. 

Had a good night, but on Saturday the pain returned, off and on. Seems to be provoked by eating or drinking – but at the same time I’m told to drink more. Much nicer day outside, but cool. Dot went to shops to get something for me to eat. Had a shower. 

Tuesday – losing track of time. Weather over the last couple of days has been quite pleasant. Frustrating day in many ways. Still feeling quite groggy much of the time. Had several phone conversations: with woman on urology ward, who told me my appointment was on November 9, which was pretty depressing. She arranged for someone to phone me back (from Cromer!) who spoke to me for quite a long time and was fairly reassuring. I also spoke to the company that supplies catheter bags etc, and some are on order.  Oh joy. Dot went to the doctors and the chemists to pick up my statins – Dr Hampsheir has prescribed a smaller dose. She then visited Brooke school and called in to see Anne. I wasn’t able to get to the the Julian art PV, which was pretty annoying.

Phil came round and we had quite a long conversation. He had bladder cancer and so shared some of my experiences! After he went I looked at the car battery because Dot had had a warning sign. Brushed powder away but then found the parking ticket: obviously cheered me up no end.

Can’t remember much of Sunday and Monday. Dot didn’t go to church because I was still pretty bad. I had a very good Cocodamol night on Sunday and woke up feeling quite good, but the whole thing is a huge worry. Dot is brilliant. Today (Wednesday) not much fun because we were both feeling very tired. Watched cricket after lunch, and Dot had a stomach upset. I had a much milder version. She had to cancel a visit to Taverham School at the last minute and does not seem her usual perky self. I wonder why.

Sorry if some of this is incoherent. Just can’t remember in which order things happened. Main problem as far as I’m concerned is that my GP (who I spoke to on the phone) is very concerned about my TIA, which I’m not at all concerned about. But he doesn’t seem worried at all about the bladder problem, which to me seems much more critical. I am now on six pills a day; probably don’t need four of them, but I don’t know which four.

The weather has been very pleasant for the last week or so: dry and fairly warm since last Thursday, when Dot spent most of the day in the Cathedral at a DSSO meeting which included a trip to the first-floor gallery. I read quite a bit and wrote a piece for my website. Walked up to meet Dot at about 4pm. We watched a lot of TV after that, including cricket and football, and the first episode of a thriller, Playback, that seems extremely promising. Lot of head pressure later in the day, which is uncomfortable.

On Friday we meant to go to Swaffham for lunch, but Allan had a TIA (there’s a lot of it about) and needed to rest. Chose hymns with Dot. Went to shops: sale at Clark’s, which is closing; so bought a pair of shoes each. Also bought food from Morrisons. Felt quite well. Street meet with usual suspects: D’Souzas, John and his eldest daughter, Jonathan, Matt and Ciara. Des got us fish and chips. Phoebe has a French exchange student – seems nice girl: smiled and waved well, anyway. Phoebe looked happy.

Saturday was still dry and reasonably warm, but cloudy. Amy travelled to Canada successfully. Meanwhile Hamas invaded Israel from Gaza, killing loads of people: Iran possibly behind it, or involved in some way. Very worrying. Walked to Kim’s for lunch – had a great time. Lovely food – brought some home and had it for tea. Norwich lost 2-1 at Coventry, but Spurs won. Ireland beat Scotland convincingly in World Cup rugby, and unfortunately England managed to beat Samoa by one point.

The pleasant weather continued on Sunday. To church in the morning: played in the band, which was very large: Matt, Anna, Steve F, Phil, Adrian, Dot and me. Followed by church lunch (jacket potatoes) to say farewell to Jim and Sue, our Stop Oil enthusiasts, who are moving to Halesworth. Rest of day indoors; finished watching Black Snow, the impressive Australian thriller, and also saw some football, cricket and so on.

Yesterday was what I would call ideal weather: just the right temperature, with a mixture of blue sky and high cloud. I posted a card to Birgit in the morning, and in the afternoon Dot drove to Newton Flotman for a DSSO session. After a rest when she got home we both walked up to the Rosary, which is much the same, I’m glad to say. Des borrowed our sack carrier to move some bags of compost. Quite tired in the evening. Watched some football. Bed early. Started taking blood pressure again. Pretty low.

Last Saturday was warmer with some sun and a bit of rain in the evening. Watched the end of The Inheritance, which lost its way towards the finale. Went with Dot to football –Jonathan’s also there for the first time for many weeks. City beat Birmingham 2-0 and played quite well. Watched a documentary on Jupiter which seemed more conjecture than fact, despite a visit from Juno, a space vehicle.  Spurs beat Liverpool 2-1 with the  help of two red cards and an own goal. Makes a change for Liverpool to suffer from bad refereeing. 

Needless to say, this error has now escalated into an international incident, with Liverpool, the eternal victims, suggesting a replay. Since this would open the door to many more replays, I hope it will not happen.

Sunday was quite warm really. Went to church, played music and did a sermon which may have been OK, but I didn’t think flowed very well. Lots of solicitous inquiries about my health. Drove home and watched quite a bit of football, and Ryder Cup golf in the evening. Exciting (Europe won), but BBC coverage was messy and could have been better. Did quite a lot of clearing up. Later spoke to David, who had been at Roger’s exhibition at Creemore with Chrissy and the kids. He is much better, but still suffering from after-effects of whatever it was, as is Chrissy. Des brought some plants round for Dot, and I photographed some documents for David. 

Very overcast on Monday, but dry till around 4pm, then rain, becoming very heavy and prolonged. In the morning we drove to Ray’s and spent about 90 minutes with him till Ollie arrived (Lyndsey’s ex). Then home for lunch and out to see Rosie, who now has a carer with her all the time – Grace, in this case. Rosie seems very thin and hard to hear, but knows what’s going on. While we were there  Simon called (he rents a tunnel from Rosie) and Aran, a community nurse who spent some time with her. She is in pain but has no specific disease that we could make out. Afterwards we called at Waitrose and picked up some shopping, then drove home. Raining quite hard by the time we got there. Dot cooked delicious stuffed marrow, and we watched first three episodes of thriller Black Snow, set in Australia and very well done. 

Lot of rain in the air on Tuesday, but dry. Noticeably chillier, though. Drove to Town House for Archant breakfast. Chatted with Brian and Tricia outside – probably Brian’s last appearance, because his legs are very bad. Quite a good number there, including Steve Snelling, Peter Franzen and an IT guy who I didn’t really remember. Robin was late because of traffic. At home, caught up with chess games and picture editing. Watched Barbie, which I bought by mistake. Quite good, but not brilliant. 

Wednesday was reasonably pleasant, becoming warmer in the afternoon. Walked to church for Bible study, which went well; usual suspects, plus Ellie. Walked home again, just in time to catch Bridget finishing cleaning house. Dot did violin practice and went to orchestra in the evening. I checked car insurance with AXA and DVLA sites and found I don’t need to do anything about the alleged TIA. Norwich managed to revert to losing ways against Swansea in Wales. Missed lots of chances and lost 1-2.