I had to be at University Hospital Lewisham by 9.00am on Monday morning, so Sue and I booked a cab to pick us up from home at 8.00am. It was ten minutes late arriving due to the rush hour traffic ... and matters did no improve during our journey to the hospital. In fact, it took us an hour to travel under five and a half miles. Luckily, I was able to telephone the CT Department to tell them I was going to be late, and they were able to adjust the schedule to fit me in.
Having arrived at the CT Department, I was fitted with a cannula and given a litre of disclosing fluid to drink. This fluid lines the walls of the digestive system so that it is easier to see on the CT image, but it takes an hour to drink and leaves a metallic aftertaste in the mouth. Once the hour was up, I was taken to the room that houses the CT scanner. The actual process of scanning took less than ten minutes, and was rather like lying in bed on your back, with your hands above your head, whilst an underground train rumbles past.
After having the cannula removed (it had been used to feed a dye into my bloodstream during the scan), I then had to go to a separate department so that a blood sample could be taken. By this time it was just after 11.00am, and Sue and I decided to walk to the nearest cab rank to find a taxi to take us home. The traffic was much lighter than it had been during the rush hour, and we were home a little after 11.30am.
All-in-all, the day went quite well, and I should get the results - and know what treatment I will have to undertake - on Thursday or Friday.
The title I chose for this blog post comes from FOUR EPITAPHS, by John Maxwell Edmonds:
It was published in THE TIMES on 8th February 1918, and is sometimes confused with his later Kohima Epitaph:
The title was also given to the excellent 1942 film about an English village that is seized by a group of German Fallschirmjagers in preparation for an invasion, and how the locals resist and eventually overcome the invaders.
It is a film that I never tire of watching (much to Sue's dismay!), even though I read the book and saw the similar film THE EAGLE HAS LANDED well before I saw WENT THE DAY WELL? on TV.
Fingers crossed for Thursday/Friday.
ReplyDeleteWent the Day Well? was screened recently (Moving Pictures TV?). I caught the latter part of it. I too was struck by the similarities with the Eagle Has Landed. It looks full of good characters and has some great wartime messages. Next time I get the chance I’ll watch the whole thing.
Nundanket,
DeleteThanks for you crossed fingers. Hopefully, the news will be good ... but if it isn’t, I’ll do whatever is needed to get well again.
I understand that Jack Higgins once said that he had never seen the film before he wrote his book, and that the similarities were purely coincidental. Regardless of this, the two films are very similar, except that in Jack Higgins’ story the Germans are portrayed as being honourable soldiers rather than as stereotypical Nazi thugs.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob -
ReplyDeleteI guess any day that ends well went well, even though it might not have started well.
I've seem neither 'The Eagle has Landed' nor 'Went the day well?' - but you might be interested in 'The Eye of the Needle' vaguely related...
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI had serious concerns about the CT scan after some horror stories I’d been told by a couple of people who’d had a scan in the past (e.g. horrible tasting disclosing fluid, having to be still for twenty minutes etc). It turns out that the whole procedure has been improved recently, and other than the travel problems, everything went well.
I’ve read THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend both WENT THE DAY WELL and THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, although I think that the book of the latter is better than the film, even though Michael Caine’s depiction of one of the lead German characters is very good.
All the best,
Bob
Hello BOB,
ReplyDeleteI certainly wish you well for very good results from your Test this coming Thursday or Friday from your scans. I think I had something similarly done many years ago by being injected with slightly radioactive dye to detect Kidney Stones which were dislodged blocking both pathways- I had an Operation shortly afterwards at Liverpool Hospital. Now-days -Kidney Stones are dissolved by a process named Lithotripsy- it is done by a hi-tech Machine and your fully asleep and out to it ( which I've had several times over the past twenty years). Hope all goes well for you Bob. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThanks for your best wishes regarding my scan and test results.
It is amazing how much and how quickly medical technology has developed over the past few years. They told me that the CT scanner they used on me had cut the scanning time by two-thirds AND produced better-quality images. Likewise, if I do require an operation, it may well be done using robotic keyhole surgery, which reduces the time spent 'under the knife' and in recovery afterwards. Even the chemotherapy and radiotherapy methods have improved and are far more targeted that they were even a few years ago.
All the best,
Bob
Best of luck on your results.
ReplyDeleteMark Nichipor,
DeleteThanks for you best wishes. They are much appreciated.
All the best,
Bob
All the best for Thursday or Friday!
ReplyDeleteWent the day Well is one of my favourite films. It stands up really well after all this time which has elapsed.
Tradgardmastare,
DeleteThank you very much for your kind words of support. They are very much appreciated.
The film has stood the test of time because the story is a good one and the group of actors that they used seemed to be ideal for the roles they filled. There were no stand out stars used, which helped considerably ... and the scene where the timid postmistress kills the German in an attempt to warn the outside world is an excellent example of contemporary British filmmaking at its best. I somehow don't think that film producers in many other countries would have included such a scene and not allowed the heroine to be successful and to survive.
All the best,
Bob
Good luck with the results Bob. I've not had a CT scan, but have had several MRI's, which are very noisy, even with headphones on and, if you are claustrophobic, probably hell. The worst part is having to keep perfectly still and listening to Radio 2!
ReplyDeleteWent the Day Well is a superb film and I put it on now and then as it is an easy film to watch, but perfectly done IMHO. It's funny watching a young Thora Hird and other cast members that would become regulars on the tv in the 70's onwards. I often wonder what happened the the Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers that they used towards the end.
Steve J.,
DeleteCheers! I understand that the MRI scanners are noisier and slower than CT scanners, and also involves the patient going inside the scanner whereas the CT scanner passes over the patient, who stays still.
It’s amazing how many people also hold WENT THE DAY WELL? in such high regard. It was very well made, and featured a load of actors who later became far better known than they were in the early forties. I understand that Arnold Ridley (Private Godfrey in DAD’S ARMY) had a small part in the film, but I’m not sure whom he portrayed.
I assume that the soldiers from the Gloucester Regiment later formed part of the British D-Day attack force ... but it would be interesting to know what actually happened to them.
All the best,
Bob
Best wishes Bob.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteCheers! I really appreciate the support I’m getting from so many people.
All the best,
Bob
We are all wishing you the best.
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteCheers, old chap! I hope today’s election brings the result that you hope for.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for a good result
It is hard enough having the scan, without the added hassle of the taxi ride!
Anticipation is usually much worse than the actual experience.
At least you will soon know the results, and that will remove that terrible period of waiting.
best regards
Paul
Thistlebarrow (Paul),
DeleteThanks very much for your kind and supportive words. They are greatly appreciated.
Normally, I would have driven us to the hospital, but the parking is so limited and so expensive that taking a taxi made sense ... but I’d forgotten just how bad rush hour traffic could be, especially on a Monday morning.
You’re right about the waiting being the worst part. Once I know the result - regardless of whether it is good or bad - I can move on.
All the best,
Bob
'Went the Day Well' is a fabulous film, as you say, made by the very understated characters. The Nazis really are vile, which isn't surprising for a wartime era film, and I particularly liked the transformation in the officer as once he is unmasked he spends the rest of the film in an angry scowl. I suspect they are meant to be Brandenburgers rather than FJ, but some sort of underhand types in any case. A typically shabby nazi trick, as Captain Mainwaring would say.
ReplyDeleteA bonus is seeing British (well, disguised Germans) infantry wearing their raincapes in the pouring rain.
Good luck with your test results.
Martin Rapier,
DeleteIt is an excellent film, and I’m giving serious thought to buying a DVD of it so that I can watch it as and when I want to.
Are they wearing rain capes, or are they actually gas capes? John Armatys would know, for sure!
Thanks for your best wishes,
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteYour CT experience sound very similar to mine when I get my cancer site checked. I get a litre of 'contrast' to drink which I understand contains iodine. I wonder if that is the same as 'disclosing fluid'.
I am due my next scan in January (assuming whatever level of lockdown we may be in at the time allows) and they will no doubt check my partially blocked coronary artery at the same time.
Hope everything goes well for both you and me.
Jim
Jim Duncan (Jim),
DeleteThe disclosing fluid was clear, and looked like water ... but had a metallic aftertaste. It may well have been iodine, but I’ve got no idea what it actually was.
Luckily, the level of COVID-19 infection in our part of London is relatively low at present, and isn’t impacting on normal hospital services. Hopefully, the lockdown will ensure that situation continues ... but who knows what will happen?
I hope that your scan takes place as planned, and that it shows that your health has improved, and that your artery blockage is in a state of stasis or diminishing. Here’s hoping that we both get good results.
All the best,
Bob
A bit late Bob but I would like to add my good wishes to those already received. Jim
ReplyDeleteJim Walkley,
DeleteCheers! Thanks very much for your good wishes. It is appreciated.
All the best,
Bob
Ahhh hospitals are such fun. May it be a ling time before I have to bother one again and may your tests lead to the best outcome.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteCheers, old chap!
I suspect that your journey to your local hospital is much longer (in terms of distance) than ours was yesterday ... but probably just as quick!
I do not like going to hospital, but at least the quality of the service I’ve received has been top notch, and I know that my treatment is in good hands.
All the best,
Bob
Ross and Bob
DeleteHospitals used to be my bread and butter. I worked in an IT team which supported all the teaching hospitals in Edinburgh starting in the days before the internet. It wasn't unusual for me to have been in 4 or 5 hospitals on a daily basis.
There was even a time when I was visiting 3 hospitals as often as I could as both my parents and my older sister were all hospitalised at the same time, different hospitals of course.
These days I am in and out of hospital regularly, as a patient unfortunately.
Jim Duncan (Jim),
DeleteUntil I was five, I spent quite a lot of time in hospital undergoing a number of procedures related to my scoliosis*, and it left me with a bit of a phobia about going to hospital or visiting my doctor. Luckily, most modern hospitals are much more welcoming than the old Victorian ones, and I don’t get get the ‘fight or flight’ feelings I used to get.
I suspect that I am going to be spending quite a bit of time visiting the hospital in the future ... so I’m just going to have to overcome my negativity about them.
All the best,
Bob
* Because I underwent experimental procedures that involved twisting the bones in my legs and feet, and then setting them in plaster and in callipers. As a result, I was often ‘on display’ to medical students. They would examine me in detail, treating me like an object rather than as a child. Even though I was young, I came to hate them in particular and doctors in general. I suspect - and hope - that things are very different nowadays.
I wish you well in your results. it's a beggar waiting, as I know. Another vote for Went The Day Well. I used to work as book department manager for a well known High Street store and we had publishers reps visit us in those days. I still have the proof copy of The Eagle Has Landed that I was given to read. I like the way Jack Higgins makes it out to be a factual story.
ReplyDeleteJoppy,
DeleteMany thanks for your best wishes.
Waiting is a real b*gg*r ... but at least I shouldn’t have to wait too long to hear what will happen next.
WENT THE DAY WELL? seems to be very popular with a lot of wargamers. I read Jack Higgins’ book when it was published ... and read it right through in a single session. (I bought a copy in WHSmith on the way home on Friday night, and started reading it when I got in, stopping only to eat and go to the loo. I finished it at about 3.00am on Saturday.)
I met Jack Higgins some years ago whilst on holiday in Jersey. He had a permanent table in a corner of a restaurant in St Helier that we regularly used to eat in. By the end of the holiday we were on nodding and mumbled greeting terms, but never had a conversation. If we had, I would have had to ask him if Liam Devin was based on Frank Ryan, who fought in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
All the best,
Bob
Good luck with the results and next steps Bob. I had a scan a few years ago to check all was well with my head (surprisingly normal apparently!) but I was lucky to get an NHS appointment booked in at a private hospital in Wimbledon... lots of tea and biccies and my choice of music on the headphones!
ReplyDeleteWent the Day Well is a great film and surprisingly dark.
Alastair,
DeleteI’m glad that they didn’t scan my head. They might have discovered there was very little in it!
Our local area has three largish hospitals (University Hospital, Lewisham, Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital, Woolwich, and Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup), but very few private ones ... so my chance of being given the opportunity to be treated in a private hospital is quite small.
Yet another vote for WENT THE DAY WELL? I’m not surprised, as it is an excellent film.
Thanks for your best wishes.
All the best,
Bob
You are in my thoughts Bob, strange times, but know that there is a lot of people rooting for you. Now if you are writing a book about Pike and Shot I best start painting some of the 28mm beggars I have then ;)
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteCheers, old chap! Your kind words are greatly appreciated.
How quickly can you paint? I hope to get the book published by the end of the forthcoming lockdown ... so you’d better get started soon! ;^)
All the best,
Bob
Best wishes on your tests!
ReplyDeleteI confess I never heard of "Went the Day Well?". I wonder if it is more well-known in the UK? I have seen "The Eagle Has Landed" more than once. Hard to beat Michael Caine.
"Went the Day Well?" is something we are asking over here today. May be several days before we know for sure.
Fitz-Badger,
DeleteCheers! By Thursday or Friday I should now what is going to happen next.
If you enjoyed THE EAGLE HAS LANDED you'll probably enjoy watching WENT THE DAY WELL? Bearing in mind that it was a wartime propaganda film, it is surprisingly well made, and proved popular at the time and has since developed a bit of a following amongst those interested in World War Two.
As I write this, the US election result is too close to call. All I hope is that the result comes quickly, and that it satisfies the majority of the people.
All the best,
Bob