A LOT OF WAITING AND SOME LAUGHTER! ;-)

I spent almost two hours on the phone this morning either waiting and listening to tinny music or trying to get some help for my forthcoming operation.  Suffice to say I was not too successful, but hopefully I may get some answers tomorrow.

I then had to go to the hospital for my Pre-Assessment checks and whilst waiting for the nurse, saw the tea and coffee trolley, so thought it would make a good abstract and was quite pleased with how it turned out using my iColorama app.

Despite having filled in a form very comprehensively when I was at home, I was eventually called in by a lovely Staff Nurse and asked about 300 questions about various aspects of my health.  I’m not grumbling about that, but I just wondered why I had to go through everything twice.  I know that things have to be done properly, but I do wonder why, in this digital age, these forms are still being handwritten!  Surely typed up notes are much easier to read than hastily hand written notes?  But mine is not to reason why and I just answered the questions put to me by the Nurse.

Then it was the turn of another Nurse, who gave me an ECG, weighed me, took my height details and we then discussed the merits of plain or milk chocolate - don’t ask why, but Mr. T would have been proud of me, as I told her I loved Lindt chocolates and especially the dark ones!  

Then came the interesting part - trying to get blood out of me - well the expression “Trying to get blood out of a stone” springs to mind.  When I showed this particular nurse my arms, she just smiled and said “No problem - I’ve seen worse arms than that”, but after two attempts in my right arm and getting nothing, she did look a bit disconcerted.  However, I said I was happy for her to try my left arm and BINGO, she got three phials of blood, so she was happy and of course, we mentioned Tony Hancock, who wouldn’t - and those of you who know, will know what I mean!

Mind you, I did ask her if she also knew about the Four Candles sketch by the Two Ronnies, and was very surprised when she said she had never heard of it, so I told her to look it up on Youtube - but for those who want a good laugh - and this sketch always makes us laugh - here it is!

There was more waiting when all this malarkey was finished, as I wanted to find out how to pay, so the lady on reception and another Nurse were trying to help me when the "Blood" Nurse came along and was playing with her blue rubber gloves - not one to miss a photo opportunity, I quickly grabbed my phone and took a shot and you can see this in the bottom right of my collage.

We then had a very long journey home as certain roads were closed and there were roadworks everywhere, but we were invited round to some friends for coffee, so that finished off the afternoon well.  

I have to go back next Thursday to have more blood taken - so no doubt another armful will end up in phials, but I’m glad that this is included in the total price at least, I hope it is!

“A pint?  Have you gone raving mad?
I mean, I came here in all good faith, to help my country.
I don’t mind giving a reasonable amount, but a pint?
Why, that’s very nearly an armful.”

From The Blood Donor, an episode of 
Hancock’s Half Hour first shown on BBC TV on 23rd June 1961.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.