It's a miracle!

Ok, that's an exaggeration, but in a way it really does tend towards the miraculous. It's all going so fast, I can hear so much better when wearing my CI! So much so that only wearing my hearing aid on the right ear seems next to useless to me now. How have I survived up until now?

It has been a while since I've posted here. I have had two setting adjustments made since last blog. Those are quite fun actually. The audiologist wires me up and fires beeps and peeps at me. I have to tell him which is the loudest - first or second. It's quite hard because each peep has a different tone so I've not to say which is higher or lower, just louder - or say if they sound equally loud. I think the intention is to bring them all to an equal level... not really sure though.

Just a wee box to carry it all home in!

I also now have my own CI and have returned the one that was on loan. I feel very privileged because I have been given not just the Rondo but also the Opus 2 - the one for behind the ear. It's a promotion deal that is running right now - 'take the Opus 2 and we'll give you the Rondo' !! So should I have an accident, or lose the rondo, I'm well covered (although the Opus 2 still has to be tuned in). It all comes in a ridiculously huge box. Wee hearing aid you say? Sure, here you are.

A whole briefcase full of bits and bobs

After being seen by the audiologist it's time for speech therapy. I don't have any score for last Wednesday but this Wednesday past I got 72%. That's 72% of words heard without seeing the face or mouth at all. I wish I had a comparative number from before but whatever, 72% is pretty darned good. I still have a tinkly sound that accompanies every word or sound I hear above a certain level, but the actual sound I hear is more and more 'normal'.

We have 'homework' to do, which consists of James reading out a list of words and/or sentences behind a jiffy cloth hanging over a bamboo skewer (good wee invention there J) and counting up how many I get correct. The sentences are a bit silly and it's hard to know when I'm not just 'filling in' (as you do). There's also an element of just remembering from the last time, when you hear one or two words. But we are persevering as it's good practice.

Pretty darned snazzy!

This week's lists are about vowel sounds and to see if I hear the difference between 'ij' and 'ei', 'eu' and 'ui' etc (Dutch remember). Subtle enough differences for hearing folks! And of course depends on the speaker pronouncing them correctly too ;) But I did very well... practically 100% and that was with the CI only... no hearing aid in.


We then tested how I manage if I have my back to J. First without the CI and only my HA (no point trying without the HA too, we know I barely hear anything). I heard the first bit, then blablabla, bladibla. So I know there is a speaker but not what is being said after the first couple of words, and those were a guess really. Then I switched the CI on again, and it was all as clear as a bell! The whole three sentences. Felt quite emotional at that. Wonderful eh?

Bird song is more and more natural sounding. The sounds of a full aviary from the CI are still there, but are less and the birds are coming through more distinctly as time passes. So a lot of it is just 'getting used to it' and my brain adjusting to things. There will still be a bit of adjustment to be made though I'm sure.

I've discovered that the audio loop for television via the CI is miles better than what I've been listening to for years with the HAs. Despite the tinkling in the background it's all so much clearer!

I've been listing 'new' sounds like birdsong but to be honest they're few and far between as I know how things sound if I ever heard them, they just sound better now. The frying pan doesn't half make a racket when cooking with it, that's a fact :)

Music has slightly improved but I want to try listening to Stevie Wonder again... just because that was the first music I listened to. If I use the same sounds I can compare better. It's just all very interesting and engaging and quite comical as I know I'm cocking my head at angles all the time with 'oh, what's that noise then? Ah, the chair creaks!' haha And boy does that bloody chair creak... did not know that!

Me wearing my nice grey CI

I tried the telephone, but that's not too great yet... maybe have to practice more. I'm so used to not answering the phone or using it for voice communication at all. I mean, sometimes I can hear just enough to pass on a message or make an appointment but it all depends on the person on the other end of the phone, how their voice sounds to me, how patient they are are at repeating things and what volume they speak at, even when they know I am HoH. So I have avoided it for a long time as no fun at all. J is my appointed intermediary... not his favourite occupation I have to say.

Next appointment is Wednesday 5 March, then there is a fortnight with no appointments, followed by two in one week... for some reason or other :)

Almost a full auditorium

Large live subtitling was available.

Last Tuesday was International CI Day... a jubilee anniversary celebrating the 300,000 CI operations world wide since the start... 5,000 in NL. There was an 'open day' at UMC for it, with speakers and stands etc (Med-El, Cochlear and others representing their goods) and we got presented with the history of the CI which was very interesting. We also got to see a live CI operation... performed by the surgeon who operated on me too, with the surgeon answering questions right there and then. Pretty fascinating, but just as well J didn't go as there was no escaping the huge screen showing how things were done... he wouldn't have liked that even a little bit :) We later had the chance to ask more questions about it all.

Just to prove the ear went back on nicely ;) 

We were given the current results on a study of bilateral wearers of a CI. This was set up to help convince insurance companies to cover the cost of two and not just one CI (I had volunteered to take part in the study but my hearing wasn't sufficiently bad when it started). The first year's results are as expected - it is of course far more advantageous for a person to wear two. Study not completed yet but I'm sure it will continue to prove the same under any circumstances. It will then be up to the insurers whether they cover things or not, but they won't be able to deny being told.

It was rather strange being in the company of 200 CI wearers! Most with just one, a few with two and of course a few interested parties including some who were booked for the op shortly. I met up with folks I've corresponded with for a while already and was introduced to others. Was a nice afternoon ending in drinks and snacks. I didn't stay long as I wanted to catch the commuter bus direct to Almere from the door of the hospital. I did find out from one of the stands that directional mics I've had for years already, are compatible with my CI. I will be digging them out and trying them, to see if and when I can use them at all.

Almost forgot to mention that I can pretty much hear everything my grandkids are saying to me without even bending down to them. E was visiting with F and it was really cool to hear him chatting and singing like a linty. We also went with all three boys to an indoor soft-play place which wasn't the cacophonous nightmare it would normally have been - well, it was cacophonous, just not a nightmare :) It ain't perfect yet, but it's heading that way.

I perhaps should repeat if I haven't said it before... nothing, but nothing, can ever replace good hearing. If you're reading this, be aware that I and others are still deaf or HoH if not wearing aids of any type, and even the best and most fantastic results of a CI are only a smidgen in the direction of how 'normal' ears function - functioning ears are the real miracles. If you have good hearing, protect your ears and your hearing! Save them/it for as long as you can. I would much prefer that I didn't have to wear a CI or aids but am of course overjoyed that I can regain as much hearing as possible via it/them and there's a ways to go before I reach the optimum levels with my CI.

So it's been quite the few weeks! Things can only get better... ladida ladida.

Ist Full Day

... of wearing a CI, is today.

I got up at the toot (which is not that early by other folks' standards) and took the dog out for the first time in ages. J has had to do all walks for weeks now, me being so dizzy, and of course, most everything else for months already with me and my broken wrist. But the wrist is (almost) normal again, and the dizzies have gone... woohoo.

I realised I now have to dry my hair after my shower as otherwise couldn't do my clunk-click... only ever needed to dry my ear off before now. I also can't wear my cap! I have loads of caps... there will be many who heave a sigh of relief that I no longer need persuaded not to wear one... well bugger the lorra ye, I like my caps! Will have to find something I can wear as, summer or winter, I like my caps! Summer - sun out of eyes. Winter, rain and cold off head. I don't by any means suit a hat in general, and according to comments, not all my caps either hahaha, but I feel bald without one now. hmmmm

Luna was very patient... and then we were off. I walked her longer than I normally would as I am of course practicing hearing. Where's all the birds?! Right through a wooded bit... nowt!... and then I realised, those little tickety-tick-ticks... that's the birds! I'm hearing loads of wee whistles and peeps and general ticks and bloops, but in patterns. It's wee bird songs. Not an ornithologist by any stretch of the imagination, and still not seeing any... oh wait, there's a wee blue-tit.. and a blackie... I don't really know which is singing what but it's definitely the birds. Not to be confused with 'strictly for the...'

A wood pigeon... have always managed to hear them anyway, but now it sounds different. Dog barking...WTF? hahaha that really sounds different. Two ducks fly over... HAH... not right yet but I can hear 'em. Have a bit of bother with the wind and hope the 'fireworks' popping sounds soon decrease as goodness knows there is plenty of wind in NL.

Isn't the brain a weird bloody thing? It's so clever! The tin can sound is gone (at this level) but I'm left with a 'fork ticking on a glass' at almost every sound... I'm sure that'll go soon too. This is CI only eh? No hearing aid in!

I gave up using the CI for listening to the tv via the loop yesterday evening as that just didn't seem right. Will try with sound ON on the TV later, but don't intend doing that as the norm... I LIKE not having the sound on... and I know J does and understand why (always too loud of course) But just to see how it sounds.

My streamer doesn't seem to work with it... will need to have that investigated and take it with me next time. I'm sure I'm just doing something silly, but I need that for listening to anything via the computer (Skype calls for instance) or even music on my phone and indeed using the phone for calls (which I rarely do but would like to do more and may indeed manage without the streamer anyway soon).

Music from the stereo was unrecognisable but will practice more with that too and use the same music just to be sure... it's very early days and I still hope that will come good but of course still have my HAs for that... at a pinch.

I haven't used the CI with the higher volume yet, want to try it 'as is' for a whiley so I can judge the difference better... same goes for using programme 2 which should also be an advancement but will also still need acclimatising to.

Stupid American spelling checker on here makes me doubt stuff so often. I know I can 'add to dictionary' but need a UK spellchecker. Computer buff that I am (ahem) I'm sure I've added one a hundred times already but have given up trying to get it to work. Programme is spelled with two Ms and an E!

Just a wee word about my man... he's had a bit of time of it with me since November (the unplanned-for breaking of the wrist) and now this. He's always done so much - I never have to shop or cook or wash a dish - but has had even more to do for so long. I know it's not been easy and at times it's like he never has a minute for himself and is always having to do stuff for me - not always without complaint hahaha, that would be too silly, but he does it, and I couldn't have managed without him. He has his own health problems that do rather seem to be swept aside but I am still thinking of you J... just haven't really been much up to demonstrating that. It's too easy to say 'I'd do the same for him', which of course I would, only probably not so well (and I'm sure he has nightmares about me having to shop - aka bankrupt us, and cook - aka feed him on scrambled eggs for a month... but I'd really never manage it as well as he has. So thank you J. It is appreciated.

Now, no more typing or blogging for a few days I think... arm is better but still hurts typing with two hands so don't want to overdo it. I go back to UMC next Wednesday for a hearing test, adjustments and speech therapy. Nine o'clock we've to be there!! Not too happy about that, witness my 'early' rise today. Perhaps before then I will write how things have been in week 1.

SOday!

SO = 'switch on'... I am one switched on babe. OH MY GOD! (Plain 'omg' just doesn't cover it.) I really can't believe what I'm already able to hear.
But let me start at the beginning.

Thankful for not being dizzy today (hoping I've cracked it now!) we set off just after 9 a.m. and were just nice on time for the eleven a.m. appointment with the audiologist. I was to go home with the Med-El Rondo (as that was supposed to have been ordered) but a slight mix-up, soon to be remedied, meant I was presented with a different model... in the blue I'd requested. A whole suitcase-like affair! No worries, my Rondo has now been ordered and meanwhile I have one on loan. It won't be blue after all as the Rondo only comes in 4 plain colours so I will have one in a light grey... doesn't matter anyway, I will be ordering customised stickers for it :) Watch this space.

The audiologist first showed how to open the Rondo and change batteries. Giant ones compared to my HAs, and three that last roughly 3 or 4 days, as opposed to one lasting 5 or 6, so that will be quite expensive. We're told that Med-El provides a supply to cover the first two years already, so that's pretty cool - it's all rather relative though really as the whole shebang comes free, including the operation and hospitalisation etc. You don't hear me complaining.

He also put a slightly stronger magnet in it as my implant still has a bit of swelling around it. It's still a very light contact, but feels safe, especially with the short safety wire that clips into your hair. It's so unobtrusive, it's hard to believe! Nothing in or on my ear at all! I mean, you can see, it but who cares?

Then the audiologist plugged me in to the computer via a cable and another loose processor and we started adjusting levels without any hearing aid in. The first thing I heard was a wee 'I'm switched on' sort of jingle, rather similar to my hearing aids. After a few seconds I had to listen to various beeps getting harder and harder until just before it sounded or felt too hard. As each beep got established, the next one would be higher... and higher, and higher... and I couldn't believe it, but higher yet! I haven't heard that high in years so this was rather emotional for me. It came totally unexpected and I was in bits! I really wanted to howl! I was hearing them really clearly... not like during a hearing test when you can sort of tell they are giving you a beep to hear but it's so high, you just don't.
Then the same was done for lower tones, and then I had to say if the next tone was higher or lower. After all that, I got to put the Rondo on my head. I'm calling it clunk, click but it really doesn't :)

WOAH! hahaha that sounds hysterical! Rather like when, as a kid, you'd speak into a tin can. Or like those songs from 'the roaring 20s' where they're singing through a megaphone. And what the HELL is that noise? oh it's the wee plastic bag on the table? And oh my own voice sounds really funny hahaha. And a pen ticking on a glass sounds really really silly! The audiologist spoke behind a paper and I could hear him although not make out what he said. (That will all get tested properly next week when I go to speech therapy, as well as when I have a full hearing test again.) Well this should be fun!

And it really is! I can NOT believe what I'm hearing! By the time we leave the hospital and get on the bus at the door, my own voice already sounds more normal, as does J's. What's that squeaking I wonder... oh it's seagulls!! And who knew that the bus door peeps three times before closing? And I can hear that woman over there speaking! And what on earth is that booming noise? Building works? Oh it's the wind?! WAAAH!

It's all still a bit tinny, but only in the background. As we came into our street I heard three distinct peep peep peeps... a blackbird! Not quite yet as it should sound but I HEARD it! I feckin' heard it! This is only day one... heck HOUR two or three and I'm already hearing stuff I haven't heard in years. I am really totally overwhelmed with stuff but it's really not that bad, just, well... new! The train home was loud but bearable (also with a peep signal for 'doors closing')... and I am still not wearing the hearing aid on my right ear (haven't even tried the left one again yet). I really can't believe the difference so far, nor how it's even changed since first switch on. No way this is going to take me months to normalise... surely?!

The dog's claws on the wooden floor... the toilet flush!!... the tap running, J's coffee machine... this typing racket!! But all of it, already sounding more normal than it did at first. I have volume control on my remote control (!!) as well as a 2nd programme that makes things even louder, but I've only to use either of them gradually and even then they will be adjusted over the coming weeks to the limits I can take. There are also buttons for directing the mic, pinpointing it more and of course buttons for telephone, audio loop and I think eventually 4 programmes. Isn't it just fabulous?

J took little videos on his phone but only one turned out... here it is. I'm listening to beeps before putting my hand up as 'loud enough'.

So it's been quite a day so far. Curious to know how it will work with my home audio loop for TV use... didn't seem to work with my streamer on the computer, but I'm perhaps doing something wrong there. There's telephone use to try out which will be funny as you hold the phone to the implant instead of your ear... we''ll see how that goes. I'm dying to hear the grandchildren. I've been able to hear them ok but this will be different, and better. Oh and music of course... and more birds sounding even better! I like that I can switch off any time, same as the hearing aid (in fact if I lift the rondo just 2mm above the implant I'm deaf again) but I love just how much better I'm very obviously going to be hearing, and in fact already am.

So many things to listen to, only one Rondo! ;)

update before SOday

I go tomorrow to join the hearing world again. Although I have been managing not too badly with one HA since the op and am thankful to have had it, I am very much looking forward to using both ears and their assorted aids again. Of course I know the CI won't be much good at first but I'm sure it will be fun practicing with it... just don't quote me.

The meds to counteract the dizzies kicked, in and yesterday was the 2nd full day of not feeling yukky - I even took Luna out for a couple of minutes. But... poor J had to resort to the morning walk again today as I awoke birlin' again. Not too badly, but definitely not fully normal. Will keep taking the tablets for another couple of days and I'll see what they suggest tomorrow.

We had a laugh last night, trying a magnet on my head :) It worked! hahaha... visions of myself getting my head yanked to one side on passing assorted magnets. The one I tried was too heavy to hang on to the metal in my skull - I'm so curious to know how it feels! Of course it's not a magnet in there or folks would be pulled left and right to anything metal around that they walk past. DONG!

My blog editor (J) has pointed out that I use too many Americanisms... me that advocates more use of Scots (not that I use that much on here) and slates others' use of Americanisms too! I have now removed and/or replaced them in earlier blogs and will be stricter with myself from now on. Plain bad English might well appear, I don't by any means profess to be perfect .

Pretty sure I will be OK for the trip to Utrecht tomorrow - to be there for 11am. I do want to enquire about the numb ear - there is some marginal improvement but it's hard to judge. Vit B12 is good for restoring nerve damage I think? Will get some if so.

This anti-housewife really does need to get the finger out as E is coming next Monday with F for a few days, but I have had a good excuse for not cleaning and tidying. It's just that it's gone on so long it's beginning to prove hard to disguise. Still, one man's messy hoose is another man's palace eh?

All jabbed up

That's me had my jabs then. Plural because that was what was recommended - pneumo-something or other and HiB? Which I would have seen if I'd read the bloody paperwork properly. One in each arm. J got a very begrudged refund of the original wrong prescription but the chemist will now charge that to the doc who will probably then bill us so all a waste of time.

While at this doctor (not my own GP as he's not there on a Friday) I got yet another prescription filled. For something to try and counteract this dizziness as it's beginning to get me down... literally. Although I had my extra pair of ears with me (J) and I specifically pointed out I was HoH, I had to contend with this bloke speaking to his desk while writing, or walking away to get something... and worse, ignoring me and speaking to J for me, like I'm an imbicile and just out with my carer! arghghghgh! I also asked specifically for something that didn't have a side-effect like 'causes dizziness'... specifically! And he specifically said 'I wouldn't prescribe it if it did.' First thing chemist says to J - 'be aware it can cause dizzy spells'. W. T. actual F.?

But anyway, trying it now. I know it's not caused by an ear infection of course... but I just hope this helps take it away. The sooner the better as I can do practically nothing... and go nowhere on my own. Now, if I'm honest, I'm not a great one for running around doing very much of anything, but not being able to is still very frustrating and I'm beginning to worry that 'this is it'... know what I mean? I'm going to be dizzy for ever! Lying down doing nothing with eyes shut is my forte but I can't bloody even do that because the world takes off when I do!

J also happened to mention in the passing that the doctor at the stitch removal had said the frozen ear might not get better, so what with the dizzies, and that... feeling less positive about all this carry on today. But aha, the wee foldy paper in the vaccination drug box says summat about 'feeling uncertain, crying'... hmmm, like I need an excuse for that! I'm usually pretty positive about things though, so we'll put this all down to the inoculations kicking in!

And btw, has anybody ever, in the history of mankind, ever managed to fold those bloody things up again? They're worse than maps!

Dizzy is as dizzy does

Still dizzy! Me no like this AT ALL. Admittedly it's less than it was when it was really bad, and I can move my head, and I can walk (albeit carefully) but... this is not so nice and I do hope it goes soon.

I thought I was fine on Monday there when we set off for the UMC to get the stitch removed but we were half way there when it all kicked in again. I was really glad J came with me after all as, although I'd probably have managed, it's quite disconcerting.

So, stitch out. Scar a bit lumpy looking but ach, it's behind the ear so hardly obtrusive. Internal ear looking 'restful' I'm told. Bruising now minimal and bruised feeling over my head has also receded back to around the ear and site of the implant and down neck to shoulder. Nothing major. Ear and back of the ear are still rather numb - obvious nerve damage there but the doc said that will probably ('but no guarantee'!) buck up before too long so I'm staying confident. The numbness is perhaps also why not so painful and the stabs I get now and then are perhaps the nerves improving - all conjecture on my part really, just saying how it feels. So, plusses and minuses there. Still no sound to be heard through my hearing aid but I only tried it the once - might work OK in time. 'Time' being next Wednesday already for SOday (Switch On Day).

Had a lovely afternoon visit from P and S yesterday. All very civilised with tea and biscuits and me being pampered and not allowed to move about much. Thanks girls.

Now, I get the feeling, from various comments made to me by various folks that (of course) not everyone really knows what a CI actually is, or does. For instance I've had at least two people ask me if I can hear better now. I forget that while I, as a hard of hearing person, have been following the progress of this wonderful piece of technology for years already, others on the planet haven't. So I will attempt here to explain what it is and what it does. If I don't know the real names for things or procedures I'm sure I will be forgiven, and I'm not attempting to educate anyone, just clarify a couple of things... hopefully.

To start with... having a cochlear implant (CI) does not mean the wearer can then immediately hear (either better, or indeed at all). They are still deaf (or hard of hearing) and, due to the very nature of the operation may (only may) lose any remaining hearing they had in the ear operated on and you are rather advised to expect to lose it - less disappointment I suppose. A CI is a help to hearing, much as a hearing aid is. While the internal part (the implant) is permanent, if the external part (the processor) is not worn, then the CI wearer is just as deaf or HoH as they were before getting it. The external part is taken off for, for instance sleeping, swimming and to bathe, same as a hearing aid (although there are models that are waterproof now).

There are two main parts to a CI, internal and external. The internal part is why you get an operation (duh, just being clear here). An incision is made along the back of the ear and (no idea how of course) a space drilled out just above and to the rear, in the bone of your skull (!!) where the implant is laid in. Makes hardly even a bump with the skin laid over :)

A wire (the magic wire!) runs from there to the tiny hole they then drill in your internal ear somewhere. They thread this fabulous affair through the hole which then follows its own route through your cochlea... the tiny snail's shell shaped affair in your middle ear. Hopefully, it doesn't damage any hearing you may have left but this can't be guaranteed. If you are already deaf of course this doesn't matter. If you still have a little and can use a hearing aid (like me) it also doesn't matter a whole lot as the implant intends to improve everything. It just means you then no longer have a use for your hearing aid on that ear (and it can then be reprogrammed to work well as an extra for your other ear). It's also the reason that your hearing needs to be really pretty much useless without aids before you are even considered for a CI.

There is a short cable CI and a long cable CI. It's all relative as we're talking millimeters anyway. I think the lengths are 26mm and 32mm... mine is the short one as I (did) still have a measure of hearing and the shorter it is, the less likelihood of damage (although that still, understandably, cannot be guaranteed). Well that makes sense eh? (A test shortly after my op showed I have retained my minimal hearing in that ear but that could change yet and as of yesterday, I still can't hear with the aid on that ear.)

The external part is the processor. This comes in various models but essentially is where all the programmable bits and bobs are that are connected via wires to the audiologist's computer for adjustment. The processor itself is attached via wiring to a magnet that attaches itself through your skin to the metal of the recessed implant on your head. How cool is that?... Clunk Click, every trip! So, from computer to processor to implant, to ear, to brain. Basically :)

Of course you're not wired to the hospital computer except on SOday and for the weekly then fortnightly appointments for adjustments required until things settle in. I'm told not to expect too much... nothing more than irritating, metalic screeches and beeps... at first. 'They' need to get levels right with my help. I need to indicate like 'too loud' and 'not loud enough' etc. and even then I think they send you away to get used to what is coming through, for now. Your brain needs to adjust. I need to work with J to distinguish just what it is I hear. So if for instance I suddenly think I'm hearing squeaky noises, he has to help me find what the squeaks are, and I need to give that a place in my head, whatever it is. The idea is that before long, I will hear that squeak and know it's a bird singing and soon it will just be birdsong. Sorta, kinda... well I don't really know yet do I? :)

For me, it will be extra hearing. I'm very HoH, not yet fully deaf. This will mean (I think? time will tell) that I won't suddenly hear sounds I've not heard in years but will improve greatly those that I still can. Especially speech... hopefully speech! And yes, probably birdsong and clock ticks, which I indeed haven't heard in a long time. I'm dying to get started with it all.

I'm to get the MED-EL RONDO model. This particular model (see link) has no behind-the-ear, large hearing aid type of processor with a wire to the magnet. Everything is incorporated in the button shaped type of thing on the magnet! Bloody fabulous. There's an optional safety wire - I think I'll definitely use that, knowing myself to be sure to lose it otherwise. And it comes with a remote control, so no need to fiddle with the buttons if I don't want to. I've asked for a blue one and have read that I can also get stickers (generic or personal photos) to fit it... fan bloody tastic. I am in half a mind to get my head shaved at either side, just to make a statement for the first wee while, but yeah... maybe, maybe not.

I hope I've explained things adequately. Here's a handy link to more (better) information all about CIs. And of course wikipedia has good info too, including telling how many in the world have a CI... although that was in 2010, probably safe to assume I'm one in a quarter million. I'm the quarter million CI woman!

I'm now off to get my Meningitis inoculation from my GP.

Addendum: OK well that was a bit of a farce. Just back from the surgery. Yes, I should have had the injection before the op. but I didn't. I perhaps also should have given the doc the exact name of the meds required, as mentioned on the wee folder given weeks back, but I didn't. And OK, I probably should have made sure the appointment was at for at least within the two weeks after the op, but I didn't. Mea culpa etc. No defense, not worth the breath or typing time.

So, long story, bit of a rammy, bollix and shite later, I have to go tomorrow (yes, yet another 24 hours further) to get the right stuff from the chemist and get the jab from a different doc, not my own GP which (OK yes... in my defense!) is one reason I couldn't get sooner (that I couldn't get him before today). Getting sick from the jab will really just be my feckin' luck - all hassle I could be doing without. I could say loads more about the whole protocol for the jab sucking the big one but will leave it for when I am more in control of my tongue, which just might run away with me in the form of my typing fingers.