Siderenios, or a Surprise Development!

A big day yesterday.  Jamie and Margaret took me down to Preston in good time for my  MRI scan.  This is the test that I should have had last Wednesday but the machine had broken down.

The test was expected to last about forty minutes but, with the various variations that the consultant had requested, it lasted almost twice that time.

We then had a long afternoon to fill before the scheduled admission at 5 p.m..  Fortunately, they were able to process me an hour early which left Jamie and Margaret free to get off home.  I asked the ward sister if I might see the neurosurgeon before he finished for the day as I had a few questions about the procedure and the aftermath.  She agreed to see what she could do.

The ward into which I had been booked was new and spacious.  The other occupants, Sid, Rod and Ron were very friendly.

Tea was a little strange.  It had been someone else’s choice, that of a lady who presumably had been let out that day.  The main course was Butter Pie which I was told was a Manchester dish although I have no recollection of it from my childhood.  Wikipedia says it is a Lancashire Catholic dish made of potatoes and onions to be eaten on a Friday.

Some time later, my consultant arrived and led me to his room.  As I pulled out my pad of questions, he said I might not need them.  The results of the scan were, he told me, much better than the previous set and he was now of the opinion that I did not have a tumour (you may recall that no tumour had been spotted previously) nor an infection but that the cause of my problems had been a mini stroke.

Obviously, this is a diagnosis not without implications but equally obviously, it is a rather better outcome than I had been anticipating.  And it meant that I was to be released immediately, without the need for surgery or having to consume any more Butter Pie.

Margaret drove down to collect me and I arrived home to a great surprise.  Danae, whose last night it was in England, had been hard at work, not just making dinner but also, with Emma, decorating the kitchen for a Welcome Home party with the Greek word Siderenios, meaning "Ironman" or "Man of steel", hung across the room.  A lovely surprise, complete with celebratory champagne.

I, we, just need to remember that I have not been given a clean bill of health but rather a diagnosis less traumatic than the alternatives with which we had been faced.  There are still issues and steps that need to be taken but the outlook is significantly better than it might have been under the alternatives.  I will find out more when I see my GP in a few days time.

Don