Thursday, June 07, 2007

Flying in to see Piers


Amazingly he doesn't keep me waiting.

Actually it was me who is a bit late. I set off from home at 8.10 for a 9.10 appointment, but with traffic looming on approach to Hereford I think I will do a clever back street thing, but (shh, don't tell hubby...), having a useless sense of direction I manage to end up back in the traffic again, not saving any time. Well.......I probably add a couple of critical minutes

Fly (the term is relative with wonky knee syndrome you understand) in at 9.11 and register. Has he arrived yet? I ask. "Oh no" says the receptionist, clearly taking it as par for the course that Piers works to his own schedule.

Grab a magazine and sat down, just as I see Piers saunter in.

The next second I am summoned!

Go to sit down in the "room" and prepare myself for a wait. Read three words and, shock horror, in he comes.

He has forgotten who I am of course, and has to look at his notes to remind himself of any details - but give the man a break, he sees lots of people with wonky knee syndrome. Fortunately for him though they probably don't all write about it in a blog.

He prods and pokes a bit until I say "ow". We agree that it is still tender in places and he then puts me on the list for an arthroscopy.

I've just got to wait four or five months for the appointment now, and then it will be sorted.

I look in dismay at the nurse who gives me the good news.

"That's quick" she says. "It used to be MUCH longer".

Go back to the car.

No change for the carpark.

No money. Had used last of the cash yesterday evening to pay for a competition leotard for Gymnast for a looming gym competition.

Go to the hospital shop. "Is there a cash machine in the hospital I ask." "No, but you can have cashback if you spend £5."

I look at the shop. Not needing pyjamas, emergency toiletries or a bunch of flowers I am at a loss to see where I can usefully spend £5.

I pick up a copy of "Hello", a treat I usually reserve for my occasional trips to the hairdressers.

£1.90.

I look around some more.

I find some felt tips for 99p which I can give to Tinkerbell Mushroom and the Gymnast and a birthday card for my nephew - his birthday is at the end of June.

Still not spent £5.

Find some notepads for Tinkerbell Mushroom and the Gymnast to save them availing themselves of my printer paper on a regular basis.

Go to pay, get £20 cashback.

Place note in to the machine.

£1.50 parking charge.

Eighteen one pound coins return to me in change, and one fifty pence coin.

Good job I have a large handbag to carry all that metal.

28 comments:

Akelamalu said...

Oh Sally you had me going there, thinking it was THE Piers! Arthrocopys aren't too bad, hope they don't find anything too serious when they do it.

Spend £5 to get cashback! BAH! Hospital parking should be free anyway, it really bugs me.

Anonymous said...

"shh, don't tell hubby..."

I'm sure he'd be very understanding

sallywrites said...

Ak - Have a look at the link, for the previous posts to see why I call him Piers. I'm quite glad I'm having an arthroscopy - at least I'll know what's wrong.

Hubby - I'm sure he would.

FH said...

Oh! You met him in person! He is very handsome Irish guy,isn't he?
Parking should be free.Don't you get it free there.After reading Beccy's and your posts,seems that Ireland is expensive to live!!
Hope you enjoyed reading Hello mag!:))

sallywrites said...

Asha I live in England. (Sorry for any confusion:)) And yes the Doctor is handsome - hence my calling him Piers. Perhaps if someone rushes my blog off to Holywood to make a film, I think that I will cast Piers B in the role. He will have to be coached well though so as to ensure a suitably careless bedside manner - i.e. lack of

Anonymous said...

Re your comment to AK (above), the link to the earlier posts doesn't seem to be there (unless I'm being particularly dozy - wouldn't be the first time).

Anonymous said...

If I had a doctor who looked like that I'd be a really insane patient I think!
At least you will have lots of change for milk and school lunches (unless you're done for the year!)

sallywrites said...

Lisa - Yes indeed, and no they have another month plus left at school!

Mike Minzes said...

Your a good Writer Sally!! You should come going The Experiment.

Great blog!!

http://mminzes.blogspot.com/

sallywrites said...

Mike - thank you. I have just visited your blog and would love to join the experiment! I left a comment on your blog - but don't know if I have left it in the right place. I hope so! Let me know!!

Unknown said...

CHEAT! That wasn't fair!

sallywrites said...

What wasn't fair?

Anonymous said...

sounds like a long time to wait with a wonky knee to enidd. best of luck with it, sally.

Unknown said...

I thought you were going to interview Piers Morgan!

Akelamalu said...

Ah I understand now. I just notices I spelt Arthroscopy wrong in my last comment, still you knew what I meant eh?

Anonymous said...

I agree - hospital parking should be free. We are already paying an arm and a leg to be there -

Alice Band said...

The world is conspiring to make us all mental of that I am convinced. As you know i have had my own share of knee trouble as has my daughter - by the time I've found a parking space at the hospital then paid the three quid for the privlege I'm almost at stroke level. By the way Heat is more fun than Hello, although one doen't get to see the celeb's gracious drawing rooms!!

Lori said...

Hi Sally,

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I really like your stories. You have a knack for it! Your mom is so youthful looking! You come from good genes. Hope your knee is feeling better.

meredic said...

Heh Heh. Very good Sally. I was right there expecting it to be a radio interview for a while...

Anonymous said...

Fab post!

& I agree with Alice - Heat magazine all the way!

ooh and I do like "Closer" for the tacky celeb gossip =)

love ED xxx

Jayne said...

Hello Sally,

I was nearly thinking that you really were meeting Piers (I nearly typed Piers Morgan, but that wouldn't have been quite so exciting).

Your blog made me laugh. :)

sallywrites said...

Enidd - It is a long time...... but at least I'm on the list now.
John - Now there's a thought!
Ak - Did indeed!
Karmyn - I agree, but to be fair we do have a "free" National Health System here. Free is in inverted commas of course due to the fact that we pay for it in tax - heavily! And I do think that it is ridiculous that they don't have a cashpoint on site. I certainly shouldn't have had to spend £5 to pay for the parking. Really it cost me £6.50.......And
that is not fair!
Alice - Will get Heat next time! Hope your knee is on the mend. I find it bizarre that these places think that we have all the time in the world. I know that medics are busy professionals - but so are many of the rest of the world...
Lori - Thank you for your very kind words! And thank you for visiting me too.
Meredic - Hope you are not disappointed. Will maybe think about that one...
ED - Thank you!
Jayne - Hello and welcome! It would have been more exciting to meet PB. Mind you, he is quite dishy the doc, but you do feel that his mind is on other things than his patients. Perhaps he is writing a big medical paper and will become famous, and then maybe I'll feature in his life story in Hollywood...... Now who would play me?

Anonymous said...

my surgeon when i had a leg op was gorgeous. one of the most embarrasing moments of last year was when he took off my cast, which had been on there for 8 weeks, and saw how hairy and skinny my leg was! aaaaah it makes me cringe now thinking about it!!

sallywrites said...

Eliza - That's so funny! He'd probably expect your hair to grow in 8 weeks, and your muscles would have wasted away a little....

And, had it not been for the fact that as your doctor he wasn't allowed to think of you in that way, he would probably have looked into your eyes anyway...

ChrisB said...

You never know Sally you might get in earlier on a cancellation but don't hold your breath!!

sallywrites said...

I won't hold my breath Chris - but that would be very nice!

Anonymous said...

Ah those damn car parks! Am I the only one who thinks paying for them on card would be far more sensible than all this silly cash business?

sallywrites said...

Ig - I agree!