Bit Of An Omnibus, Wasps and the questionable 'C' Word

[Richard]

The Chinese curse is to live in interesting times, well leaving aside all aspects of political game playing my times are interesting enough on a good day without extras suddenly popping up unexpectedly.

Firstly wasps, I watched the insect life round the geraniums in the porch the other day and while there were no true wasps, I did see a lot of happy activity from so called hover wasps. They appeared very interested in the flowers and since they are a carnivorous insect they are something to be praised and encouraged. They are very much smaller than ‘normal’ wasps.

After having ‘something’ cut out back in May, and everyone saying it was nothing to stress about, my review appointment was cancelled at the last minute.  Two days later I had a fresh appointment two working days later at a main hospital twice as far away. So last night I expected to be told its all done and go away, it did not turn out like that. They have lost the notes and had only the lab request that I be seen. However the specialist could tell me next to nothing because of the missing notes, only that it was a rare not routine minor cancer. A few moments later on with Dr Google and partners established that it is not such an easy one to cut out and be done. Due to other pressures with my wife’s chemo, appoints, impending operation(s) in the autumn and unstable disabled daughter I was less than keen to launch into a chain of repeat 60 mile round trip follow ups for what I had though a minor skin ‘thing’ suggesting that a letter would do. The specialist examined my lymph nodes before agreeing to see me in 3 month’s time. Dr Google’s assistants confirmed why he examined the lymph nodes and insisted on a new appointment, reading words like aggressive was a clue.

Perhaps I should have relaxed and gone with the flow a little more, things are not always what they might appear and lay commentators can be wrong.

[Bob Williams]

I sincerely hope that you can battle through this latest medical obstacle Richard, all my best wishes for a successful conclusion. Lost notes are a familiar story to both myself and SWMBO, happened more than once. Being sent to the wrong hospital, to be seen by a consultant who has nothing to do with my case, is another. Admin is the major NHS problem, which costs the Service untold amounts through incompetencies and inefficiencies: IMO they would benefit from the recruitment of some ex-HMF clerical NCO’s and Chief Clerks, who would be capable of organising the system correctly.

Going with the flow is fine, until one realises that you are blindly accepting events that are not good for your case. I make myself an absolute bloody nuisance and am remembered as such.

Hover flies are indeed carnivorous and eat many more plant pests than ladybirds. They are harmless to humans and I annoy SWMBO by bringing some into the house, where they feast upon whatever small bugs invade us, including ants. I love to see them on my roses, where I have watched them dispose of greenfly, blackfly and whitefly. Neighbours are amused by the sight of me sitting out front on a folding chair, peering into my roses. There is an amazing number of different species in the UK:

http://tinyurl.com/yb3mos6l

More info:    http://tinyurl.com/p6ew8a2

An important point:  ” Over one third of hoverflies have larvae that eat aphids (over 110 species). ”

I am a bit of an amateur Entomologist, I guess. Bugs have always interested me since as a child I decided not to join other kids in pulling off flies’ wings, but get a cheap microscope and examine them.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Richard]

Thank you Bob I must now regroup and work on my strategy going forward.

On a related subject to insects and harvesting them, we have just had our one week annual visit from the bat colony that lives down by the canal and river about 500 yards distant. Normally we just find the mess in the morning, the first time I thought that it was acrobatic mice or rats, but then I found out what it really was as they left someone behind for me to bury. Two nights ago I looked out from the conservatory and learned just how fast they fly as a couple of them zoomed by and over the roof. I think that is it for this year as today there is no sign that they were here last night. I guess like many people I thought of them as lumbering things that sort of blundered about in the darkness, not as very fast very acrobatic pilots of nimble flying machines.

Thank you for the hover fly links, the ones we had were quite thin, with bodies more like pencil leads than even pencils, very dainty.

[The Duke]

I wish you all the best Richard  life seems to be cruel sometimes. There always seems to be a new issue that pops up, just when you think you can see the trees.

I hope your notes turn up (doubtful in my experiance) and sincerely wish you all the best going forward.

As you well know, it’s all about keep moving forward, and try not to let to get on top of you. Being pissed off, serves no purposes.many say and Id agree, if you decide your beaten, you’ll be beaten. Keep positive and don’t think about the what ifs or the negative. As it serves no good purpose.

[Richard]

Steve, I tend to agree, I have been trying to have a chill and be calm week, I knew I needed it as it has not been the most easy of times. My wife is finding the mid point of the chemo trying which added to the problems of the heat and a shortage of sleep as she has been getting up at silly-o-clock, the snag is I have been getting up at least as often, though I do tend to return to bed. I wondered if I did the right thing by finding out more than I was told, but I now have a better idea of what to think and ask for the future. At least SWMBO’s scan was good but round five of chemo trundles in next Wednesday with Monday absorbed by the usual round of pre-run activities, so brooding time is limited.

There is no point in getting wound up, the return home last night was with light traffic, a cool evening and I achieved the best fuel consumption to date, oh and one of the fastest times. The route was well known as my eldest daughter spent a year training at the hospital in question when doing her degree. Muggins was the taxi driver for most of her time there. At least I knew the way past the worse parts of town, bonus.

[Ed P]

I’m sorry to hear of your woes Richard, while I understand your reluctance to get into long distance treatment please do not put off treatment as things can progress very quickly if you are unlucky.

According to the Daily Wail there is a revolutionary new treatment that works!

[wasbit]

We were taught at school that bees don’t need to drink as they get all the moisture they need from the nectar that they feed upon. Imagine my surprise several years ago when I watched numerous bees drinking from our birdbath. I even videoed it but the video is a bit big to upload at 70mb.

The explanation came from a tv programme in that the bees take the water back to the hive, squirt it out & fan it so that it lowers the air temperature to combat overheating.

Haven’t seen any bees drinking last year or this.

I remember being shown a film at school by the Moody Institute called Blind as a bat, whereby a bat was placed in a room, its food in another & the only way between was through a large fan in the wall. The fan speed was controlled by a scientist & the speed was increased each time the bat made it through the blades. On the fifth or sixth attempt the bat veered off knowing that the fan blades were moving too fast for it to get through. Shows how incredibly sensitive the bat’s echo location is.

There is also another film (not Moody Institute) showing how lacewings have adapted to evade bats by dropping out of the bat’s flightpath at the last moment.

 

--
Regards
wasbit

Rig 1: Optiplex 3050 SFF
Rig 2: Asus ROG G20CB (rebuilt wreck)
Rig 3: HP Elitebook 8440P

Dear Starfleet, hate you, hate the Federation, taking Voyager. - Janeway

[Richard]

Thank you to all who commented. For the moment I have not put off any proposed treatments. The loss of the main body of the file means that the only proposal is to give them time to find the darned thing. However, a bit of research by self and SWIMBO has upped the pressure to move things forward, so I will have to see about restarting the paper chase. The cross country run is not great and far better out of the rush hour at nearly half the time. As long as there is no sedation or other impediment to driving I would be OK. SWIMBO is currently barely able to walk some days, let alone drive. I plan to see the GP in the coming days and try to discuss a few things with them to plot a way forward.

Returning to the world of bats, I was wrong, they have not yet left the building, or more accurately the space alongside the house. Sitting in the conservatory last night it was like seeing something from Star Wars as they flew back and forth passing of the side of the house and across the garden towards the trees. They really were so fast it was hard to appreciate their speed and agility.

[Richard]

Phew, an update. I was out walking the dogs, well the second dog walk of the day as walking the two together is a bit beyond my stability model when the phone rang. As it was only 08:57 it was a bit of a surprise to end up talking to the hospital from the middle of a field track with early morning traffic going by. They wanted me to have an appointment next Monday but that is already fully booked with SWIMBO at another hospital so we agree on the following Monday. I discussed the missing note problem, they agreed to chase up the notes to ensure a success this time.

[Richard]

My saga continues and can hardly be said to run on polished rails. As I received no advice about my appointment re-re-scheduled for the 23rd I have been trying to establish contact with the appointments clerk. At lunch time their voice mail box said it was full, so overflowed to through the switchboard, twice. I eventually got a reply. The appointments clerk is apparently off sick, has not made the appointments into what passes for the system, but had told a number of people they have an appointment; like me they have been calling up asking what is happening and when is the appointment time. The person now in the firing line cannot find out what is happening, as an example of first class personal management the hospital is not a prize winner.Dumping untrained staff into an important role is not a usual or wise management target for the person in question.

I accept that my operation might have removed all of the tissues that needed to go, but the specialist who saw me without the correct paperwork was not so sure. After getting 6 texts inviting me to the then cancelled first review appointment, then spending time travelling across the county and back again for a failed appointment. Then having to turn down an appointment offered for yesterday due to my wife’s treatment. What could have been simply stressful is being made a really stressful total shambles. The icing on the cake is that my wife had a scare on Sunday so we spent 7 hours at the hospital and she did not need yesterday’s blood test appointment anyway as it was all done on Sunday. I could have had a scenic journey across the county on Monday anyway…

Even the PALS office was unable to answer my call.

Maybe it is time to give up.

[Tippon]

Bloody hell, you’re not having much luck are you.

Don’t give up, give them an arse kicking if needs be, and hopefully someone useful will help you get this sorted soon.

[PlaneMan]

What Ryan said. Unfortunately with the NHS the way it is you have to dig deep and kick arse.

Good luck.

[Richard]

I managed to get through to the PALS office this afternoon after dealing with my wife’s chemo. The very nice lady understood how disturbing it could be and that my time and diary were not my own. Now I await developments.

My wife’s chemo nurse laughed when I answered her question about what we were hoping to do for our eldest daughter’s 30th birthday later in the year; ‘be around’.

[Richard]

Result! Persistence does pay off in the end.

I had a phone call just now and on after a flaky call on the mobile, I now have an appointment set for Monday so hopefully they will have all the papers and I will know what really gives this time. The call the department received from PALS was noted at being my 4th attempt to get some information about Monday’s ‘promise’, so I was pleased to finally get somewhere.

[Author]

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