Good Evening Friends and welcome to any new visitors.
I appreciate that it is over four months since my last post but I am fortunate to have a very busy life and ,whilst it fills my time, it might not be very interesting to most of you.
On the medical front, I have very little to report.Due to a series of cancellations, I haven't been back to QEHS, Birmingham as a patient for over a year but I have seen my Consultant, Mr Parmar ,on several occasions as we try to get HANCUK ( Head and Neck Cancers United Kingdom) up and running. There are lots of hoops to negotiate to make sure that it is set up to create maximum impact and dovetails nicely with existing groups. The September launch date looks unlikely, I was hoping to launch during Head and Neck Cancer Awareness week across Europe which is co-ordinated by the Make Sense Campaign but it is better to get it right rather than rush it out. Mr Parmar is always available if I have any concerns and I am due to see him as a patient in October.
My bridge was removed at the new Birmingham Dental Hospital in April. I must confess that I was not looking forward to it, but , apart from the ridiculously early start and a few injections, it turned out surprisingly painless. The screws came out relatively easily considering they had not been touched for over 3 years and ,when the bridge was removed and deep cleaned, the Dentist remarked that it was in very good condition- considering the time I spend each morning cleaning it in situ, I wasn't too surprised. I spent an hour with Kate looking at options for her studies after my visit - hope it comes to fruition.
Perhaps one of the more challenging dates came in late April. I was asked to speak to a group of dentists about my experiences. A twenty minute speech to 150 newly qualified dentists was not as daunting as I was anticipating, given that it was almost 5 years since I spoke in front of that number of people. It was a little concerning to be introduced and, whilst walking to the front of the room , noticing an extremely large picture of myself laid out in theatre with all of my lower jaw missing but it didn't take too long to compose myself and get on with the job. I received a lot of very positive feedback after the speech.
Socially, life goes on apace. The family are all well - both sons and their partners have new jobs and my grand-daughter,who is now twenty months old, came to stay last week- visits to the seaside and the local horses home brought back memories of our own children. We have had holidays in North Wales, Portsmouth, Minehead and Durham so far. Golf is going fairly well. I got my first 'hole in one' in early August - costly exercise that; and had a couple of wins in our weekly competitions. Cricket is also going well, umpiring at most levels throughout the county and enjoying the banter. Football season has started again with the usual level of optimism.
I'll close now but I'll blog again after my next visit to QE.
Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Very best wishes
Chris
