Nearly Headless Nick

About 5 or 6 years ago I found a lump in my neck, after the initial panic I made an appointment to see my GP, the first told me he couldnt feel anything and the second that there was a definite lump, probably a benign cyst. Still I found myself in outpatients having it checked out within a couple of weeks.

Checking it out meant an ultrasound scan and a needle aspiration, basically they stick a needle straight through the front of your neck and into the cyst then suck out what they can, giving it a bit of a wiggle to make sure!!!!!

Its not exactly painful but a really horrible feeling.

Everything came back OK, just a benign thyroid cyst, not uncommon in middle aged women,though they were at pains to point out that this only meant the bits they had checked and who knew what could be going on round the corner.

Since then I have been back every 6 to 12 months for continued checking and testing and my very nice consultant has continued to recommend that I have the cyst and that side of the thyroid gland removed.

Finally I gave in and on Monday I was admitted for surgery. After an initial panic that they might not have a bed for me, all went smoothly, I was first on the list and down in theatre by 8.50 and unconscious by 9.15, back on the ward at 12.30ish and managed to escape home by 3pm the following day. Mind you that took me threatening to walk out before the ward staff got the paperwork sorted.

It was a lot less painful than I was expecting, I wasnt sick after the anaesthetic and the surgeon had dosed me up with local anaesthetic along the inscision.

I just feel bruised and like I have whiplash, a stiff neck. I have an inscision along my lower neck, which currently is covered by some steristrips, a single stitch with a bead at each end. I'm not looking forward to that coming out as they just cut one bead off and pull it through, but as my sister reminded me they have cut a lot of the small nerves to the skin so it wont feel as bad!!!!

Heres a pic of the neck yesterday, 48hrs post op.

I dont think it looks too bad.

Roaming

While we were in France my mobile phone uses french networks, and we seem to randomly change between them, sometimes while staying in the same place!
It doesnt seem to make much difference, I dont use the phone much on holiday, and then mostly for texting.
When we got back to Portsmouth and were heading back up the motorway I was hugely entertained to recieve the following message from O2, my network.
"Thankyou for travelling with o2 in Iceland"

Iceland!!!!! I was in France

Happy Holidays

Me(after a few drinks) and Izzy one evening on the campsite.

Gosh a whole month has passed since I last posted, in that time the school year has ended and we have been to france for two weeks.
I think it has rained nearly every day since the beginning of July and the farm is now looking green and lush, while we were away in France Richard had left instructions for the relief staff to buffer feed the milkers and young stock with bales of hay and silage while the drought ridden grass recovered, and certainly despite being up to their knees in grass the young stock seem very disappointed each day that nothing extra arrives.


Our trip to France was not without problems, or its start was, our ferry was booked for 7.30am on monday the 12th and we planned to drive down to stay overnight in Berkshire with my Ma. On sunday morning I popped over to Tescos to pick up a couple of last minute supplies only to find that the car would not accelerate above 40 mph, catastrophe! I came home and got Richard to have a test drive which confirmed that there was a problem. Being sunday we could not get the garage to look at it till monday to I phoned and dalayed the ferry by 24hrs.
Then we just sat and waited till monday morning when we dropped the car at the garage and hoped it would be a minor and easily fixable fault.
No such luck, it was the Turbo and could not be fixed in time.
So we were down to plan B, which was go in the LandRover!

Anyone who has seen our farm vehicle would not choose it as a reliable method of carrying 5 people, 5 bikes and all the junk we need for a 2 week stay, let alone a trip to the Vendee.

But it was that or dont go at all, so it got a quick power wash outside, hoover inside, change of oil and grease some bits underneath. Then we loaded it up and set off to Grannys house..... at a steady 60 mph. I dont think I have ever driven that journey quite so slowly.
Richard decided that given the Landies advanced age, 20 yrs, and the fact that normally it does about 3000 miles a year, we had better take it easy. Also no radio and the roof leaks when it rains. Off to the beach for a picnic on the Isle de Noirmoutier.

But we made it, the LR did us proud and covered all 1400 miles with no problems at all, in fact it was a real handy place to dry swimming towels and cossies and started quite a few conversations on the campsites and in the various carparks we used.

It also makes a good drying rack.

We had a lovely holiday, mostly the sun shone, we ate and drank far too much and I spent many happy hours lying on the beach reading my way through the small library I took with us.

Routine maintenance.

The children swam and played in the pools, waterslides and even in the cold cold sea, we all rode our bikes, some further than others, and generally had a great time.

Really my only complaint was how long the travelling took us.