07:43 BST

  There was rain forecast for the night, but a lot of the time the sky must have been clear because this morning started of almost cold at just 13° C (that is cold with reference to what we would expect - in winter it would be like a heatwave). The forecast says full sunshine until 9am, but there are a few clouds in the sky, and one might blot out he sun for a while. From 10am only sunny spells are forecast, but even those are supposed to warm the day up to a peak of 23° C. From 5pm until sunset there could be full sunshine. It looks to be another clear night and tomorrow may start cool again at 14° C. It may also start with full sunshine, but much of the day may actually be quite dull. Even so, the temperature may rise to 25° C. Like today, it should be a dry day.

  Yesterday I met a wonderful young woman who wants to mend my broken heart. Unfortunately it is not the start of a great romance. The woman is a doctor, and it is my physical heart that (probably) need some repair, or more accurately, probably some minor arteries to it need unblocking.

  Yesterday seemed to start with a rush, and then it was relaxed, and then it was most definitely a rush. I did my best to make an early start yesterday so I could do all my health checks (blood glucose, blood pressure, and weight), and then starting this daily electronic diary early. I originally thought I would never finish it in time, and would have to come back to it later in the day, but I seemed to write the 2,086 words quicker than expected.

  After writing I only had the briefest time for my usual rest, and it might have been only about 10 minutes before I headed to the bathroom for a wet shave, shampoo and conditioner, and a shower. After all that I suddenly realised I did not have much time left before I had to go out. I blowed dry my hair to about 95% dry, and spent 5 or 10 minutes on the toilet trying to get comfortable before I grabbed my stuff, and headed to the doctors surgery, still worrying that maybe a few more minutes on the toilet might have been very useful.

  I didn't exactly rush to the surgery, but I didn't dawdle either. I arrived feeling slightly hot and damp, and starting to breath quite heavily. After checking in I waited and waited. It was during that long wait that I realised I had left my phone at home, and I had no idea how long I was waiting. My appointment was supposed to be at 11am, and the check in screen said "on time"! I thought that meant the doctor was on time, but it evidently only referred to me.

  The long wait, maybe around 20 minutes, was useful in so much as I cooled down again, and my heart rate and stuff returned to normal after the brisk-ish walk there. Finally I was called to room 8, and met Dr Arthur for the first time. She didn't look young enough to be freshly out of medical school - unless she decided to be a doctor later than some. She definitely had that enthusiasm that new doctors have, but lose after a few years at a busy inner city surgery.

  As expected, we chatted about my past history. I referred to my quad heart bypass operation, and she referred to it as my CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) - pronouncing it as cabbage ! That was mildly annoying because it sounds far less impressive than quad heart bypass operation (even if that is actually inaccurate because obviously the heart itself is not bypassed).

  I had the usual problem of describing my symptoms because they tend to be variable, and very subjective. One minor breakthrough came when she was listening to assorted parts of my chest, front and back, while a pulse Oximeter was measuring my blood oxygen saturation. I was a bit disappointed that it started at just 97% saturation, but after taking "a few deep breaths" it did manage 98%, and very briefly 99%.

  I told the doctor that on a few occasions I had come home feeling a bit breathless, and the first thing I did was to use my Oximeter to measure my oxygen saturation, and it said 100%. That simple bit of information made everything very slightly more simple. As I correctly said to the doctor, it was as if there was some organ in my body that felt it needed more oxygen, and that organ was probably my heart. It does tie in nicely with my MRI scan last year.

  That scan showed some areas of my heart, fed from small arteries, was being starved of oxygen. She decided it pretty much ruled any other trouble except for my heart. Her initial plan was to set up an appointment for an echo cardiogram. It uses the same ultrasound machine as used on pregnant women. I don't think it has enough resolution to show any but the major arteries, and measure the blood flow through them, plus blood flow through the heart and operation of the heart valves.

  She told me that she hoped I would get an appointment through in maybe 3 weeks. We then said good bye, and I left the surgery feeling fairly good about it all. I certainly started off with more enthusiasm from the doctor than I seem to be getting from the hospital Cardiology department. Later on the doctor phoned me to say she had also referred me to some group whose name I didn't catch, that specialise in heart problems. She did warn me that they usually only deal with more serious cases, but she though it worth having a go at getting them involved. Once again, she suggested that if I do hear from them it should be within 3 weeks.

  After leaving the surgery I went around the corner to Aldi. There were a few things I wanted from there, and I also wanted to see what it was like after their 5 day shutdown for a refit. I found that the biggest change was that many shelves, where it is useful to keep some stuff cool, or chilled, have clear plastic (looks like, but is lighter than glass) doors now. Most things are where I expected them, but a few things have changed positions, but not enough to be annoying.

  I seemed to accumulate quite a lot in my shopping trolley, although it was actually a cheaper shop than many times I have been shopping in there this year. In most cases I chose stuff that had a lower sugar content, but I did buy a tub of choc chip and mint ice cream. That was far from sugar free, or even low sugar, but "high sugar" probably describes it. I did buy a few unwise items because like most times I leave the surgery I feel I deserve a treat.

  When I left the store I had two medium heavy shopping bags, and quite heavy rucksack, That had 4 two litre bottles of Diet Coke in it, plus a one litre bottle of sugar free cream soda. That added up to around 9kg to carry on my back. I didn't walk fast, but I didn't walk slow, and I walked non stop almost all the way home. I did have a minor rest when in sight of my front door when I had a brief chat with my postman.

  It almost felt odd that the walk home from Aldi hardly felt taxing at all. It almost feels like my body may somehow be repairing itself. My blood glucose being low again this morning, despite some dubious eating choices yesterday is another strong indicator that something had changed.

  All my eating choices were not that dubious. Two items I bought from Aldi I had not seen there before. Like Sainsbury's seemed to pioneer, and some of the bigger Tesco's started stocking (except Catford), Aldi now do a Greek inspired salad, and an Italian inspired salad (although they only describe the latter as tomato and mozzarella). They were not as good as the Sainsbury's originals, but were still very nice, and theoretically very healthy....although they did seem to have a lot of baby tomatoes, and they can have quite a bit of sugar in them.

  After eating both salads I felt like I wanted to be "naughty" and I had a small amount of the very sugary choc chip and mint ice cream. I have to say it was very hard to keep it down to maybe something small like a 50gm serving. It would have been far too easy to eat half or more of the one litre tub ! I think I stopped eating after that, and had a long rest. I wanted to have a snooze, but while I did seem to have my eyes shut for a while, I don't think I actually fell asleep, although maybe more time had passed than I could account for.

  I didn't really do any more after that attempt at a snooze. I read more of my book, and also read some news and stuff on the internet. Soon it was getting close to 6pm when I wanted to watch the news, and to eat some dinner. I had had earlier thoughts that I might skip dinner, but those thought had no basis in reality. I even had a pre dinner snack of a slice of angel cake.

  Dinner itself was a couple spicy breadcrumb coated reformed chicken into an approximation of a chicken breast shape. I had both from a pack of two. I had a big dollop of "creamy cheese coleslaw". with the chicken. The chicken was not really hot and spicy, as proclaimed on the packet, but I guess it did have hints of it. It wasn't bad, but I don't feel any urgency to buy any more. I don't think I ate any more for the rest of the evening.

  As usual, the 6 O'clock news was followed by Star Trek: The New Generation, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. neither really held my attention, and I turned the TV off soon after Deep Space Nine started. I retired to me bed to read, but I kept my eye on the time so I could go back to the TV for an edition of Have I Got News For You. That finished at 10pm and by then I was feeling very tired. I read a page or two of my book and then turned out the light and very quickly I fell asleep.

  I did not get a good sleep last night. At around 2am I woke up feeling a bit stiff and aching, but that alone should not have stopped me getting back to sleep. I tossed and turned until just gone 3am. At that point I gave in to one thing. My thermometer said the temperature in my bedroom had dropped a couple of degrees, and while it would have been great in winter, it was starting to feel like it was getting chilly. I turned the heater on low, and probably before it had warmed the room by much, I was fast asleep again.

  This morning, after getting up, the day started both good and bad. The first bad, although it was not unexpected, was that my weight still seems to be stuck at around the same amount after it suddenly shot up on the morning when I saw the nurse last Friday. I blame it on two things. One is the water retention, mostly in my left leg. Even the doctor noted that it was very soft and puffy (although still mild compared to some legs I have seen - mostly old woman wearing skirts). The other was because I did not pee that much last night.

  It seems I did not pee that much in the night because to my continuing surprise my blood glucose was very low (for me) again. In fact it was even lower this morning. The Contour meter read 6.5mmol/l. A really excellent figure and not a lot higher than many who are not diabetic inclined. The GlucoRX meter really excelled itself. It gave a reading of 5.8mmol/l, and I have not seen a figure that low since the very earliest days when I got things under serious control soon after being diagnosed as diabetic. The Contour Plus meter was not as good, but 6.7mmol/l is still very good.

  It is seeming like the harder I try and raise my blood glucose, to make me pee more in the night, so I weigh less, the lower my blood glucose goes. This defies science, and so I think I'll blame it on aliens. It is always aliens. It was an alien that also made this morning rather bad. The alien was a black spider, with muscular looking legs, that has been living in my bathroom for some weeks now.

   It has always been out of reach, usually up near the ceiling, but this morning I saw it next to what I suppose is a sort of soap dish at the tap end of the bath. I quickly grabbed the glass and beer mat, kept handy for such occasions, and got the glass over the spider. I was working where there was not a lot of room for manoeuvre. I just about managed to slide the beer mat under the glass, and tried to pick the whole lot up one handed. A few second later and the spider should have been thrown out of the bathroom window. What actually happened was the beer mat slipped, and the spider bit my finger.

  It was surprisingly painful, and I had to flick the spider off my finger. Once that was done the pain almost went away. I had hoped to flick the spider into the bath so I could try and capture it again, but it somehow hit the side of the tub, and scuttled down the outside, and behind the cabinet next to the bath. So now I have a very angry spider lurking in my bathroom, and one with a taste for human flesh ! Possibly 2 hours later the area of the bite is slightly sore if rubbed, and there is a small red mark that looks a lot like one of the pinpricks I do for a bead of blood for the blood test meters. There seems to be no inflammation. I don't think I'll be losing a finger to necrosis this time (finger crossed).

  There are several things I could do today. One could be to go to Savers where I could usefully buy spare bleach, Lysterine, and a few other similar things. If I did that I could also wash some clothes, and hang them on the washing line to dry. The other thing I could do would be to go for a walk, and maybe a semi long walk. The exercise would probably help the water retention in my left leg, and it would be a good chance to give my TNG spray another try. The only flaw in that plan is that it is likely to be my legs aching that would reduce my range rather than things the spray would help with (angina pains, and to some extent a shortness of breath). I have largely managed to avoid angina and to some extent breathlessness too, by trying to walk slower, and take as many short breaks as seem possible,