I almost didn't have a record of today's weather forecast after getting up a bit late, and even then delaying until I refreshed the forecast and too a screen shot. Today's screen shot starts at 9am instead of the usual 6 or 7am. Today's forecast seems to be a bit pessimistic - Right now the sky looks very blue, and we have full sunshine instead of sunny spells. It is currently just over 15° C, and the afternoon may reach 19° C - not that warm, but comfortable enough. From midday we may lose any sunshine, the day is forecast to be dry all day long.  Tomorrow may reach 20° C, but the morning may feature some showers.

  Yesterday was my first day home from hospital, and while it was great to be home, I didn't feel very good at all. It seems one of the new drugs I have been prescribed is actively making me feel very hazy, and even a bit unsteady on my feet (but far from bad enough to cause me to fall over.
  The file name for the above photo included the info that it was taken at 6.39pm. This photo, with some annoying motion blur, was taken just as I was about to cross the bridge to freedom. Coming out the back of the hospital, and into the park is not only a useful, although small short cut to home, but makes for a much more pleasant walk home - although at the last minute I had to make a small detour to pick up my Ozempic injector that has been waiting for me since before I went into hospital.

It was a joy to get home, but I am getting ahead of my self, and I need to go back to the beginning.  It was a week ago that I set out to the hospital Enterology department to have a knobbly rubber tube, with a camera stuck on the end shoved down my throat. That was to be followed by the same camera stuffed up my bottom.

  When I set out to walk to the department I felt strong and fit enough to take on lions with my bare teeth. Unfortunately fear, and I am sure I can find no other explanation, made me as weak as a kitten by the time I got there. My blood pressure went through the roof, and my heart was beating out of control. All this was probably made far worse after being on a rather thin diet for the previous 4 days, and fasting for the previous 24 hours.

  This was almost the same as the last time I went for a colonoscopy, except this time they directed me to go straight to A&E (which conveniently was just a few minutes walk down a corridor). At this point I had Jo with me, and that did make it all a bit easier, but once inside A&E I told Jo to go home because I knew that at a bare minimum I would be there for hours. In reality that meant over night, and then I was transported to a ward. I would spend the next 5 or 6 days on a ward, getting very little sleep, and losing all my strength and possibly sanity too.

  I put on a brave face for the camera....or did I ? I think I had to almost laugh at the absurdity of it. I started off feeling fit and healthy, and here I was in hospital feeling worse day by day !

  It is worth noting that my blood pressure and heart rate was very typical, which means very good, before I started out to the Enterology department.

  I think I may have taken this picture of my blood pressure meter a day or two previously to my appointment. I do remember using the memory function to look at earlier readings, and this one seemed to match my records for early afternoon before I set out, but I couldn't have looked properly because this must have been a day or two earlier. The important thing is that it is very close to the real reading I got. Later on, in the enterology department, that pulse rate of 70 had gone up to 150 bpm. I can't remember what the systolic pressure was, but that too was a lot higher, as was the diastolic pressure.

  My overnight stay in A&E was pretty awful. the chances of sleep were just about nil, and it was not helped by a suicide victim being brought in. I overheard she had taken a full pack of Paracetamol, and another of Ibuprofen (poor woman there are far better ways of killing yourself than this method which hardly even works - at least not quickly, although long term liver damage may finish you off. She kept the place awake with her screaming and sobbing. At the other end of A&E there was another woman making a lot of noise. I have no idea what here trouble was.

  It was about 6am when I was moved to a ward, and shown a bed. I didn't get a chance to get into it before they changed their minds and moved me to a different bed. The bed itself was comfortable, but I was attached to a heart monitor, and it was like being chained to the bed. Fortunately I knew how to disconnect myself, and was not forced to use a bottle to have a pee.

  It was a sort of modesty thing to leave my underpants on - a hospital gown provides little modest with nothing underneath. After 4 or 5 days those underpants, and I suppose my whole body, was getting disgustingly stinky. I did have a shower, and after that I left the underpants off. I wore two gowns, one front and the other back, and while that covered my crown jewels, it was another difficulty to try and overcome when trying to sleep. Towards the end I did mange the odd half hour sleep now and again, but it was never enough.

 My sleep was made harder still by the man in the next bed - a boxer by profession (I think). He loved to watch really violent films on his mobile phone very late into the night. It is not easy to sleep when on the other side of the curtain are noises of screams and loud shouting, and worse ! I find it difficult to believe that anyone could enjoy the sort of stuff he was watching. Maybe he had one too many knockout punches or something. He had a habit of talking long monologues to his drip stand.....and yet he could be fairly normal to talk to at other times.

  Apart from a small change in medication, I ended up with no other treatment while in hospital, and in a way that made my stay even worse. Even more depressing was the cardiolgist saying he would discharge me three times before he actually did. 
  I was discharged so late that I was still there at supper time (dinner time). My phone camera said I took this picture of my "supper" at just gone 5pm. I ought to check my phone because supper was usually just after 6pm.  If you can read the "receipt" you'll see it was fish pie with potato wedges, and broccoli - except there was no broccoli. That didn't matter because I only ordered broccoli because I thought it would make for a more healthy meal, and not because I was looking forward to eating it. It is all on an 8 inch plate, and the plate is far from full. By my reckoning it was no more than a snack, but at least it was quite tasty.

  Finally I was given my marching papers, and carrier bag of new drugs (one of them just a stronger version). I could then leave. I celebrated by walking down the five flights of stairs to exit the building. A day or two before I had gone down three floors to some really super rip off vending machines to buy at three times Tesco prices, two bottle of Coke Zero (they did not have Diet Coke).

  I got a real buzz out of what came next. I decided to ignore the lift, and instead walk up the three floors back to my ward. I could not believe how easy it was. I felt like I was 20 or 30 years younger.  I arrived back at the ward breathing a bit deeper than usual, but no gasping for breath, and able to carry out a conversation without having to stop to take in air between words, or sentences. It was quite exhilarating. I would have liked to try it again a few more times but no opportunity came to do so.

  I did walk down the stairs from the fifth floor when I finally left, but that was sort of boring rather than hard work. Finally I was out in the fresh air, and freedom beckoned.
  The connection between the hospital and the park - the bridge of freedom ! (I should have stopped and taken this photo properly instead of taking it as I walked - that is why it has bad motion blur. I was rather excited to cross the bridge, and I ended up walking far faster than I could keep up. I soon had to slow down, but I walked a fair way before I slowed a bit.
  I did not have to walk far before I saw a very lovely sight. A tree which was in autumn mode with orange leaves was being lit up by the low down sun finding a gap between trees on the west side of the park. Those orange leaves glowed like fire. With hindsight I wish I had walked to the right in this picture, and took a picture from the said of the tree glowing.

  Wanting to get the above snap meant another reason for not slowing down. I kept up a moderately fast walk until I suddenly realised I was running out of steam, and had to slow down. This was particularly so when I realised I was not going directly home but veering off to go via the pharmacy (attached to the group practice). I wanted to collect my new Ozempic injector pen that had been awaiting collection for a week.

  I was feeling quite tired - bot physically and mentally when I got home. It was joyous to get home, but it did not make me feel much better. One of the first things I did was to grab a 5 pack (I think) of extra hot pepperami sticks. They went down well....well almost well. I think another one would have given me heart burn.

  At this point I realise I have got brain fog. The days in hospital gave me no sense of time, and even now it feels like what I am describing happened yesterday, and yet I know it was the day before yesterday.  I think I watched some TV, and then went to bed, maybe as early as 9pm. I know I had no trouble sleeping, and I am sure I got a full 8 hours of good sleep.

  It was yesterday when I thought I would do stuff, but I still felt very tired. I did very little until early evening when Michael joined me for a beer. That makes it sound so simple, but firstly the beer was 0.0% Guinness. Secondly, Michael didn't realise that I was no longer in hospital. He did think it odd we would enjoy a beer together, and took a couple of cans to the hospital, only to find I was not there.  He did eventually get here, and I had my can if alcohol free Guinness, and I think he had two cans of lager - which he knocked back very quickly. Much earlier I had said that I would like to keep the session short.

  One reason for keeping the session short was because I wanted to order a couple of Pizzas - one for last night, and one for today. One pizza was meat, and the other fish, and even while eating one I was not positive it was the seafood pizza. It was still nice, although maybe it was a struggle to eat the last slice. I think I watched some TV after eating my pizza, and then I went to bed. I am sure it was as early as 9pm, and even if it was earlier I was probably fast asleep not long after 9pm. I think I must have slept like I log until I woke up too late to get my usually timed screen shot of the weather forecast. I think I got up after 7am.

  This morning I continue a long run of terrible glucose readings that started soon after I was in hospital This morning I got readings of 12.4mmol/l (a complete and utter disaster), 10.3mmol/l (also over the red line and into danger territory), and finally 11.4mmol/l -another completely disastrous figure. In an ideal world I would fast all day long after those figures, but I don't feel up to it. I have already had a handful of liquorice allsorts, and they can only make things worse. Hopefully my first injection of 1mg Ozempic will start doing it's stuff soon, and these figures will fall, and I will get some protection from some of my mistakes.Why does hospital food have this affect on me ? It happens every time I live on hospital food.

  My blood pressure is not good this morning, although it is bad in the opposite direction. 81/64 is very low, and it would explain my sort of, but not quite, light headed feeling. If there is one thing that is good it is my weight. I have lost about 6kg since going into hospital. Now I'm at home it is going back up by 1.8kg - which is quite a rise in 24 hours.

  I have no idea what I am doing today, but I am sure it is going to start with a long snooze !