Its the start of the New Year and well, the time has finally come for my operation.
Today is the 2nd of January 2017 and we need to travel to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, North London to be admitted so I can operated on tomorrow. Its a bank holiday in the UK but the trains appear to be running so it should be a straight forward journey.
We are meant to be at the hospital by lunchtime but true to form we are running late. Rushing to pack the bag as we have no idea how long I will be in for, its hard to work out what I will need. After packing the necessities, Alexa tells me to stop worrying about it as she will be up each day and can bring stuff backwards and forwards.
With my bag packed and armed with an iPad to keep me occupied during my stay, we are out of the house and on our way to the train station.
The train into Waterloo was as tedious as ever – this journey has to be one of the dullest within the UK. Maybe its because we spend our lives on it commuting back & forth to work. Even today it seems no different. We make it to Waterloo and onto the Jubilee line to Stanmore. Unsurprisingly somehow manage to pick up the tube which terminates at Wembley Park. Along with everyone else, we jump off and wait for the next tub through to Stanmore.
By the time we reached Stanmore station we were an hour late. As usual, we waited outside the station of the hospital courtesy shuttle car, oblivious that the shuttle wasn’t running due to the bank holiday. Half an hour or so later we realised and decided we would make our way on foot to the hospital. The two miles felt like 10 miles by the time we walked up the steep hill. If nothing else, it showed us both how unfit we are.
As we walked through the gates it dawned on us that the hospital wasn’t fully open. I don’t know if you have been to a hospital when it is shut but we found it really eerie. Walking through the grounds which were normally full of cars or people were completely empty. Buildings with their lights off made us query if I was actually meant to be there today.
We soon made it to the main entrance and navigated our way past empty ward after empty ward to the one I was to be admitted to – Ward 4. It was a bit of a surprise to find it a hive of activity. Nurses and Healthcare Assistants going backwards and forwards, tending to the patients already admitted. I was directed to a bed at the end of a line and told to wait to be checked in. My section of the ward was silent, that was until we turned up. Even though we tried to talk quietly we never managed to achieve it and trying to smother giggles wasn’t the best plan.
Time to escape outside for a while and give everyone their peace and quiet back.
Earlier this evening, Alexa left me to head home. I am now on my own, in a silent ward contemplating what tomorrow will bring.
