Friday, 23 September 2016

What Happens Next?


23rd September

Well, the book is published, the Colonoscopy now completed, so in both cases it’s time to sit back and wait for the results.

I’m slightly disappointed by the book sales if I’m honest. To date it’s shifted just over 60 copies, raising somewhere in the region of £150. With the amount of shares, tweets, Facebook posts and emails I’d hoped to be closer to the 200 sales by now. I know how many people read this blog on a weekly basis. I know that a lot of friends have shared the link of their pages. I’ve had folk from work sharing the link via their email contacts. But the sales just aren’t coming. Maybe the price is putting people off, or perhaps it’s just come in with too few pages?

Yesterday I was interviewed by Reading Chronicle, hopefully they’ll publish some sort of link next week which may induce a new sales spike.

Also, if you have read the book, please review it honestly on Amazon, there’s only 7 reviews there at the moment. More reviews will probably mean more sales.

Last Monday it was back to RBH to see if I could have the colonoscopy completed this time. You may recall that last time it was halted about halfway up (!!!) due to a couple of reasons. I was pretty nervous again when I arrived, not helped by not being able to eat since 11.30am the previous day. Arriving in the waiting room to see the TV was showing a program called Jeremy Kyle’s Emergency Room being shown didn’t exactly help, neither did all the adverts which just appeared to be selling food products!   

I was eventually called into the operating room about 40 minutes late, to be greeted by not one, but two consultants who were scratching their heads and looking through my notes. Hmmmm….. that didn’t really fill me with confidence I’m afraid. I’m allergic to remifentanil which is the normal sedation used, so they were discussing alternatives. The consultant mentioned to me that they could use Pethidine, but they were concerned that I’d been pumped full of the stuff last time and it didn’t really help. Her idea was for me to use Gas and Air as an alternative and that they’d work as a team, with me, to get us through this. The last time I’d used Gas and Air was in an ambulance on the way from OBR to RBH back in March, it worked really well then as a pain relief, so taking a deep breath and a good suck on the mouthpiece I lay on my side and thought of England!

The next 40 minutes or so were a combination of discomfort, a bit of pain, but a whole lot of laughing! There were two nurses and two consultants carrying out the procedure. Between them they kept talking to and encouraging me. One would point out when we were coming to a difficult part and advise me to take a good glug of gas. Eventually, the scope seemed to be coming out of my throat so we knew the procedure was complete. The big difference this time compared to last was the interaction with the people in the room, last time it was very clinical with no real discussion with me. I’m glad it’s over and if I ever need another one I’ll opt for the Gas ‘n Air option. Two biopsy’s were taken for the errant lump, the results should be back within 14 days.

I’ve got my usual Clinic appointment with Scary (Or one of her minions) this coming Thursday, I’m hoping that the results will be available by then so we can put this little episode to one side and file it under “False Alarm”.

This weekend will be spent photographing the Rams 5’s as they’re the only team playing at home, and whichever Junior sides are at OBR on Sunday. The 1’s are away at Redruth, a long journey and difficult opponents. Max has a weekend off as the 3’s have no game. I believe they’re at home the following week, so I’ll get a chance to see him play properly for the first time this season. Hopefully the weather will stay kind, as I’m trying to continue to wear shorts until the end of September…………

As it’s been a whole two weeks since we got back from the Canaries I think it’s time to look at our next break. The current Mrs Clark is getting itchy feet. Perhaps a long weekend in France close to 11th November around the battlefields, or a weekend of debauchery in Amsterdam?

As always, thanks for reading. Please keep sharing the blog / book link.
To be continued……………



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