Today's early morning weather forecast was no real guide to today's weather. There were some sunny spells in the morning, but there were light sprinkles of rain between some. This afternoon there was a short spell of moderately heavier rain, but then there were more sunny spells. It didn't feel too bad in the sun, but sometimes the wind felt rather cool, particularly when it was carrying some rain. The current temperature, at 4pm, is just over 12° C. Tomorrow could start off with sunshine and sunny spells, but the afternoon could be dull. Alternatively, according to The BBC, the morning could start off with a scattering of sunny spells, and rain in the afternoon. They say the afternoon may well be wet.

   Welcome to the mixed up blog/diary for today. I have to try and remember the salient points about yesterday, and last night, before describing the events of today. Apart from anything that happens this evening, and during the night, I may have little to say tomorrow.

  Yesterday was a day when I was trying to moderate my diet in all sorts of different ways. I basically wanted to "diet" in a conventional sort of way. Losing weight was not the prime objective, but any loss would be a bonus. One very odd aspect of the diet is that I had to stay clear of Diet Cola, and any other caffeine containing substance. That was so when I had my MRI scan today I would not be on any stimulants - they wanted to measure things at baseline level.

  There was no special need for it, but I was hoping for a nice low blood glucose reading this morning, and that heavily moderated what I ate yesterday, but there was one other consideration. I had to go out early yesterday, and I wouldn't have time for more than one very early poo ! It seems that somehow I often end up having a poo late in the morning, and at they typical time I would be in the MRI scanner  - not a good idea !

  I did manage to keep my eating down to frugal levels, but it was not perfect. For instance I had a couple of apples, plus some nuts, and also some cheese and sugar free Maria biscuits for lunch. I had a probably mad theory that once chewed to release the juice (which can unfortunately be sugary), there would be very little left apart from some wholesome fibre to become part of my poo.  My dinner was just two cans of Tesco cream of chicken soup - which is mostly water, and has a very low sugar content.

  In between eating I didn't do much. Mostly it was probably just quietly reading. In the evening I watched an episode of Secrets Of The London Underground. That finished at 8pm, and in half an hour I was in bed. I read for a while, but I was asleep soon after 9pm. I seemed to sleep quite well. After all this time I can say that I know I had several dreams, but I can remember very little of them - except for one sequence.

  It was quite an exhilarating sequence. I dreamed I was on a double decker bus, on the top floor, and travelling on The South Circular towards Catford. We were very near where the road from Sydenham joins it, by St Dunstans College, and there was a line of cars dawdling along, being held back by one very slow car. The bus driver saw the other side of the road was clear, and put his foot down, and we went hurtling along, and almost went around the bend on two wheels. It didn't seem scary - possibly because anything hitting, even head on, an old London Bus would come off a lot worse (unless it was something like another bus or a big lorry).

  I had set the alarm on my phone for 5am this morning. I expected it might be a traumatic experience, but I was awake just before the alarm went off, and went straight back into my routine for when I used to commute to work. Somehow, using some sort of mind over matter, or other hocus pocus, I managed to pass a medium large poo, and got that bit of getting ready over and done with.

  It is possible that if I had waited another 2 hours my blood glucose readings may have been even better, but I achieved my objective. The Contour meter read a very good 7.2mmol/l. The GlucoRX meter read a truly excellent 6.8mmol/l, and the Sinocare meter read 7.5mmol/l. All very good readings, and what I could achieve if I was prepared to eat very lightly, and correctly every day.

  Also of note is that my weight was down almost another kilogram compared to a few days ago. Even my blood pressure was surprisingly good considering I was under a bit of stress. The very first reading was high, just over the worry line, but I took a couple of deep breaths, and relaxed a bit harder, and got it down to a very good 108/44, although my pulse rate was hardly relaxed at 60bpm. 55bpm is more typical when I am really relaxed. I have just checked my blood pressure as I write this. The first reading was high with a Systolic pressure of 133, but I found a more comfortable spot on my chair, took a couple of deep breaths, and the next reading was a very good 105/59.

  I had probably enough time to wash my hair this morning, but to save time I hoped it wasn't too bad. I did have a shave and a shower though. Time did seem to be moving more slowly than expected, but soon it was time to do a slow-ish wander to the station. I had originally thought I would get the 07:59 train, but I actually got the 07:50 train. It was one that stopped at Lewisham, and so I only gained about 3 or 4 minutes by getting the earlier train.

  Walking to the station at a slower pace than I would normally go at, but still not that slow, felt almost OK, but by the time I had crossed the footbridge for the London train I could feel some pressure from my chest. It was not full blown angina, but it had the feel of the beginnings of it. One oddity in getting the train is that I paid the fare by tapping in with a credit card because my Freedom Pass was not valid at that time of day.

  Getting a rush hour train, and having to stand all the way to Waterloo East felt really natural after doing it for years while working. What I expected to be awful was not too bad. It was always a mad rush going up and over the walkway to Waterloo Mainline station, but of course I had done it with Angina many times before - even before I knew what angina was. I didn't go as fast as I used to, and by the time I came out on the balcony at Waterloo Mainline station I was mildly short of breath, and took a moment to get my breath back before going down the escalators. By "a moment" I think it was not much more than a single minute.

  I had a pretty good idea where I was going when I swam through the perfumed haze of the Lush shop, and out into the fresh air by the side entrance. It was fortunate that much of the walk was downhill because I was still not completely recovered from coming from Waterloo East station. I tried to take it easy but by the time I had walked down the hill/slope that took me to the bridge under the mainline railway I was beginning to feel a bit bad.

  Fortunately the entrance to the hospital was exactly where I expected it to be, and I almost made my way to the MRI suite as if I had done it many times before. I don't think the signage was all that good, but I just sort of followed my nose. I knew from the letter they had sent me that it was in the basement, and there was a choice of lift or stairs. I went for the stairs, and finally, at the bottom, there was a sign pointing to the MRI suites. I very soon came to a sign that pointed to a sign above a pair of doors with "Mary Seacole MRI Suite".

  I was there ! I apologised that I was about half an hour early, but that didn't seem to matter. In a minute or two a nice young nurse (probably a practice nurse, or senior nurse of some grade I am unaware of) came along, and showed me to the actually scanner rooms that I was booked for. She gave me a pair of hospital trousers, because no metal is allowed near the scanners, and my jeans had metal zips, and rivets, plus there was my key chain, and belt buckle. I was allowed to keep my cotton t-shirt on. After I had changed in a changing cubicle I went to the waiting room.

  With all my stuff, except for my t-shirt, stuffed into a shopping basket, it was not easy to grab my phone, and keep an eye on the time, and I have no real idea how long I was waiting in there, but while it seem to be a long time it may only have been 15 minutes before I was called to a small treatment room. In there the same nurse put in two cannulas, one in my left arm, and the other in the right arm. The first attempt failed in the left arm when she pushed too hard, and went straight through the artery, instead of in it.

  Once that had been done a doctor came in to talk about the procedure, and asked me some questions about general health, and in particular about such things as breathing difficulties. If it had been the case that I had particular difficulties the scan could have been judged as inadvisable, and I presume the nurse would be back to take the cannulas out again. Fortunately everything was OK, and 5 minutes later or so she was back to take me into the scanner room itself.

  I didn't really understand all the rigmarole of the preparation prior to be fed into the core of the scanner. One of the things was a pair of headphones, and also a microphone where the sound was sent down plastic tubes to transducers outside the scanner room. Many people remarked on the noise of the scanner, but once it was operating it didn't seem that noisy. I could almost have fallen asleep while it was operating.

  Most of the time it was used, or at least seemed to be used in fairly short bursts. A lot of the time I was getting orders to breath in, breathe out, and then hold it until told to breath again. This was simply so they could take "pictures" without my lungs wobbling my heart. At othe times the scanning pulses seemed to follow the cadence of my beating heart so one again the heart would look stationary like it was under a very slow strobe light.

  I don't think anyone warned me just how boring it was ! Some said the noise was awful,  and some said it was claustrophobic in the scanner tube. In some ways it was, but for me only in silly ways. I was semi-peeved that had I needed to, there was no room to reach up to scratch my nose, for instance. I hoped things would get more interesting when I had Adenosine, a drug that simulates the heart under stress, injected through one of the cannulas. I expected a hit like a burst of adrenaline, but it was very underwhelming.

  The doctor had warned me that it would make my heart beat faster, and that I would probably feel short of breath,. Also that I would feel some pressure on my chest, and that I might start to sweat. Well, compared to the effects of the walk from station to hospital, it was barely noticeable. I did notice a very slight increase in my breathing rate, but I was not aware of my heart beating faster. I did feel a slight pressure on my chest, but I have become so used to it being ten times worse that it just didn't seem exciting at all. I can't be sure, but I think they gave me a double shot of it to try and get the heart working harder. It is very faintly possible that maybe my heart is working OK, and my angina is being caused by a blocked artery elsewhere. If that is the case I can look forward to another angiogram in the future.


  One of the worst things about the whole procedure was from about the halfway point (although time seemed to have no meaning while being scanned) I became increasingly aware that I was looking forward to having a pee. I had the option to press the "panic button", and get it stopped. Maybe if I had they could have resumed after a pee, but I tried to think of other things - which wasn't easy considering all I could see was the inside of the scanner, 2 or 3 inches above my eyes, and the noise of the scanner.

   Finally it was all over. I wanted to ask if I could see some pictures they had taken, but the need for a pee overrode that. The cannulas were removed, and I was shown to the changing cubicles, and wished good luck, and then left to get dressed, and to go to the toilets on the way out of the hospital. When I stepped off the scanner table I felt very slightly wobbly, and I was still sort of wobbly when I left the hospital, but it still didn't stop me using the stairs up to to the way out instead of the lifts. I usually go for lifts these days because it is a bit more much needed exercise.

  St Thomas's Hospital looks very modern, but I think it is one the sight of a much older hospital. One of the statues, pictured on the left, sort of confirms the idea. The place has quite a nice riverside garden from which you can look over the river at The Houses of Thief's and Scoundrels, otherwise know as the houses of parliament on the opposite bank. If it was local it might be a nice hospital to use.



 I must confess I didn't actively look for a plaque or something explaining what this sculpture was supposed to be. I assumed it was a Martian sex act in place.
  A statue of Mary Seacole who the section of the hospital is named after. She was a black Jamaican nurse who cared for the troops in the Crimea war. The circle behind her is a cast of the mud of the exact spot where she worked.
  This is part of the riverside garden with it's fountain. Across the river is the houses of parliament with the tower with Big Ben (the bell) inside it prominently sticking up as a famous landmark.

  The walk back to Waterloo Mainline station was less arduous than the walk in the other direct despite the walk to the station including an uphill bit. I must admit I did stop to record a short message to Patricia about my scan, and about the pictures I sent to her (she loves pictures of London). That was about at the half way point, and at the bottom of the slope/hill that rises up to the mainline station.

  That pause seemed to have been perfectly timed, and I was still feeling good enough to walk up the escalators to the balcony in the mainline station where the walkway to Waterloo East starts. It was all a bit of a rush because I had just 4 minutes to get to platform C where the next train to Catford was due to leave from. It had pulled in, and come to a stop while I was still 20 feet from the bottom of the ramp to the platform. I had to try and run the last 10ft to get on the back of the train. The good thing is that I have noticed that even if your run is little more than walking speed, if the know you are making the effort they will hold the train for a few vital seconds.

  I felt pretty bushed by the time I had also walked the entire 5 carriages of the back unit of the train, and sat down. The odd thing is that I didn't really develop much in the way of an angina pain. I was just a bit short of breath, but still not actually panting (although with the state of my ribcage and chest I am not sure I can breath deeply enough to actually "pant".

  Back at Catford I didn't go straight home, but when the wrong direction to the Sainsbury's Local store by Catford station. I hoped they had some of their nice salads left, and they did. I bough two Greek Salads, plus one Italian style salad, plus some sandwiches too. In fact I bought far too much, but I was sort of celebrating. I ended up eating one Greek Salad, one Greek style wrap, and a packet of sandwiches. Since then I have snoozed, had a long phone call, and written all this. More, but not a lot more, tomorrow.
        







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