Endoscopy and fellow bloggers.

Hi friends.

Well what can I say about having an Endoscopy?
Last Friday I went for my Endoscopy.
I can say ecky thump, because it was not as easy as I thought. I was going to be brave and try and have the procedure with just the throat spray. So there I was sitting in the waiting room to be called. Once called I was lead into the treatment room and asked to sit on the bed. The Doctor then sprayed the back of my throat with something which tasted like Fish and Banana's mixed together. Within seconds the back of my throat was feeling numb, which was going to prove a blessing. I was asked to lay on my left side and a guard was placed in my mouth. The guard had a hole in the middle, which the camera would be passed through. They put a guard in so you do not bite on the camera, which is a very expensive piece of equipment. At this point I caught a glimpse at the actually camera and I could not help but think "How the hell is that thing going down my throat, it looked huge. Having been given some reassuring words from the Nurse and Doctor, it was on with the procedure. Immediately I started retching, which was not at all pleasant. I was so close to giving up and going for the sedation, but the Doctor asked me to give it one more go and hey presto it worked, finally the camera was having a nose down in my stomach. I could not see anything, which was a bit of a shame. In no time at all it was all over the I was sitting up being told that he had found nothing. So no Hiatus Hernia, Cancer or Ulcer, which of course is fantastic news.
Keith and Jacky came and collected me and I was home on the boat with a throat which felt like it had been battered. This feeling lasted a couple of days and then I was fine.
I have been back to see the GP and he is now looking into a bacterial infection in my stomach lining, which can cause similar symptoms, so we will see what happens. If this comes up negative, then I will be sent for a scan. The mystery goes on. The one thing I am doing at the moment is cutting out Coffee, Tea, Spices and cutting down on Dairy products, these things and refined Sugar can apparently aggravate the stomach if it is a bacterial infection. I am willing to give it a go and see what happens.

Over the past few days I have not done much, just the usual washing, cooking, cleaning and watching the Rugby. Today Wednesday 30th, I spent much of the day digging the Arms gardens to keep the weeds down to a minimum. Jobs completed it was back to the boat for a cup of boiled water and a sit down. It was then our bell rang and standing there was a lovely gentleman. Chris had come looking for his wife Jennie who reads our blogs. Jennie had not made it to us and I was looking very puzzled, because I had never had the pleasure of meeting them before. After a quick chat Chris left to find Jennie and within minutes they came back together with their absolutely adorable Collie Monty. Jennie and Chris own Narrowboat Tentatrice and are good friends with other bloggers we know, Jacqueline and Les on Narrowboat Valerie and Jan, Tom on Narrowboat Waiourou and Sue and Vic on Narrowboat No Problem. It was lovely to meet them both and Monty. Sadly because I had a meeting to go to we could not have a proper get together, but hopefully that can happen again another time, when we can have a proper natter over a cuppa or something stronger.

If any of you boaters out there are still looking for winter moorings, we have a few NON-residential spaces left in the Saltisford Arm, Warwick. Its a brilliant place to leave your boat for the winter - we have a full CCTV system here, and the site is fully locked up at night surely making it the safest place to leave your boat. Its also five minutes walk from the station and on a main bus route, plus we have shops a five minutes walk away in the beautiful town. Please email Jacky at saltisfordarm@btconnect.com for details.