My Left Knee - Procedure Postponed

Why hasn't there been any updates since the last blog? What happened?

Well, nothing and a lot happened.

Turning up at the hospital at 07:35 as duly instructed with now raging toothache. This together with "white coat syndrome" and stress was pushing my blood pressure to the limit.

When I was told at 12:00 that my operation was delayed by at least 5 hours due to an incident in theatre the pain and blood pressure became too much. Three hours later the anesthetist called time due to mainly blood pressure but also the risk of cross infection from the tooth. After 7 hours at hospital I went home with nothing but a shaved leg and a large black arrow drawn in marker pen to indicate the proposed operation site.

Just as well it was cancelled that day as the infection in my tooth burst forth overnight and whilst relieving me of the pain could have resulted in the loss of the knee if the operation had proceeded.

Two weeks later the cracked wisdom tooth was forcibly removed and after a 24 hour blood pressure test, I was deemed fit enough to reschedule for some time in August.

Just have to tackle the hills of the Algarve with plenty of drugs (legal type) and alcohol. Yes, indeed the Stanwick Six will venture forth on their summer adventures in 3 weeks time.

Laters!

My Left Knee - The Night Before #kneereplacement #threeshires

After 56 years of intermittent but on the whole decent service, I am spending the last night with my birth left knee. Tomorrow I say farewell and shortly afterwards say hello to a new shiny metallic replacement. 

Reason - shockingly bad football tackle 1978 and lack of keyhole surgery at that time. More of that incident later. 

So now for the next 14 hours or so, nil by mouth, not even chewing gum or a sucky sweet. Mr Crawfurd’s strict instructions. On parade at 07:35 at Three Shires Hospital, Northampton - strangely specific time?

As I lay here at 12:30 trying to sleep, bizarrely it is not my knee that is painful but a troublesome wisdom tooth. At least the bucketloads of painkillers on offer tomorrow/today should take care of that!

I like the fact that my kneecap is also getting a new coating as well. 

Laters!

Sani Dunes 2018 - Day 4

Another blistering hot day - now very red in many places!

Only item of real note today was Blankie Man. The evenings do get a little chilly this time of year, so be prepared. This chap wasn’t and resorted to stealing his baby daughters blanket from her push chair. Whilst poor Daisy froze her little bit’s off, Daddy was quite snuggly in her lambs wool blanket. Go get a whole lot of man up pills mate. (PS you look like a twat).

Free ice creams on the beach courtesy of Movenpick and part of their sponsorship of the Sani Gourmet week ( more of this event tomorrow). Several people were injured in the stampede to get there first. Surprisingly the winner was a large Bavarian woman who declared that she needed to take 6 portions! Fat greedy bitch. Good ice cream though.

Dinner at Ergon - traditional Greek Meze (ed - since when have deep fried langoustine ie scampi, been traditional Greek)? Just for a Mrs R of Stanwick, there was our favourite dish of Fava Bean purée.

Off to apply Aloe Vera aftersun to my bits.

Laters.

Sani Dunes 2018 - Day 3

Not really a lot to say today. Sky very blue this morning and ate breakfast virtually on the beach. 

Need to bit a little more respectful of this spring sun as it is fierce. Note nice shades of red and white on right thigh.

Better picture of our apartment today, one of the two on the right. 

Couple of beers in the main hotel bar. 

#

Dinner again nearly on the beach. Great setting, a little chilly and the first bad dish of the holiday - Mrs CT’s chicken was very dry unlike the cosmopolitan she started with. 

Nothing yet annoying me this holiday. I will try a get a little more grumpy tomorrow!

Laters. 

Sani Dunes 2018 - Day 2

After an early night we awoke at 7am (for which read Mrs CT made us get up at this time to “make the most of the day”). Great breakfast which included a good attempt at British bacon. No HP sauce alas. Not a cloud in the sky so off for a walk around the marina. This can be seen in the daily video - please note that I will not be providing commentary on the videos, pictures paint a thousand words. So apologies to a Mrs Cross of Haywards Heath for this omission and for too many pictures of our plane (ed. - I like planes). 

Mrs CT took part in the daily Pilates session - 2 students and a teacher, after which we collapsed on to the comfortable sun loungers on the beach 50 metres from our back garden. The service at this resort is excellent and includes a delightful young lady appearing every couple of hours offering to clean your sunglasses or provide a cool flannel.

Lunch consisted of dips, grissini, Lays crisps (only the best), Heineken and an agreeable dry white. A late siesta saw me refreshed and ready to go out on manoeuvres (exploring the resort unaccompanied). Nice bar located overlooking the marina and a reserve Amstel purchased - note for the future, do not let the waitress pour the beer!

The Sani Resort now has an app which allows you to make dinner reservations at any of the 22 restaurants as well has having loads of information on what’s going on etc. We have made bookings for every night of our stay as we soon discovered, that if you didn’t, dinner times were restricted to either 18:30 or 21:30. Tonight’s choice was Tomata  an award winning restaurant that we visited last time. Great menu and even better service. Prawns, octopus, crayfish & steak all cooked freshly on the giant bbq in one corner of the terrace. Even pudding was on the house. 

Mrs CT looked downright gorgeous tonight (as she does every night) wearing a “Tiffany” coloured number with chunky pearls. 

The evening was rounded off at The Garden Theatre with an above average resident cast of entertainers singing and dancing numbers from well known West End and Broadway productions. The stage settings and lighting were also excellent. 

Nothing to moan about today, which is unlike me. I hope I am not sickening for something!

Laters. 

Sani Dunes 2018 - Day 1 - Devil Child & Relax!

So off we go again for what is now our traditional May break in the sun. We are returning to visit a resort we previously enjoyed in 2011 (see Blog Archives for May 2011), Sani Resort in Halkadiki, Greece. This time staying at the newly built Sani Dunes complex of apartments offering luxurious adult holidays. Sounds good!

A new feature of this year’s blogs will be a daily video, see below, so you may skip reading if you so wish and go straight to the action. 

Very early flight courtesy of British Airways departed Gatwick at 06:00am. Safely settled into our Club Europe seats it was noted that the row in front of us was empty despite the calls for all passengers in these seats to board first. It soon became apparent why these 2were late as they were of the “Tim, nice but dim” types. Totally oblivious to what was going on around them, only caring about themselves. Only there weren’t 2 but 3. Little 2 year old George was already kicking off and being ignored by Tim & Jocasta. The parents had left it late in life to have a first child and had little idea on how to control the little $hit. George, probably only used to obeying commands from the nanny/au pair, knew exactly how to get what he wanted from his part-time parents ie scream loudly and ear piercingly shrill until he got his way, which he always did. Tim & Jocasta, please study Pavlov on how to break this action/reward situation. Noise cancelling earphones and a bit of 1980s tunes took care of the screaming for the remainder of the 3 hour flight. 

Fairly uneventful flight apart from when Tim tried to crush me and my laptop by reclining his seat with no notice. A swift knee to the back and a loud “do you mind” reversed his selfish action. 

Onwards from Thessaloniki airport to Halkadiki in the mighty mini Peugeot. Whole of the backseat and boot taken up with our luggage. How Avis can advertise this car as capable of transporting 5 adults and 2 suitcases is scandalous. Forty minutes later and we arrived. Car keys, car and luggage taken away from me, we were whisked to our beautiful seafront apartment via the bar for complimentary arrival drinks - proper drinks and not watered down Cava or Sangria. 

Dinner booked at The Market which is the on-site restaurant for Sani Dunes. Definitely above average for standard hotel food. 

Looking forward to tomorrow and the beach. 

Laters. 

One downside of Antibiotics (enforced alcohol ban)

Recent bad toothache caused me to visit my dentist for an emergency appointment. Diagnosis - start of an abscess. Treatment - a course of antibiotics and strong pain killers. 

Not too bad. A few beers could still be had as I seem to be one of the few that KNOW you do not have to totally avoid alcohol with most antibiotics. A couple of lagers were consumed on Saturday afternoon whilst watching rugby.

The pain was not going away and had now spread to my cheek and some way down my neck. Monday could not come quick enough for a repeat visit to the dentist. Oh dear it was now a severe infection that now required stronger pain killers and an additional antibiotic. It wasn’t until I returned home from the pharmacy that I read the dreaded word - Metronidazole. The one real antibiotic which carried a strict no alcohol threat. Well that’s the Easter break ruined - no end of week beers on Thursday, no partying during Saturday, which had already been planned, or a nice bottle of red with Sunday lunch and, dare I say, no beers at the Stanwick 10k on Monday where as commentator I use it as a lubricant to keep my voice clear. 

9 days without beer or wine! Well worth it if it clears the pain I am in. Perhaps lose a few kilos in the process. I will let you you know. 

The following is from Google in case you disagreed with my “you can drink with most antibiotics” comment. 

Can you drink on antibiotics?

NHS advice states it is “sensible” to avoid booze when taking antibiotics or feeling unwell because it can make it harder for the body to fight off infection and leave you dehydrated.

But, they add: “However, it is unlikely that drinking alcohol in moderation will cause problems if you are taking most common antibiotics.”

Are there any exceptions?

There are some circumstances where people should avoid alcohol altogether.

Anyone taking metronidazole – commonly used to clear dental and vaginal infections, or infected leg ulcers and pressure sores

Amazon misuse of packaging

Come on Amazon sort out your packaging. These tiny batteries could have been sent in an envelope and not the ridiculous box and padding that you used.