- I visited three different hospitals this week to assess my bum-bump bruising. I probably spent a total of 20 minutes with medical professionals, but clocked up about 8 hours waiting among the sick of Welwyn and Stevenage. The NHS staff were all excellent, but utterly swamped.
- The seniority level of expert increased each time until I reached the final boss (the “plastic” consultant) who frowned and drew a dotted line around the bump using a permanent marker. He expects it to shrink and asked me to return next week.
- This week, in total, I have shown my bum to four strangers.
- Although I’ve accompanied my own family to hospitals many times, the last time I needed a personal visit I was about 12 years old. I managed to trap the top of my little finger in the locking mechanism of the gym wall-bars at school. The swelling meant they had to burn off my little fingernail. My mum remembers this vividly.
- These weeknotes are a few days late because I’ve been in Belgrade for work since Sunday, which is when I usually sit down to write. While my hotel had decent wifi, there wasn’t much downtime in between meetings and dinners. More on the trip next time.
