100 Cricketers – Third XI Bowlers and Introducing the Fourth XI

Continuing my “100 cricketers” series with the bowlers from my third XI and an introduction to the 4th XI. Also features mentions of Afghanistan v Ireland and Sri Lanka Women v England Women plus some of my won photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the next post in my “100 cricketers” series. The introductory post to the series can be found here, the post that introduces the third XI here , and the most recent post in the series here. Before getting into the main body of the post there are a couple of bits of business to attend to:

IRELAND V AFGHANISTAN

Afgghanistan look in control of this one, having taken a first innings lead of 142 (314 to 172) and taken an early wicket in the Ireland second innings (Ireland are 22-1 for at the close of day two of a possible five). However, plenty may happen yet – with two days of Headingley 1981 to go England were 220 behind with one second innings wicket down, and in the first half of the fourth day they continued to nosedive, plunging to 135-7, still 92 short of avoiding the innings defeat, before Botham, Dilley, Old and Willis staged a fightback leaving Australia 130 to win. At 56-1 in the chase Australia were still heavy favourites, but then Willis was switched to bowl downhill with the wind behind him, three quick wickets meant that by lunch the score was 58-4, and the first time in four and a bit days Australia were a bit nervy, while England’s confidence was surging. England won by 18 runs. Having acknowledged the possibilitiy of a turnaround it has to be said that Afghanistan remain heavy favourites to record their first test victory. An current scorecard can be viewed here.

SRI LANKA WOMEN V ENGLAND WOMEN

England women dominated this, and the rain intervention came too late to affect the result. Having scored 331 from their 50 overs, Natalie Sciver top scoring with 93, Amy Jones making 79, skipper Heather Knight 61 and Danielle Wyatt scoring 47 off just 26 balls at the end England then knocked the top off the Sri Lankan batting in brutal fashion, reducing them to 21-5 and then 46-7 (Chamari Atapattu, who has featured in this series of mine, contributing 30 of those. The 8th wicket pair saved some face, without ever threatening to get their side back into the contest by adding 88. The rain reduced Sri Lanka’s allocation of overs to 40, but because they were seven down after 35 when it came their required total was not much reduced as they had few resources (the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, DLS for short, is complicated but works better than any other rain rule that has been devised – reserve days tend to mean action taking place in empty or near empty grounds, while other attempts at adjusting for rain interventions have led to some very strange happenings (a South African target of 22 off 18 balls once became 22 off 1 ball due to the rain rule that was in place). Kathryn Brunt’s three wickets with the new ball took her tally in all forms of international cricket to within one of 250 (144 in ODIs, 66 in T20Is and 39 in tests. A full scorecard for this match can be seen here. Now for the main business of the post, starting with…

THE NEW BALL PAIR

The bowling will mainly be shared between two fast bowlers and two spinners in this XI, though one or other of A B De Villers or Steve Waugh might get called on to act os third seamer in extremis, while the fact that Virender Sehwag bowls offspin, as compared to the legspin of Ashwin and the left-arm spin of Jadeja may bring him in to the equation in certain conditions. I believe that if one had them together, both at their peak my chosen new ball pair are good enough not to need a third seamer to back them up. We start, taking in them chronological rather than batting order with…

ALLAN DONALD

By the time South Africa were welcomed back to the official test match fold after the dismantling of Apartheid, with a historic first encounter against the West Indies Allan Donald was not quite as greased lightning quick as he was in his early days, but was still a bowler of genuine pace and the highest class. He could still serve up something decidedly nasty when riled, as Mike Atherton once discovered when he stood his ground and was given not out having gloved a ball to the keeper (he later gave to the glove to Donald with an autograph neatly covering the offending red mark). Although his entry into test cricket was somewhat delayed he had time enough to play 72 matches in which he took 330 wickets (at the time of his retirement a record by a long way for a South African). While I am not completely unsympathetic to those whose careers were disrupted, or in some cases entirely thwarted by South Africa’s period of isolation I am a great deal more sympathetic by those, going back to Krom Hendricks as long ago is the 1890s, who were denied any possibility of a career in cricket due to the colour of their skin. Basil Lewis D’Oliveira got to show some of what he could do, for Worcestershire and England, finally appearing on the international scene in 1966 at the age of 35 (given how impressive his actual record is one can only wonder what he might have achieved had he been able to play at the highest level in his mid-twenties, the period when a cricketer is usually at their peak).

My choice of opening bowling partner for Donald is made on merit, but my also be seen as a recognition of those were denied any such thing in their own time…

KAGISO RABADA

37 test matches so far have netted him 176 wickets at 21.77 a piece (both the average, and the wickets per game ratio of 4.76 mark him as a bowler of the highest class). He played a leading role of the right kind in the controversial fairly recent series between South Africa and Australia (the one in which messrs Bancroft, Smith and Warner played leading roles of absolutely the wrong kind). He is still only 23 years old, so if his body holds up he could have another 15 years bowling for his country (James Anderson is still going strong with his 37th birthday on the horizon, and Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh remained the West Indies finest bowlers at that age) and set a record for South African bowler that would take a lot of beating. Certainly he is well worth his nomination is one half of an all South African new ball pairing.

THE SPINNERS

Bearing in mind that I have off-spin available in the person of Virender Sehwag I opted for a leg-spinner and a left arm spinner as my front line spinners. The pair I have gone for regularly play together and function well as a partnership (it was for this reason that in his all-time XI Sir Donald Bradman opted for Bill O‘Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett as his spin twins, leaving out Shane Warne (see this post earlier in my own series) so as not to break up to the partnerhsip).

RAVINDRA JADEJA

192 test wickets at 23.68, 1485 runs at 32.28 (from 41 matches so far) and he is one of the best fielders in the world as well. This is a truly outstanding player, worth his place for his bowling, possibly would even be worth picking as a specialist fielder if he did nothing else to the required standard, and is a more than competent batter. I suspect that following on the initial onslaught of Donald and Rabada and backed up by his mate Ashwin he would bowl even more effectively in this combination than he has for India, but for his selection to work that does not have to be so.

R ASHWIN

65 Tests have netted him 342 wickets at 25.43, and he is even more of a destroyer in limited overs cricket. Although his batting is not generally highly regarded he has been used as an opener in the Indian Premier League where his ability to get the innings away to a flyer is at a premium. On any pitch offering assistance to spinners he is deadly, and I have never yet found an example of him being collared even on the flattest of tracks (even when England beat India 4-1 in 2018 on pitches and in conditions that did not suit Ashwin or any other spinner he always commanded respect).

INTRODUCING THE 4TH XI

Ready for the continuation of this series here is my 4th XI in batting order:

PHOTOGRAPHS

For those of you have made it through to the end of this post here are some of my photographs:

P1210919 — All of this pictures were taken this afternoon while I went out a very short walk.

100 Cricketers – Third XI Numbers 6 and 7

Continuing my “100 cricketers series, with a look at nos 6 and 7 from my third XI. Also features some of my photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest post in my “100 Cricketers” series. The introduction to the series can be found here, and the most recent post can be found here. Before I get into the main meat of this post, as it is cricket themed I will briefly mention…

AFGHANISTAN V IRELAND

The inaugural test match between these two newly elevated nations is taking place in Delhi at the moment. After one day’s play Afghanistan are 90-2 in reply to Ireland’s 172 all out. At one stage it looked like being a lot worse for Ireland – they were 69-8 at one point and then 85-9 before George Dockrell and Tim Murtagh performed a rescue act, the latter top scoring with 54 not out from number 11. Whatever happens over the next four days one of these sides will make the best start to their test match involvement since 1877 when the first two test sides, England and Australia each one won match – each have only played once before, so the winner will record a success in their second outing. Now onto business, with the man at no 6 in my third XI…

STEVE WAUGH

Normally I would have an all-rounder at no 6, but Steve Waugh can hardly be so described, even though when he first got the call-up in the mid 1980s he was seen as a bowling all-rounder. He seemed to positively relish difficult situations, such as the occasion at Manchester when 21 players failed to achieve anything of significance with the bat due to a difficult pitch and perpetually overcast conditions, while he chiselled out a century in each innings to win the game for his side.

He really arrived as a test match player in the 1989 series in England when he made big hundreds in the first match at Headingley and the second at Lord’s, both times being supported by lower order batters who were inspired to play above their usual station (Merv Hughes with 71 at Headingley, Geoff Lawson with 74 at Lord’s), and scored over 350 runs before being dismissed for the first time in the series.

Time again through the 1990s and in to the early 2000s Australia would look be struggling and then Steve Waugh would come to the crease, and right when it was most needed would make sure he was still there at close of play, with Australia firmly back in control. Teams often tested him with bouncers because he rarely played the hook and often looked less than comfortable against short stuff, but I cannot recall him ever losing his wicket to it.

He was the third in the sequence of long-serving Aussie captains that started with Allan Border and ended with Ricky Ponting. Earlier in this series when I covered Border I rated him the best captain of the four, based on the fact that he turned the fortunes of Australian cricket around when they had been in the doldrums. Steve Waugh, who made a team of champions even stronger, so that they became as near as any team in history to be absolutely unstoppable is for me number two in that ranking, with Mark Taylor a respectful distance back in third and Ponting a poor fourth.

JEFFREY DUJON

Teams were just starting to take seriously the need for wicketkeepers to have potential as runmakers when Dujon came on the scene. Alan Knott’s England career was just coming to a finish, and many matches therein had been influences by his ability to contribute runs from the lower middle order, and England were frantically looking for a replacement (it would take the emergence of Matt Prior some quarter of a century later before they found someone who was good enough in both departments, since when there have also been Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes). Other countries also started requiring regular runs from their wicketkeepers.

Dujon scored four test centuries, averaged over 30 when that was unusual for a wicketkeeper (and generally made his runs when they were badly needed) and was an excellent keeper standing back to the fast bowlers. There is no way of knowing how we would have handled keeping to top class spinners, as the only person picked as a front-line spinner by the West Indies during his time as keeper was Roger Harper (who was also a fine middle-order batter and one of the greatest fielders the game had ever seen), but the fact that I have named in this XI rather than holding him back for the XI featuring a quartet of West Indies quicks tells you what I think – he would have been as good keeping to spinners as he was keeping to quicks.

NEXT IN THIS SERIES

We cover the bowlers from this Third XI and introduce the Fourth XI in batting order.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some photographs to finish…

P1210894 — A mallard drake and a herring gull standing side by side in the sun yesterday.

P1210895 — Mallards come calling this morning…

P1210906 — A picture at Tapping House that took my fancy.

P1210908 — the fish tank in the reception area at Tapping House

P1210909 — A close up of one the fish in the tank.

P1210914 — Spring flowers near Tapping House

P1210913 — This building, probably once a village school, took my fancy on the way out, and I managed to phoyograph it on the way back.

Physio Assessment at Tapping House

An account of my first visit to Tapping House Hospice and the physio assessment that took place there.

INTRODUCTION

At 11AM today, exactly as planned, a vehicle arrived to collect me and take me to Tapping House Hospice for a an introduction to their physio arrangements. The physio came in person along with the driver. In the rest of this post I will describe what happened.

THE JOURNEY THERE

Major housing developments have opened up a lot of North Lynn in recent years, and we were able to head for the main road to Hillington, the village in which the hospice is situated, by way of Lynn Sport and the industrial area of North Lynn. The journey pased without incident, and the physio then conducted me to the room wherein the sessions will take place when I can start them (next week’s sessions are already full, but it is just possible that I will be able to attend sessions from the week after next).

THE ASSESSMENT

The assessment consisted of a number of parts:

Get up from a chair and sit back down five times in a row.
Stand in front of the chair with my eyes closed and my feet together for 90 seconds – I felt that I was shaking like a leaf when I did this but apparently the reality was less dramatic than what I felt.
Walk to the door leading into the ‘snug’
Walk a short distance, turn around and walk back (the physio neasured the appropriate distance).
Put one foot on a step and bring it back down again five times
Then it was time to sample the equipment – two minutes on the treadmill at its lowest speed, three minutes on a bicycle simulation (it offers much more physical support than a real bike, but you pedal it as if on a bike – my average speed over the three minutes was 14.1kph – just a tick over 8.5mph – a baseline figure against which future attempts can be measured) and a brief introduction the all-over workout machine, which I did not enjoy since my balance has never been the best, and I did not feel secure at any stage.

I think I have missed something as there were supposed to be seven stages, but this is what I remember of the assessment.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Louise made some sensible suggestions about outside walking, involving making use of the area immediately outside my bungalow, which I shall put into practice from tomorrow (weather permitting) – I did actually manage a visit to the very local shop yesterday, but it was tiring. She also helped me with some advice on regulating the breathing, which I shall endeavour to make full use of.

HOMEWARD BOUND

The journey home passed uneventfully, and although we had taken the precaution of bringing the wheelchair along for the ride it proved to be unnecessary, and we probably won’t bother with it next time I go to Tapping House. I enjoyed my first visit to the hospice, and look forward with more enthusiasm than apprehension to getting involved in group physio sessions once there is a space for me.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some photographs taken today:

P1210897 — Pot outside the main entrance (2 pics)

P1210899 — A nice map of Norfolk displayed above the reception desk.

100 Cricketers – Third XI Nos 3,4 and 5

Continuing my “100 cricketers” series with nos 3,4 and 5 in my third XI. Also features some of my photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my “100 cricketers” series. Today we look at numbers 3, 4 and 5 in the third XI. For those who are new to the series, the introductory post can be seen here, the post introducing the third XI is here and the most recent post in the series is here.

JONATHAN TROTT

With an all attacking opening pair, a player of a different nature was indicated for the number The slot. Jonathan Trott’s adhesive qualities at number three were seen at their finest in the 2010-11 Ashes series, when he helped Alastair Cook to save the opening game in Brisbane, shared a partnership with Cook at Adelaide that set the stage for Kevin Pietersen to deliver a mighty slaughtering and was the rock around which England’s innings in Melbourne was built after Australia had slumped to 98 all out in their first innings. A double century in the series against India in 2011 that saw England claim the world number one test ranking was also noteworthy. Trott’s international career ended up being terminated by mental health issues, but before that happened he had done comfortably enough to prove himself a top test match batsman.

KOLPAK CONTROVERSY

The Kolpak ruling, named in ‘honour’ of the Slovenian handball player responsible for its creation enables players born in foreign parts but having home qualifications through one or both parents. Jonathan Trott benefitted from this ruling to come to England in the first place, but he was clear from the outset that he intended to qualify by residence to represent England, did so and did very well. My real objections are to players who do not intend to make their skills available to the national side but do intend to come and play anyway. I refer both to players who are signed as easy space fillers but who have no real international pretensions and to players such as Jacques Rudolph, Kyle Abbott and Duanne Olivier who had already played for their native land at full international level. Please note that I am not remotely bothered by birthplace or ancestry – I am concerned with who the players intend to make their skills available to.

A B DE VILLIERS

A middle-order stroke player who averaged over 50 in test cricket, kept wicket regularly and occasionally had moments with his medium pace bowling, this man forms a neat counterpoint to those who immediately proceed and follow him. Shrewd observers will note that my numbers three and four are both right handed batters, which means that we need a second front-line left hander to go with Chamari Atapattu who is one half of an explosive opening pair, which brings us to…

GRAHAM THORPE

With three of the top four very attacking in nature, someone who was a bit more of a sticker is called for at number 5. Hailing from one of cricket’s historic cradles, the area round Farnham where Hampshire and Surrey meet, the nuggety left hander averaged in the middle 40s for England at a time when dependable players of any description were at a huge premium for England. He started his international career with a debut century against Australia (had Graham Gooch been more aggressive with his declaration England may well have won that match) and made runs all around the world thereafter. Eventually he made way for Pietersen, a middle-order batter of very different but just as successful type.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I finish with some of my recent photographs:

The first five pics were taken yesterday when ducks paraded outside my window (possibly fresh a West Indies scorecard!)

Obviously I was not going to miss out on this one!

Bronchoscopy

An account of todays visit to Addnebrookes for a bronchoscopy.

INTRODUCTION

This post deals with the latest medical procedure I have undergone in the course of efforts to help me recover from cancer. Some of you may find parts of what follows to be strong meat.

PREPARATION

In a letter liberally laced with dire warnings of what would happen if I did not follow the stipulated requirements absolutely 100% I was required to present myself at the Treatment Centre at Addenbrookes (a place I have not been before) by 9AM on Wednesday 13th March (i.e. today). I was also required to have someone else present as the letter made it clear that I would not in a fit state to travel back unassisted after the procedure. In view of the time we would have to leave King’s Lynn this meant a night in the camper van for my father.

Since I shrewdly suspected that the day would entail a lot of waiting around my preparation included supplying myself with no fewer than four books to ensure that I did not run out (for the record I was in to the third of them before the day was done) of ways to fill in the time while things weren’t happening.

ARRIVAL

Having allowed generously for traffic jams and only actually encountered one, on the approach to the hospital, we arrived considerably ahead of schedule. Once we had got to the third floor of the building and located the area where the bronchoscopy was to take place there was a questionnaire to fill in, and the usual quantity of paperwork to be filled in and signed. Also, to enable the procedure to be carried out I had to have a cannula inserted. Then there was some more waiting before the doctor was ready to perform the procedure.

THE PROCEDURE

Once I had been taken through the list of possible side effects in order of likelihood and increasing severity it was time to begin in earnest. A local anaesthetic was sprayed into the back of my throat to deaden the feeling in that area. Allegedly it tastes like banana, to which I say that those classifying said taste have not actually sampled it – it bears no resemblance to banana. Then a sedative was injected through my cannula to help relax me for the procedure – it worked very well, and I came round with the procedure safely completed. A couple of observation sessions and a bit of waiting later I was able to set off, equipped with another letter warning me off food or drink before 12:45PM and off alcohol for 24 hours.

The journey home ensured that I was free of temptation until significantly after the 12:45 cut off. As of this moment the only side effects I have experienced are a very slightly sore throat and a bit of coughing. The results of this procedure can take up to a week to come through, so they may or may not be available when I see my main team on Monday.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A new place means a new opportunity for photographs (unless it is very dull indeed), and here are some I took during the day:

P1210877 — These three metal panels are along the path that leads from the road to the entrance to the treatment centre.

P1210880 — This item rotates regularly, and is a fascinating site (I have held some of todays pics back for my next blog post, including three more of this to follow the three I show here.

100 Cricketers – Third XI Opening Batters

Continuing my “100 cricketers” series and using the photography section to mention an NAS West Norfolk coffee morning.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my “100 cricketers“. Today, having finished the second XI we start going through the third XI, with the opening pair. For those who are new to the series and would like to catch up here are the most important staging posts so far:

The post in which I introduced the whole series.
The post in which I completed my coverage of the firxt XI and introduced the second XI.
My most recent post, in which I completed my coverage of the second XI and introduced the third XI.

CHAMARI ATAPATTU

She owes her presence in my list to one innings , but what an amazing innings it was. In the 2017 Women’s World Cup, facing one of the pre-tournament favourites Australia she scored 178 not out. None of her team mates were able to handle the strong Aussie bowling attack – her dominance of this innings is reflected in the fact that Sri Lanka as a whole tallied only 255.

As a one-person show it had few precedents (Viv Richards, 189 not out in a total of 272-9 v England at Old Trafford in 1984 and Kapil Dev, 175 not out coming in at 9-4 to get India to an ultimately winning 266-8 v Zimbabwe in the 1983 world cup are two that come to mind, while in test cricket there was Graham Gooch’s 154 not out at Headingley in 1991 which got England to 252 all out). Unfortunately for Atapattu her amazing innings was not quite enough – Australia won the match in spite of it. A full account of the match can be read here.

The England Women are starting a series in Sri Lanka this Saturday, and I for one hope for more fireworks from Atapattu during it.

VIRENDER SEHWAG

One of the select few batters to have scored two test match triple hundreds (Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle are the others), and alone in having scored 100 runs in each session of a test match day (Bradman’s 309 on the opening day at Headingley in 1930 saw him score 220 not out in the first two session and then add a mere 89 in the third), Sehwag’s aggression has been well an truly backed by results. I remember a series opener between India and England when India needed 384 to win in the fourth innings of the match and a very rapid innings from Sehwag completely knocked the stuffing out of England, enabling India to win with considerable ease.

He also bowled occasional off-spin, with his batting and bowling averages being just the right way round, although it would be a risible over-statement of the case to describe someone who paid 47 runs per wicket as an all-rounder.

Finally, as a right-handed bat he contrasts nicely at the top of the order with the left-handed Chamari Atapattu, meaning that opponents of this XI would face a varied challenge right from the start.

In my next post in this series I will cover nos 3, 4 and 5, and given who two of those are, and who I have down at number 6, I think most would agree that the luxury of an all attacking opening pair is one that this XI can well afford.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This morning was an NAS West Norfolk coffee morning, using a new venue, a Caribbean Soul Food establishment which has recently opened on Tower Street. It is an excellent space, and they were sensible about the background music – they did play some, even though it was a morning, but the volume was not too loud. There was a good tunrout, including several very welcome new faces, and I had an enjoyable morning getting away from my bungalow for a bit (something that has not been easy of late). Here are some photographs I took while I was there:

P1210844 — In the summer months this seating area may suit us well, but today was definitely not the day for it!

P1210846 — The establihsment includes an art gallery.

P1210866 — Just across the street from the front entrance is this bakery which was also doing good business.

P1210867 — This staircase is an impressive sight.

Addenbrookes Visit Brings Good News

An account of yesterday’s visit to Addenbrookes.

INTRODUCTION

Regular readers will be aware that I have had a tough time lately, including two unscheduled visitsTHto my local hospital. It was therefore with feelings of some trepidation that I approached my scheduled visit to Addenbrookes yesterday. I will take you through what happened at various stages of the day in the rest of this post.

CONSULTATION WITH DR MAZHAR

The encouraging news from this session was that my tumour markers are continuing to fall (having at one stage been up in the hundreds of thousands they are now down at 20). Immediately after this session I went for a chest x-ray, preparatory to an afternoon appintment with a respiratory specialist.

THE RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST

Given my situation the news from this appointment could have been anything from dreadful up to reasonable (given the known state of my lungs it was not going be good on any normal definition of that word). In the event the news was, to adapt a line from S J Simon’s “Why You Lose at Bridge”, the best news possible – the lung infection had cleared up, and it is virtually certain that the main problem in my lungs is not, as some had feared, a case of Bleomycin toxicity. It is almost certainly caused by small scale haemorrhaging (the lungs act like a sponge, soaking up the loose blood, which causes some problems but explains why there is little external evidence in such cases). A CT scan has been booked to further check this out, and if warranted this will be followed by a bronchoscopy.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

My physical state is improving – while I found walking around the hospital tiring I did not actually need to stop at any point, and I never felt like I was close to trouble. Since I went public about having experienced such things I have had no further anxiety/ panic attacks (and given both my recent circumstances and my mental health history it is no great surprise that I did experience such things). The mild tranquilizers (Diazepam for those interested in exact details) that my doctor provided to help with this issue have worked so far. There is a long way to go yet, but at least at the moment I seem to be heading in the right direction.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some photographs from yesterday…

P1210768 — This magnificent map adorns one wall of the waiting room for the respiratory clinic.

P1210770 — The first of two shots I got of Ely Cathedral during the return journey.

Physical Health Impacts on to Mental Health

An account of the last few days, explaining the current problems I am facing (regular readers will be well aware that I have been taking a battering in various ways over the last five months).

INTRODUCTION

Earlier this week I came out of one hospital visit caused by breathlessness only to go almost straight back in. Now I am back out again, but there are still problems – only they are mental rather than physical.

THE BOOMERANG DAY

On Tuesday I was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital and came home. That evening when considering going to bed I became breathless, tested by SP02 on a machine I now have for that purpose, got a low reading and found myself heading back to A&E. I was tested there and we established that my machine always reads one or two points too low, and that at the hospital there was no major issue with my breathing. After a six hour wait for further developments I was moved to a bed, and I remained at the hospital until yesterday.

YESTERDAY

Yesterday evening, when I headed for bed, having made sure that my SP02 was not low, I became breathless just from thinking about getting into bed. I called my father, and with his assistance, having identified this as a panic attack, I eventually did get to sleep. I was up quite late this morning, but got my coffee going OK and checked in on the computer.

TODAY – BREAKFAST PROBLEMS

I was just preparing my breakfast (the cereal was in the bowl and I was opening the milk) when I had another breathlessness related panic attack and called my father for assistance. He came round, I ate the breakfast and have subsequently managed to get dressed and go out with him for a very short walk. I have an appointment at my GP surgery at 4:20PM to discuss my mental health situation (I am definitely in need of help in this department) and see what can be done about it.

TOMORROW AND SUNDAY

These are the two days that will pose the most problems – I will be at Addenbrookes for most of Monday, and there are plans for a visit from Tapping House on Tuesday. That leaves something to be done about the weekend.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My physical health is probably is good, given what has happened over the last few months, as it could be, but mentally I am struggling. I do not know why it is these recent incidents that have had this effect, but undoubtedly they have, and something needs to be done – I hope the doctor at my surgery can help with this.

An Unfortunate Episode

A brief account of the last 48 hours.

INTRODUCTION

I have just got back from a brief stay (less than 48 hours in total) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, and this post describes what happened, covering the events of Sunday in some detail as a lead -up.

A GOOD SUNDAY…

Sunday morning started exceptionally well, with a shopping trip to Sainsbury’s, during which I walked around the store. I was also able to carry my own shopping from the car to the bungalow and unpack it myself.

I then had a full Sunday lunch at my aunt’s house, stayed to watch the rugby match between Italy and Ireland (won by Ireland even though they never produced anything approaching their best) and went home still feeling well and happy.

I had my supper and was getting ready for an early night (preparatory to a women’s ODI in India) when the situation changed.

…UNTIL ABOUT 7:30PM

Changing from day clothes into my pyjamas tired me considerably, and my breathing became difficult. I returned to my armchair in the living room to give my breathing a chance to regularise itself, and about an hour later I thought it had done so, and headed back to the bedroom. Unfortunately even that short walk was enough to cause further breathing issues, and at that point I phoned my father who was staying at my aunt’s place. A short time later we were on our way to A&E.

A check not long after arrival there confirmed that it was not a false alarm – my oxygen saturation was down to 89, so I was put on extra oxygen and a bed was found for me.

The usual gamut of scans and tests were carried out over the following 24 hours, and late yesterday evening my oxygen feed was reduced. At about 9:30 this morning I was taken off the oxygen altogether. A test at about lunchtime confirmed that my unassisted oxyegn saturation levels were just high enough for me to be safely discharged, and at about 3:30PM my father gave me a lift home, where I am now resting up.

Monday – Autism, Capita and Cancer

An account of a busy, tiring but important day in my story – yesterday.

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday was a very busy day for me, starting with a session in my home with Capita as part of processing a PIP claim and followed by various things at Addenbrookes Hospital. This post covers the days events in some detail.

THE START OF THE DAY – CAPITA

I was up and about by 7AM as I intended to be, giving myself plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of Capita. At just about 9AM somebody from Tapping House arrived to support me through the session, closely followed by my parents and Capita’s representative.

This session went fairly well, helped by the fact that the Capita representative actually had some knowledge of autism, which meant that I was being asked very direct questions, which in turn made handling them easier.

While I have as yet no expectations about the final outcome of this assessment I believe that it went about as well as it could have done, and therefore I am cautiously optimistic.

ADDENBROOKES PRELIMINARIES

The day at Addenbrookes started with a weigh-in (71.3 Kilos), and then an appointment with my oncology specialists to discuss progress in my case. My tumour markers are continuing to drop (from being in the hundreds of thousands they are now down to 36, while they need to get down to 4 for me to safe) and the overall prognosis is improved (when my treatment started I was told that there was about a 50% chance of all the cancers that were afflicting me being cleared, and I have now been told that the odds are better than that). When my lungs have cleared sufficiently for me to be considered strong enough to through such a process there will be an operation to remove the testicle that was the root cause of all my problems. There remains some uncertainty over what will ultimately be done about the four small tumours in my brain. I am due back at Addenbrookes in two weeks time, and in the intervening week I will receive an email from someone at the hospital to check up on me (I believe that this will be a regular feature for the future).

X-RAY AND BLOOD SAMPLES TAKEN

Following on from this session it was time for a chest X-Ray and then for some blood to be taken. Both went extremely smoothly, with my veins being fully co-operative for once.

After this there remained one last thing to be done at the hospital…

AN IRON INFUSION

The iron infusion looks like liquid rust (this one is the third I have had, and may well not be the last). It takes about half an hour to run, and then one has to wait for another half hour while potential side effects are monitored. Fortunately there were none and I got away fairly swiftly at the end. This was a tiring but very satisfactory day, and one that has boosted my confidence for the future. There will still be tough times ahead, but I can also look forward with confidence to a better future.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are some pictures I took yesterday and today…

	Thomas on Describing and Imaging Ep…
	cindy knoke on Describing and Imaging Ep…
	Thomas on A New Find
	amsutcliffebtinterne… on A New Find
	Derek Li on About Autism