An early start for the journey to the West Suffolk Hospital to find it dirty and disorganised and then made to wait to see Consultant Mr Bracegirdle with Mum and to suffer his rudeness and lack of enthusiasm for providing Mum with a hip replacement but she accepts his verdict despite my sister Freda’s view that the risks were overplayed. My first visit to St Neots LHS this evening and then news of the SOGAT strike folding, of Scottish law officers ruling that 5 of the 6 BBC films be returned and of the British Airways privatisation succeeding.
An early awakening, harking back to the era of my business career, where early mornings and car journeys were the norm. Showered and shaved in 30 minutes, breakfast in another 15, then away in the Escort Estate to meet my father. I had not been in this car much lately and it drives well, but is much more uncomfortable than the Range Rover. Arrived early at the West Suffolk Hospital and had to wait quite a while for Dad to arrive. I was going to use the toilet, but found them in a disgusting state and changed my mind. It is surprising that these large hospitals, new only a few years ago, are starting to lose their sheen, due to manpower and budgetary reductions in real terms. We had a long while to wait to see Mr Bracegirdle, orthopaedic consultant (bones). I had taken a piece of paper to take notes, but he reacted to this idea rather surprisingly and so I desisted.
He put to us that the risks of a hip replacement operation for Mum were too much. Now she has a replacement heart valve, they do need to keep up the blood levels with artificial anti-coagulants, and major surgery, lasting four hours or more, would lead to 1 ½ times (+) body capacities of blood. He does not consider a full hip replacement is the proper course and recommends a simple fibre joint that fuses the bones together. It should eliminate the pain and give better mobility, but one leg will end up a couple of inches shorter than the other. Dad and I discuss the matter afterwards, over a cup of tea in the hospital cafeteria, and then I went back to see Mum with him after, to put the matter to her. Until now she has been so set on going for a full replacement that we anticipated a problem and prepared for the possibility of securing a second medical opinion from elsewhere. However, Mum accepted the suggestion and will be meeting Mr Bracegirdle again on Tuesday to press for a date for it to be done. Speaking to Freda later in the day, she felt that the risks has been overplayed, but there was probably doubt about the probability of a successful ‘take’ of the joint cement and the suggested outcome is probably for the best. (Freda was an orthopaedic ward sister for several years). This afternoon checked on the Daimler and found that delivery is imminent and so rushed around getting insurance and putting the cover note in the post, so that I could be registered. After tea, it was time for my first visit to the St Neots Local History Society. There was an excellent talk on the history of St Neots Rowing Club and I bought a book from the club President and got him to sign it for me. The girls loved the Sooty show today, but Della cried after. The news today is of the NGA following SOGAT in calling off the industrial dispute with Murdoch’s News International. The London leaders are very bitter about the outcome, but there is really no practical alternative and common sense has prevailed. Scottish law officers have ordered the police officers to give back 5 of the 6 BBC films. They have already given back 3 films, but not the other two. Kinnock has called the government a lot of ‘tin pot tyrants’ for their role in the affair. The stock exchanges continue to climb to record levels (1500+) and it seems that the British Airways privatisation issue has got away reasonably well.