The Countdown

The countdown begins. At 11am on Sunday 7 September I have to ring St George's Hospital to check that it has a bed for me and, if it does, I will then be admitted that afternoon in preparation for the third operation in eight years on my slipped disc.

Luckily, I'll have seen the Sex Pistols on 2 September and X-Ray Spex on 6 September. Unfortunately, I'll miss Madonna on 11 September and Matthew Bourne's new production, 'Dorian Gray', on the 13th. Drat. I'll also be able to complete a large procurement we're doing at work the week before I go in.

Of course, if there's no bed for me (and who knows, it'll possibly depend on what happens that Saturday night) then I assume I'll just go back on the waiting list.

Strangely enough, I'll be in the same ward in which I had my first operation in Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon in May 2000. The hospital closed and became a new wing of St George's but they've kept the same ward names. It's a neurosurgery ward because it's a nervous system related operation not a back operation, dontchaknow?

Watch this space...