How was your scan?

On three of the last five days I have been 20 miles each way to Northampton General Hospital where I have had an echocardiograph by a male nurse who claims that: 

"hospitals would be better run without any doctors and no! Dr Sharma can't have the machine because I am using it";

a 24 hour ECG monitor attached -

"don't bath, shower or get it wet and bring it back without fail tomorrow"; 

an MRI scan in which you have to sign to say that you have no shrapnel or other metal bits inside your body or on your body in the way of jewellery and that your dentures have no metal bits attached and remove your hearing aids and spectacles and wooden leg (I made up that last bit!)  and where you are supine inside a long metal covered tunnel that is only an inch or so from your face - 

"this will take twenty minutes or so":

"press the button if you want help" obviously if you want to escape from claustrophobia:

"the earphones are to drown out some of the very loud noises"; "would you like the radio on?" 

I preferred the noises to music that consisted of worse noises by incomprehensible pop singers.

There was a six week old baby undergoing similar treatment who then had to be taken immediately afterwards to Oxford for more of the same. And I thought I had problems!

Your mother continuing her Florence Nightingale work drove me two of the days, but on the third day I was allowed to drive again - a bit nerve wracking to start but improved when in the middle of Northampton's morning rush-hour traffic. Rush-hour is a misnomer with a top speed of about two miles per hour!

How was the scan? don't know: "we will send the information to your doctor".

This is not a criticism of the NHS and staff. Every appointment on time and everybody extremely polite, helpful and kind. Fantastic service.