Appointments with a difference

[PhilPepper]

Hi folks

I like to think of myself as being cured, but I have a forthcoming appointment with my surgeon and another with my oncologist 3 months later. Sometimes I try to convince myself. Sometimes.

Anyhooo! My upcoming appointment is... by telephone. The doctor will call me and discuss things with me. Will probably ask me how I am. He may give me an examination over the phone. Maybe I'll just poke and prod my abdomen with my phone and he can hear how that sounds. Maybe he can hear if my cancer has come back?

Weird times. No?

I remember the times when I was so toxic that no one would touch me without gloves. Now the risk is that I may sneeze in his general direction, best just to meet over the phone. As screwed up as it all seems, I know where I stand at least. I don't think I'm going to have any major issues discovered. Just imagine how crappy it would be if he got sick and was quarantined and not able to operate on someone who urgently needed. kind of puts it into perspective.

In the meantime, the streets are empty and toilet paper is worth more than a bottle of Grange. Such a sick joke, denying a man toilet paper, after he's had colorectal surgery. A sicker joke than cancer itself.

Weird times.

Cheers

Phil

[Lindsay]

Weird times indeed, Phil.

Thanks for a little levity on such a serious issue. We all  need to smile, when we can, and your post definitely made me smile. Thanks for that.

I hope your phone hookup has good news coming your way. Take care, Phil....by the way, I’ll take the Grange and you can have the more valuable toilet paper, OK.

Cheers............Lindsay 🍷

[PhilPepper]

Hi Lindsay

Guess what? I had my surgeon's appointment. Over the phone. it was not much more than touching base. Recommendations for exercise and diet. 

I'm a little worried about hernia issues, but Dr say he'll deal with it if necessary. in the meantime, apart from blood tests, further checkups will be delayed thanks to Coronavirus. Although, my blood tests disappeared. Had them a week earlier. The collection area doesn't keep records and they didn't arrive in the central lab. Needless to say, the Dr can't tell me if they look bad.

Unfortunately, I don't have any Grange that you can drink. I do have a HSV Grange but it's in the shop getting hail repair. Hopefully Coronavirus doesn't shutdown the panel beating industry as well. I might not see it until next year. However I do have a recommendation in the way of a Pepperjack Cab Sav.

And another recommendation. Have it with cheese.

🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

Cheers 

Portly Phil 

[Lindsay]

Hi there Portly Phil,

Great to see you pop up on this screen.
Bad news about the Penfolds, but the car sounds good too. I haven’t tried the Pepperjack ( your namesake), but have seen it & thought I would. Now you have endorsed it Phil, I’ll give it a go. My father in law just turned 87 & has Prostate cancer, he lives in a small Snowy Mountains village & needs to go to Wagga hospital every 3 months for check ups. I usually go down & drive him to his appointment.

Ill take a Pepperjack with me this time coming up, providing COVID doesn’t change things.

It’s funny Phil, like you, my treatment has been postponed for six~ months due to COVID and my low immunity That’s fine & expected but the NETs team want me to have weekly blood tests, a CT or PET scan each month, until the LUTATE can be rescheduled. Seems a little odd, that’s all.

Take care Phil, all the best.......Oh yes, of course cheese.🧀

[PhilPepper]

Hi Lindsay

Very sad to hear about you Dad's condition. If Wagga doesn't kill him, their hospital surely will.

Just don't tell anyone you are from out of town. They are likely to get a mob of torch burning, pitch fork wielding bigots to run you out of town. They don't take kindly to strangers around dem dere parts. Well... not since my last visit.

Make sure you wear a wedding ring. Single mother capital of Australia. I should know. My x is there.

Seriously though, there is a reason why it frequently rains from a lonely black cloud that hangs over Wagga. Whenever they get an influx of tourist, their frequent yawning lowers the air pressure, causing rain clouds to form over the town centre. If you don't a good bottle of wine along to amuse yourself, your boredom will probably contribute to this strange weather phenomena.

And if you a looking for a namesake drink, you Need a port. Keis Bastardo from Barossa. And a fun fact, the guy who named Barossa misspelled it with double "S".

And don't forget the cheese. @Lehiatus Hey Claire, don't you be forgettin' no cheese too.

🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

take care

Portly Phil

[Lindsay]

Thanks Phil, very observant and very true. I spent the longest 10 years of my life in Wagga one day.

I won’t forget the cheese.

[Katekat]

I had Grange once... it tasted like dirt 🤣

[Lindsay]

Hi Kate, Very observant. Grange is touted for its rich earthy flavour. In 1977 I started to study Oenology at Adelaide University. I lived in Nuriootpa and was a junior cadet at Penfolds. As a 20 year old, I thought Grange tasted like an April fools joke. I only lasted 11 months and packed it in, coming home to Sydney.

Nuriootpa in 1977 would kill the spirit of any 20 year old.......Boring, and I didn’t speak German .

[sch]

Hi Phil,

As a result of my surgery, I have a hernia that needs attending to unfortunately. I have an appointment booked to see my surgeon, but I guess with everything that's going on I don't think they will be scheduling that surgery for the time being. They can't perform surgery by mobile phone yet.

Hopefully your results will arrive soon mate.

Funnily enough, I currently have a 1/4 full pepperjack Cab Sav sitting on the table. So while I slurp it up later on, I'll be trying not to think of your pepper 😉

-s

-s