Week 92 (20 – 26 Apr 2008)

Photo: Taken in Frinton but reflects the sun and daffodils around this week. The church has been around since 1160 or so.

Instead of going to the hospital for an MRI scan on Sunday as planned we went to church. Our friends were very sympathetic and by the time we left two, Chris and Geof, had offered to take and collect us from central London. This meant that we didn’t have to negotiate the underground or driving and the dreaded “congestion charge” on our own. The thought of managing the journey on our own was depressing so their very practical offers were literally a godsend and cheered us up considerably.

The travelling to InterHealth on Monday worked well and we arrived in good time. Dr Ted Lankester was excellent and took a full history and asked Andrea’s opinions too. He referred her for both a CT scan and an MRI scan and arranged a good deal for us. The appointments are for Tuesday of next week. As there was a cancellation, I also had a medical examination just to check and so far the results of the blood tests (for both of us) are OK. He didn’t do a test for brain activity.

Andrea’s brother, Ian, and his wife, Pat, came to see us on Tuesday. The weather was warm and sunny so made the trip to Bedfords Park so pleasant that we had ice-creams sitting out in the sun. It’s a long time since we’ve spent so long in direct sunlight!

On Wednesday we visited Ann Nash, who talked “knitting” with Andrea. Lyn, from the AIM Central Region office in Kampala, has returned for her home assignment so she and I spent a while setting up a PowerPoint presentation for her talks. It was strange seeing her in the UK and looking at pictures of Kampala and her flat where we stayed while Andrea was ill.

My (James’) Thursday home group have started a series on 1 & 2 Timothy and I was given the opportunity to lead – something I haven’t done for a while! I enjoyed having something to prepare and use but found that I had to think differently for a UK group who would understand more difficult words and concepts! Even so, I gave copies of an “Easy to Read” version of the passage just in case!

On Friday Broomfield Hospital phoned to give us another appointment for the MRI scan. This is the NHS one that was postponed because the machine broke. Thursday 8th May. Only another two weeks away. We cancelled and will go for the private one on Tuesday. The Uganda school term ended today and the students left for a month. The exam marking will continue and results should be issued in a couple of weeks. It seems strange to be missing that.

Saturday was knitting day. Is there a National Day of Knitting? Andrea spent a couple of hours with the “King Pins” knitting group at the church but I think she did more talking than knitting. I walked the streets again – but it was warm and sunny this time. I did spend some money on a book. A whole 20p (about 900 Ugs). In the afternoon we returned to the church for afternoon tea – and more talking. Nigel and Ruth, owners of the flat in Frinton, are moving away from Brentwood soon having lived here since 1973 (35 years) and between them have done a wide range of jobs around the church during that time. We will still see them around as they’re not going far, but it was important to recognise their contribution to so many people in so many different ways.