Good and Bad

It seems that so many happenings in life are both good and bad. My most recent experience shows that clearly. The day before I was due to travel down to Bangkok to have a standard medical check-up, to meet up with my cousin who was there working for ten days, and then go off to an island for a few days of relaxation, the debris from my 1999 prostate operation began to cause problems, blood and blockage. The next day, I flew down from Chiang Mai, was admitted, and the day after that I had an emergency clear-out operation. This whole thing just came out of the blue and I felt shocked and sickened by memories of the first time back in the UK. But I was in good hands and both the cardiologist and the urologist who performed the operation were wonderful, friendly, caring medics. Not only that, but I was already due to be in Bangkok at that time meeting up with my cousin and my girlfriend who is a nurse and having an standard aneurism scan and so the timing was miraculous. Synchronicity. Or, the universe working in strange ways.



I feel that this whole episode was a physical manifestation of the clear-out that this mischievous monkey year seems to have been all about. What a year. And I am converted to the idea of regular future monitoring of heart, aorta, kidneys, bladder and prostate because as one gets older the body begins to fray at the edges and it's a good idea to keep tabs on where a potential problem may come from so that one can nip it in the bud. After all, it's my health, so my responsibility. And I can now try even harder to lead a life that will take account of my weaknesses and keep me healthy.



So, you see, out of this whole saga has come some good and hopefully life can now move onwards into a new year of home-building and creativity. First, some positive rest and recuperation.