Day In Exeter.

Today I was back on the train to Exeter, mainly to see the surgeon who operated on my spine and while I was there to do some shopping as well. The day started in a bit of a rush as I had miscalculated my time and jumped into the car, in the pouring rain, without a coat or umbrella. Luckily by the time I got to the station the rain had stopped and once I got to Exeter it was warm enough to take off my fleece. I got on the train with only a few minutes to spare so ended up in the carriage where the seats face backwards. So I could only hear but not see the following incident which happened a while later. First I could hear an older lady advising someone, who was presumably waiting by the toilet which is at the end of the carriage "I hope you're not waiting to use the toilet. A couple went in there when we left Barnstaple and haven't come out yet." At this I, along with about half my fellow travellers burst out laughing though probably they were just trying to hide from the ticket collector. A short while later the ticket collector did come along and was informed of the situation by the original lady. Then followed some sharp rapping on the toilet door. Unfortunately, 'cos I'm so nosy, I didn't hear or see what happened next or who the miscreants were but it did keep me smiling for a while.

As usual I made sure that I had time to do some shopping before I needed to catch the bus to the hospital. I was standing in the modern, partly pedestrianised High Street when I looked down a side street to see this interesting building.

Beyond was the Norman gatehouse which was part of the castle built by ...... the Normans. The city walls themselves were built 2,000 years ago and quite large parts remain to this day. For more info click here Norman guard tower .

 This is the view from behind the oval building.

I ate my lunch on the windswept Cathedral Green as usual but today instead of a prawn sandwich I bought myself some sushi in M&S. I'm now examining food labels to find which foods have very low fat content so that I can eat them safely. Later in Tescos I found some things that look like pot noodles but have Bulgar wheat and stuff in them which I shall try. As well as peering at food labels I tried on some shoes (no luck), and did some clothes shopping. The Primark, that cornucopia of cheap clothing, is 3 times the size of the one in Barnstaple so I headed to my favourite section - pyjamas! After choosing some pj bottoms that will make great leisure wear my eye was distracted by some star spangled, bright pink pjs. Not only were they fluffy!!! but the top had a hood with 2 big pom-poms. I walked past a few times before deciding that I really could wear the top to work. I chose the biggest size, of which there was only 1 but it had a small split along a seam. I found a manager and offered to buy it if he would reduce it, so he knocked a couple of quid off. Later I bought a top for work and yet another pair of pj/leisure bottoms and some birthday cards.

But what of my visit to the surgeon? Well from what he said and didn't say I'm not too hopeful that the 'new' pain will simply fade away. I have to wait a couple of months then if it is still there I'll have another MRI scan, then an injection and then maybe surgery on the next vertebra up. The way these things work that might be next summer. Ho hum.