The Nose Job ... and More!

It's been a busy week.  Highlight of the week has been something I've been trumpetting to close friends for some while (please forgive the pun ... which will become apparent shortly).  First, though, came a double lay-in.

The church where I ring is facing an interregnum in a few weeks.  The vicar has now moved to a new responsibility elsewhere in the diocese and Sunday was his last day.  He decided to cancel the service at the daughter church (the one with the bells) and have a big farewell service followed by a meal at the parish church.  With the curate also moving on in a few weeks they are looking ahead to a difficult few months.  Hence I was able to enjoy a lay-in.

The second one came on Monday.  The leader of our usual men's breakfast meeting has been on holiday and for two weeks I stepped in to hold the fort. The first week was fine, once I'd won my battle with the cooker, and the second week also.  However, with only four of us there, and one definitely not available this week owing to another commitment, it seemed prudent to cancel what would have been the last meeting of the term ... so I didn't have to get up at 5.30 in order to get to church and have everything all ready by 6.30.

The day was full enough, though, with the second week of the online genealogy course, and ringing practice in the evening.  Then came the big event.  For many years - at least twenty - I've suffered intermittently from a nocturnal sinus problem as a result of which I wake up several times in the night unable to breathe properly.  It kicked off big-time this spring following a cold and, after two consecutive nights with about three hours' sleep each, I was sufficiently motivated to seek medical help.  A sequence of nasal sprays proved both uncomfortable and ineffective, and at last my GP referred me to the hospital ENT clinic.  I had a choice of three appointments, and opted for the earliest one, which also happened to be the closest to home, and was set for Tuesday morning.

After the usual verbal interrogation to see if there were any possibility of allergic or other cause, a visual inspection was followed by a brief wait during which a 'scope' was obtained.  A camera was unveiled, about an eighth of an inch in diameter, on the end of a wand almost a foot long.  After an anaesthetic spray, this was inserted into each nostril (I didn't care to look as it came ever closer), and withdrawn.  "Well," said the consultant, "you have a very clean and healthy nose, and I can see no trace of infection."  A discussion followed, during which he explained the putative cause for my symptoms, which boiled down to a likely laziness of the microscopic hairs that normally propel mucous away from the nostril, to drain imperceptibly down the throat, this possibly coupled with an excess of mucous production in the first place.

The remedy will hopefully be a four week spell of twice-daily washing of the interior of the noze with a sea-water aerosol, and continued use of the nasal spray that I had formerly rejected.  Although only a few days in, I have to admit that this combination seems to produce the desired result.  The only question in my mind is, just how permanent will it be when the four weeks are up?

A couple of weeks ago my help was solicited in the preparation of a risk assessment for an upcoming inter-church event described as a 'Picnic in the Park'.  Being adequately described thus, it's an annual gathering in a town-centre park with entertainment and games where families can enjoy a communal picnic.  Anyway, the very busy person who had contacted me found himself running out of time before a business trip and I was left not just to help with the exercise, but to carry it out from start to finish.  All in all, this took up a fair slice of the week, with e-mail consultations and a face to face meeting with someone who had a fairly comprehensive idea of what is planned, followed by the creation of the document on the computer and delivery of the end-result.

Yesterday, our regular day of prayer and fasting, was rounded off with the final gathering of the children's holiday club, which has been running for the last four mornings.  In the evening the 100 or so children from both church and neighbouring community were invited to bring their parents along to a barbecue to see what they have been doing throughout the week, so I went along to help where I could with fetching and carrying and then putting the church back to rights afterwards ... something that is often overlooked on these occasions.

And now, as things get back to normal, I can sort out the regular chores that have been shunted along the week, like shopping, clearing up the odds and ends of carpet after fitting some of the now redundant awning pieces (see the blog of a few weeks ago) into my kitchen, and preparing for another week of action-packed retirement.  Work? ... what was that all about, now?