December 2021 Monthly Update

Monthly update for December 2021. Garry got his booster vaccine. Had a camera up his bum and down his throat, not in that order! Went out on a birthday ride, and of course, Christmas came and went.

The month started with Garry getting his Covid-19 booster vaccine. The jab went well, and there were no side effects. Which as before was over Chichester, unfortunately, the weather wasn’t particularly good, so Garry drove instead of going by bike.

Sunrise
Lovely sunrise

Monday the 13th was D-Day for Garry and time for his Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy. What a date! To prepare for his procedure, Garry had to take some strong laxatives! One dose the night before and another one in the morning. The laxatives were having their desired effect when Garry received a phone call from St Richard’s Hospital Chichester, cancelling his appointment! Great, especially after having to suffer the laxatives and everything that involves! Luckily, the hospital offered Garry the same appointment but at a different hospital in Worthing! The ward used for day patients in St Richard’s was now an inpatient ward due to the rising Covid-19 cases!

Thankfully they looked down his throat before sticking the camera up his bum! Not that it mattered, as they use different cameras, or that’s what Garry thinks! They found a couple of things, a hiatus hernia, Barrett’s Oesophagus, and Diverticular Disease! All of which sounds a lot worse than it is! From what Garry can make out, most people have these. It’s just they don’t know! And there’s nothing for Garry to worry about, not that he does anyway!

Christmas tree
Garry even put a tree up this year

It’s a bit worrying that St Richard’s hospital has needed to convert the day ward into an inpatient ward! It doesn’t bode well for Garry getting his hip operation! In theory, that is supposed to happen four weeks after his Colonoscopy! But if the hospitals are full, possibly with  Covid-19 patient’s Garry’s more than happy to stay away! Despite being very uncomfortable!

Other News

Garry’s car had its annual MOT at the beginning of the month (which thankfully passed!), and for the first time in over ten years, Garry’s driven more miles than he’s cycled! Which isn’t really surprising, considering the country was in lockdown for the first few months of the year! And then, from July, Garry’s been in and out of the hospital with his hip!

Garry McGivern
Out on a birthday ride

It was Garry’s birthday in December (yay), and he had planned on going away for the night. But with the increase in the Omnicom Covid-19 variant, he decided it wasn’t the wisest of moves! Instead, he went for a couple of day rides. One to Portsmouth and the to Brighton, nothing exciting and nowhere Garry’s not been before! But it was good to get out cycling. He also had another ride out for a hospital appointment in Shoreham. It was only for his skin, and everything was well there.

Christmas came and went with Garry spending much of it relaxing at home. And as much as Garry doesn’t like it, it probably did his hip a lot of good! Particularly as he’s been in a fair amount of pain in recent weeks! Let’s all hope for a happy and healthy 2021, with plenty of cycling!

Childs bike
What else would you expect Garry to buy Indya for Christmas!

I found this great little piece from CNN on one of the founders of Lonely Books and thought you might be interested. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/travel/hippie-trail-history-lonely-planet/

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5 Replies to “December 2021 Monthly Update”

  1. Your new spare loan bike looks fantastic Garry., talk about being spoiled🙂

    Wish I had balancing wheels on my bike having fallen off yet again thanks to inattention!

    Thought you might have posted a few scan photos so could get an insight into the inner workings of such a powerful cyclist, or does that come in a can of amber liquid?

    Welcome to 2022

    1. A happy New Year to you and your’s Peter; I hope it’s a good one for you.
      Rumbled! I was hoping no one would notice that I’d photoshopped the sofa to make the bike look smaller!
      That powerful cyclist seems to have disappeared at the moment! But hopefully, by Spring, he’ll be back!
      Stay safe and keep peddling. Oh, and don’t fall off!

  2. Hi Garry! Hope to see you in Marseilles this year. I’ve just bought a bike with 20 inch wheels. I’ll dump the old one. Yeah, I went on the hippy trail, left the bike in Afghanistan and took to the busses. I can travel the world virtually now: just pick one particular street in Paris.

    1. Is that because of your short legs!! Marseilles would be good!
      I always thought you were an old hippy! So jealous you’ve been to Afghanistan. I’d love to go there. Maybe not at the moment, though!

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