Another snakebite …

 Our two rescue cats, Honey and Jaz, were - we were told - sisters. But after eight years it is obvious that Jaz is Honey’s daughter, and that Honey must have been very young when Jaz was born. They have lived with us for over eight years and we wouldn’t be without them. But Jaz has now diced with death three times and it is never easy when a beloved pet is ill.

On Monday morning she came in distress and making an almost continuous mewling sound. She was limping and obviously in pain. The obvious conclusion was that she had encountered a snake (again) and had come off worst. After a struggle we got her into the car carrier and raced off to Yiaanis (our vet in Polis). He came to the same conclusion and two injections later, and a squirt of antibiotics into her mouth, and we proceeded slightly more sedately back home. All she wanted to do was snuggle down and sleep, and so that was what she did. Further antibiotics and an early night followed.

Tuesday morning and she was no longer limping and was quite lively so no need to go back to the vets. We had bought a new cat carrier on Monday afternoon, as the old one was falling to bits.

This followed on from Daisy’s two vet visits (one with a sharp piece of grass up the nose, and then later an ear infection (when I was in hospital). Ann, as always, coped admirably. But, within the space of a few weeks, our beloved girls had cost us more than €400. Of course they are worth every cent, but perhaps they might have a more considerate summer to avoid more damage to our bank account.

Tomorrow I am ordering an integral Bluetooth keyboard for my iPad. We have already rearranged the study, and there is a beautiful Edwardian captain’s chair, a new desktop fan and soon a semi-permanent iPad station for the writing of my magnum opus. All sorts of ideas and plots and characters are swirling around and I am looking forward to my writing. I’ll keep you up to date with the progress, or lack of it. I am told a cold Keo is the perfect antidote to writer’s block.

What a few weeks …

 Well nothing is very dull in Cyprus … or not for very long. As we have been dealing with Ann’s cataract procedure and its aftermath (eye drops, daily, for four weeks), and a very successful procedure it was, my medical problems came to the fore. Numerous visits to the Polis Medical Centre, and consultations with all the doctors there, produced temporary solutions but the problem persisted.

Finally it was decided I would be referred to a gastroenterologist and a colonoscopy  would be required. I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect (any intrusion into my body is not great) but the problem needed to be resolved. A phone call from the medical centre suggested I present myself to Paphos General Hospital Emergency Department. I flatly refused as both Ann and I have had unpleasant and unprofessional treatment there on more than one occasion.

Mary, the magnificent administrator at the medical centre, told me she would ring me back. A couple of hours later it was agreed that I would go to a private hospital (the Blue Cross in Paphos) where I would be admitted so that the outpatient queue to consult a gastroenterologist could be bypassed. I saw the lovely Dr Antony, an internal medicine consultant, and he admitted me. There would be a five-day wait until the colonoscopy but that was a small price to pay. My room had two beds and after a day a pleasant Englishman, Jim, was admitted. Someone to chat to.

On the fifth day I was taken to St George’s - a sister private hospital - by ambulance and the procedure took place. Returning to the Blue Cross, the gastroenterologist bounced into the room to announce they had not found any cancer. Well that was good news. A CT scan of the abdomen followed and was clear as well.

Some new medication to control my diabetes and some other tablets which were a safer alternative to the warfarin I was taking. As Dr Antony told me that too low an INR level and I would have a stroke and too high an INR level and I would have a heart attack. Goodbye warfarin … I’m not missing you.

And then, a couple of weeks after my return home, at about eight o’clock in the evening the gastroenterologist rang Ann and asked that we see him at the hospital at four o’clock the next day. “Not bad news” he stressed. We nervously presented ourselves and he told me that he had found the cause of my original problem (from which I had been suffering for months and months). It was a rare problem and would be resolved by a three-month course of corticosteroids. We flew home and Dr Stelios is now on the Christmas card list, alongside Dr Antony. Two very professional consultants, and some lovely staff, and - thanks to GESY - private hospital standards for pocket money.