The start of stealth mode

-
Well, this is odd. I'm preparing to go into shielding or, as I prefer to call it, stealth mode.
    I've done a big shop, seen my parents - at a distance - and now I'm about to close my doors, just as much of the world is emerging from lockdown.
    On 7 July, I'm undergoing the delights of a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy. Yes, both on the same day, although not, thankfully, both at the same time. In order to be safe for those procedures, I'm having to be shielded - sorry, in stealth mode - for seven days.
    If you've heard the long and boring story of my recent illnesses before, please skip the next paragraph.
    In November 2012, I had a bad car crash, resulting in me being cut out of my car and having to take lots of pain killers. Then in January 2013, I broke my shoulder on my 50th birthday, resulting in more pain relief. By March, my shoulder was recovering nicely, but seemed to have frozen (of which more, later) and I was feeling very sick quite frequently. I have a great GP (shoutout here to Alistair Cruickshank) who at first thought it was a reaction to the many painkillers. Eventually, in June, he gave up and sent me for a scan, which revealed a lump on my stomach. Said lump was removed by the thankfully dextrous Mr Al-Bahrani at Watford General Hospital in August 2013. My shoulder was still frozen and this then moved to the other shoulder, too, although I recovered well from the stomach op. In August and November 2014, I had arthroscopy surgery on the shoulders, which has left them better than they were before. Hurrah! Fast forward to March 2016, when a new lump in my stomach burst, causing me to be hospitalised once more and eventually removed in April. Another great piece of keyhole surgery from Mr Al Bahrani.
    The bad news is that, after nearly four years of improvement, I started to feel unwell earlier this year. Then lockdown kicked in and my planned tests were put on hold. 
    Now, two of them have been scheduled in for Tuesday and stealth mode begins in preparation. I can walk the dog, but I can't go out otherwise.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

-
Image
Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...
Read more

The Darius Brubeck Quartet live at Jazz Cafe Posk

-
Image
My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in  2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...
Read more

‘Memory in Motion’ with The Jazz Defenders

-
Image
A packed Pizza Express in London’s Soho was blasted by The Jazz Defenders as they unleashed their new album on the world - celebrating International Jazz Day 2024 in style. The Jazz Defenders Memory in Motion is a great album, out now on Haggis Records , with touches of Horace Silver and tinges of Herbie Hancock. There was something slightly disconcerting about an electronic keyboard sitting on top of the wonderful Dean Street Steinway and George Cooper handled them both with a dexterity and panache that made it all make sense. A talented bunch, The Jazz Defenders take their influences from wherever they choose, including some of the other ensembles in which they strut their stuff.  Horns are courtesy of Jake McMurchie (tenor sax) and Nick Malcolm (trumpet) and they are as much at ease on stabbing and intricate lines as they are on solos through the tracks. A solid rhythm and added excitement comes from Ian Matthews (drums) and Will Harris (double bass and bass guitar). Matthews ...
Read more