MANTINADES

We were glad to get to the end of a very stressful week with two trips to the Hospital in Heraklion to catch up with the Professor who had not been able to keep our appointment due to a family bereavement the week before.

Tuesday's day at the hospital was hard going because K was walking around with crutches which work for most day to day movement, but we had underestimated the distances and wrong directions we were sent on whilst looking for the Radiotherapy Doctor's hidden lair. Having been sent downstairs, then upstairs, then downstairs again along miles of corridors, we eventually found him amongst a long queue of patients and he discussed the start of radio

therapy treatment – seven weeks from 8 July every week day with a light course of chemotherapy as well. All this was completely at odds with what the Professor had told us earlier.

He gave us a piece of paper to fix up an appointment with Cardiology for an ECG to make sure K's heart was up to it. So we stumped off in search of Cardiology. The short answer is that we think that Cardiology were on strike, but we only found that out after queuing with a numbered ticket for ages and then reaching the lady at the window and being told that we could not make an appointment today. K was exhausted, so we decamped to the car and came home in a bit of a temper. The next day we were back again for a CT scan, but I was prepared for the long corridors and mileage to be covered by taking the wheelchair. This was fine and dandy until the Doctor led all his patients from the hidden lair to the CT Scanner – setting off at a gallop with a string of patients behind him for all the world like a family of ducks. We rushed to keep up and all was well until he disappeared around a corner and leapt up a flight of stairs with a line of people behind him leaving us and the wheelchair staring in dismay.  Not even the hospital is "disabled friendly" in Greece.  Two kind souls, who knew the ropes showed us how to get to the CT place by finding the lifts to the right floor and accompanying us. I need to remember that the comfort and strength of being in hospital is from the patients and their families rather than the paid staff! Anyway we got there and sat in another queue until the Secretary came back from her lunch and could deal with the form filling in duplicate.

On Thursday, we went to a Cardiologist in Rethymnon to get the ECG done and the good news is that K has the heart of an ox! He seemed quite boosted by the news! By Friday, we were pooped and needed to have a quiet day, but somehow we seemed to have one visitor after another and I set off on my own trying to get a peaceful hair cut, without success, but noticed that a new Spa had opened in Panormo. I booked for a back and shoulder massage, to see if it would help with relaxation and a good sleep. The masseur spoke fantastic English, and on greeting me and shaking hands said that he could see that I had problems with my wrist joints (wow … true, I thought it was arthritis) so he spent an extra while paying attention to my arms and hands and it really helped. I wonder if he would be able to help with K's leg at all?  He has started to get pins and needles and a few shooting pains which may or may not be a good sign.

We spent a lot of Saturday at our friends house in Exantas (on the side of a mountain with marvellous views but a heart-in-the-mouth drive up the track to reach it). England were playing New Zealand in the Rugby Test and the Kiwis won! Our friends were disappointed, but we were philosophical about it. Later in the day, they had a barbecue for loads of people on a staggeringly beautiful mid summer evening, a table laid for 30-40 people, live music with lyra, guitar, wonderful singing and a bit of rock and roll from the Brit contingent who emerged from practising their greek conversation with the local villagers and let their hair down at the end. It was the first time my guitar had emerged from its case for a year or so and it was terribly out of tune, but nice to sing a few songs with other folk. The final task was to get down the mountain again in the dark and along all the back tracks at 1.00 am. This had been our latest night for at least a year and we had really enjoyed it.