Don't you sometimes wish your heart was made of stone?

Nothing is happening right now. I am filling the tedium with the massive backlog of films and tv series I have recorded though.

That's not to say I have nothing to tell you but right at this moment I am just waiting.

So what is it I have to tell? Well the final hoop has now been successfully navigated, although I did make rather heavy work of it.

The pericardial effusion that was found on the contrast CT scan of my heart was indeed viral so the week or so between that first CT scan and subsequent echocardiogram saw it shrink from 20mm to 0.6mm suggesting it was indeed just something viral that had caused it and it would clear itself up completely of its own accord. Considering the needle they use to drain these things (which happened to another patient while I was at the clinic after a rapid growth in their effusion - all very dramatic) is 0.5mm in diameter, the chances of them actually hitting the tiny bit of fluid that was left, even if guided by ultrasound, are incredibly small so there was no chance they were going to bother with that. The cardiac consultant then told me he'd be sending a letter with lots of phrases like 'trivial' and 'not an issue' when writing a letter back to the referring physician in the respiratory department, who would then pass that on to the transplant team in Newcastle. So I am now at the behest of the vagaries of NHS bureaucracy. I think I might even forego the waiting game and just phone up the transplant co-ordinator myself and let her know what's going on. Things might move a bit faster that way now I come to think about it.

Addendum - Just off the phone to transplant co-ordinator and I am going down on June 27th. Also got to check and see if my latest bone density scan is within two years, and if not to get another. I'm sure it was fairly recently but I'll get that checked out when I go to the Beatson for my monthly check up on Monday.