At home...

The view from Nunhead railway station... the famous Gherkin 

This week was the next stage in my phased return to Madrid. I had an arthroscopy on my left knee and am now recovering at home. One of the features of my year in Spain was the alarming number of times I fell over. I have been suffering from osteoarthritis for a while and one of the benefits of not working in an office was that I was doing a lot more walking. On the downside, I was also doing a lot more looking up to read those street signs with the added risk of tripping up on the dodgy Madrid pavements. Four bad falls and a lot of pain later, I found myself at my London doctor's in my first week back in London.

I was hoping to have the op in August and get back to Madrid for this month (October) but the NHS thwarted me and it is now going to be January 2011 before I can return. Taking the view that this is happening for a reason, I am making the most of the time "between jobs" and doing a CELTA course, some intensive Spanish learning, a bit of writing, a lot of packing up of "stuff for storage" and getting my knee fixed.

The op went well and I was soon home with a large crepe bandage, one crutch, painkillers and a big black arrow on my left calf pointing at my knee cap. I discovered that my discharge nurse was Spanish - from Leon! I had been really worried about the op as it was my first. I read and re-read the leaflets I was given about surgery and anaesthesia and "possible complications". I just wanted to get it over!

It is four days later and I have managed a few trips out with my crutch. I am hanging on to it too. The stitches will be removed next Thursday. In the mean time there is no excuse for not doing my studying ... parts of the body revision coming up.