Yesterday, we got a letter from The Heart Hospital, offering a date. My partner goes in next Wednesday 21st for a heart bypass operation very early on the 22nd.

Fortunately for us she appears to be having almost the simplest variety of bypass there is: just a re-routing of an artery already in her chest to serve a different purpose. So, she avoids the secondary opening up of the leg to "borrow" some spare veinage.

The letter came after she left for work, so I phoned her up to tell her, and that of course changed her plans for the whole day. She was having a meeting with her boss, who leaves at the end of next week. He was planning to do a "hand over" to her, now they both have to find someone else to hand over to! We hadn't been expecting a date for another three or four weeks or so.

She'll be in a total of 5-7 days (without complications). Because of the awkward timing I won't be accompanying her in but I'll be going into London to see her after they awaken her, either late on 22nd or first thing on the 23rd. They offer basic accommodation for relatives for  £10/night, which I think is magic, especially given that an Anytime Day Return is going to cost me  £47.70*. Benefit Girl here hasn't got the dosh to be doing that trip too often.

Surprisingly, they'll let her come home on the train (taxis both ends, of course), so that'll be an interesting ride home for both of us. Once she's home she'll have two weeks when she does nothing apart from get out of bed and walk about a bit. After that she has to go out and walk, a few yards at first but building up to a mile after six weeks. I'll be taking the opportunity to join her on these and try and get my own fitness levels up, never an easy task. Then they start her on physiotherapy specific to heart operation patients.

So, for two weeks I'm going to become house-keeper, cook, washer and ironer, washer-upper and first-level nursing care. I wasn't sure whether to choose the maid's uniform or the nurse's one! After that, I'll still have to do a significant amount of the housework - like I should probably be doing in any case. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

A week ago, on the 7th July, we went up to the hospital for a pre-operation visit, where she got to meet all the staff who are going to be looking after her, and we had a tour of the hospital so that she could see what was going to happen and where. Brilliant day, but it destroyed me. I spent the following three days asleep most of the time, and I had no energy or brain-power to do much at all. What it's going to be like for me after the operation I can't imagine.

I don't know if I'm going to be visiting here much during that time, especially the operation week and the two following. If I do, I'll have to refrain from making comments. My brain is fried already, what it'll be like at the end of that lot I can't imagine!

Still, I will be around, and I will be back properly once things settle down again. Expect a bulletin or two with progress - if I can manage it - and I'll start putting my next story up sometime in September.

Penny

* Includes tube add-on, of course.