Not what I was expecting

I was so nervous on Monday as DD drove me to see one of Sydney’s top laproscopic surgeons at St George Private Hospital.

The fear that I was facing major surgery hung over me … for much longer than I was expecting … because the surgeon was running two and a half hours behind schedule …

Anyhoo, when I finally met him, he announced that Freddie the Fibroid was “stable” and nothing to worry about. He said there was no medical reason to have surgery.

Oh, I said.

But the orthopedic surgeon reckons Freddie is hindering my ability to activate my core.

Bunkum, he said.

Actually, he didn’t say bunkum, but that was the general gist.

The orthopedic surgeon said Freddie might be contributing to my hip issues.

Bunkum, he said.

The GP said Freddie was putting a lot of pressure on my uterus.

Bunkum, he said.

I need to wee a lot … is that Freddie’s fault?

Nup, he’s up high and nowhere near your bladder.

Ah. OK. So you definitely wouldn’t recommend surgery?

No.

He reckons only reason for me having surgery would be a psychological need to remove Freddie.

But, he cautioned, surgery always carries risks.

Right. I think I’ll skip it.

So I wandered back into the waiting room, paid my $300 and headed home, resigned to keeping Freddie for the foreseeable future.

Not how I was expecting things to roll.

Poor DD lost most of his working day to that excursion. And so did I.

As we were driving home, DD started speculating about other specialists I should see to get to the bottom of the cause of my health issues.

But I am done with specialists for the immediate future. I will focus on gentle physio and maybe go on an elimination diet.

But it is hard to go on elimination diets when you are invited to whisky tasting events where they serve shiitake vol-au-vents with creamed leek and ricotta salata, king prawn toast with truffle, cheeseburger rosti and glorious taramasalata delighty things …

I was invited by my friend Oliver at The Whisky List to a special preview of The Whisky Show’s exclusive bottling, Westward Oloroso single cask.

Westward is one of a growing band of ‘new world’ distillers to settle in the traditional craft brewing hub of Portland in Oregon. Everything from Westward’s water source — which consists of snowmelt and rain from Mount Hood — to its inclusion of locally malted barley, are all sourced from the region.

The results are invariably delicious.

I have been fortunate to attend tastings over the years with Westward’s distiller, Miles Munroe, and founder Thomas Mooney. This time around it was Vice President Kelly Woodcock, who was so lovely. She gave me her card and invited me to come to the distillery for an in-person tour – how good would that be?

I also made a lovely new whisky bestie. It turns out he’s attending a tasting that I am invited to next week and has promised keep me company.

Oh and I got a call from the skin specialist, who said I need to return due to the results of my biopsy … nothing to worry about, they assured me … well, I reckon there might be something to worry about, otherwise I wouldn’t need to go back. I am expecting more needles and scalpels in my future.

In the meantime, I am having round two of my periodontic work this afternoon.

Woo hoo!

Song of the day: Rod Stewart “The first cut is the deepest”