A quiet English morning awaits me whilst I get ready to go to hospital for tests and consultation all day today. Finally, I will get to know the condition of my brain after its haemorrhage three months ago, with more scans and consultations planned for my day on the ward in one of England’s top neurological hospitals.
Whilst I am doing this, my friends from the Kung Fu club will be in Fuzhou, Southern China, doing what I would have done if I had not been struck down with this annoying and, so I am told, life threatening condition.
I was meant to be on a two week trip studying dog style Kung Fu with Master Zai Pei Lin -instead of all the training and preparation for this trip, I have been convalescing for three months, losing weight through loss of muscle (half a stone) and getting generally frustrated by inactivity.
Hopefully, the doctors will find out why my haemorrhage hasn’t healed as well as they had hoped and why I had this condition in the first place along with all the physical injuries that accompanied it – fractured spine and torn torso muscles.
Well, I guess having to go back to hospital shows that I really wasn’t well enough to go to China like everyone told me, so I am less disappointed than I might have been.
In fact, instead of jealousy, I wish Neil, Pete, Mike and Dave a good time there and hope to make it again next February when I should be back in full fighting form.
I had a great experience in China last year (see Miscellaneous – Wolfie’s China Blog) and had been looking forward to the repeat visit ever since. Hoping, not only to learn a new dog style pattern but also to practise my Mandarin Chinese on real Chinese people.
Meanwhile, I shall finally have to bite the bullet about my brain injuries – it too is a fight in its own very different way.
But, if I think I am in trouble then I should spare a thought for those Australians running for their lives from the fires and not always winning.
England can seem very calm and gentle at times like this.