I woke before 7 so I could fit 2 dilations in before I left hospital today, so I had the first one before breakfast and the 2nd one about 11. Tina rang just between my bath and the 2nd dilation and we had a lovely long chat. I finished up dilating packed and wrote my little collection of “thnak-you” cards. I got a final dose of painkillers (the extra extertion og packing seemed to set it off a bit) and my leaving “goodie-bag” consisting of another Betadine kit, some more painkillers and Betadine pessaries.

Mammy and Daddy arrived about 12:45 and I said my goodbyes and was discharged (I’m a free woman once again, even though they nearly forgot to cut off my little patient ID bracelet :):) We went on a short drive through Brighton (I’ve managed to see remarkably little of the town both times I’ve been over) and then on to Gatwick.

We arrived in plenty of time for the flight, but by the time we’d left the car back, had lunch and generally wandered around we only got 15 minutes in the Duty Free shop (the most important part of travelling!) I did feel quite sore wandering around, standing was easier than sitting, especially since most of the chairs in the airport were quite low.

The flight back was uneventful enough (though I did have a wee bottle of celebratory champagne on the way:) and we got in about 6. I had to head off and find a pharmacy because I needed to stock up on toiletries I hadn’t had time to get in Gatwick. We went straight out to David and Fiona’s flat for tea and to recover from the flight before heading on home.

I found the car journey was quite uncomfortable (but that is more a statement on the condition of Irish roads than anything else!). At home there another few cards and a couple of messages on the answer phone. I really didn’t feel like doing the bath/dilate thing at that stage but decided I might be sorry if I didn’t. After that had a bath and settled back into my own comfy bed once again :)