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February 2026 - bankrupting the NHS again!

  February 2026 – yet another month of drama and health problems   Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, WTF WTF WTF.   Is this going to just go on for ever!! Barely do I post one positive update when something else happens…   The day after my last post I saw my lovely EP at Royal Papworth Hospital.   I was happily in Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR) when they did the ECG.   I told the EP that I had had runs of ectopics and a bit of Afib and I thought he seemed less than confident that the Minimaze had worked.   Incidentally, I also apologised that I had not told him beforehand that I was having it done, but that it had all happened rather suddenly (see Oct 2025 posts).   He was fine about that – of course, the only reason he knew about it at all was because I had scanned my discharge letter and sent it to his secretary – despite my request, Sheffield had only sent the letter to my local hospital.   Honestly, the NHS can be hard work sometimes....
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My Battle Royale with the medical insurance company!!

  My sincerest apologies to everyone who took my recommendation to use "Travelinsurance4medical.com" and my glowing reports of how good they are - I was misinformed! I had an annual policy costing £380 or so. It had seven weeks left to run. A week before my trip I called them to tell them I was waiting for a cardioversion for my Atrial Fibrillation which has returned. No problem they said - you need to pay an extra £350 to cover you for those remaining weeks!!!!! Obviously, I said that it was ludicrous and I was only going away for a week but "computer says... blah…blah ". He then offered to sell me a one-week policy - only to find I am now uninsurable!! So then I asked if I would get a refund on the remaining seven weeks of my policy: "No, because we are not cancelling it" "But I'm not covered anymore?" "No" "So, you are not insuring me nor refunding me" "No, it's your choice not to pay the extr...
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AN update (mid-December to late-January)

  2026! Happy New Year, dear Reader, There is always something about a new year to lift the spirits – most of all, if you are an incurable list-maker and archivist like me, then there is a shiny new Exercise Log to record all my workouts PLUS a diary to record the minutiae of my dull life!   Nowadays it is called ‘journalling’ and is said to be very therapeutic.   I certainly let my feelings out in my diary – it is often peppered with heart-felt comments and extremely bad language! ( If you have never read this Blog before than all you need to know is that I am an ATRIAL FIBRILLATION WARRIOR – in the last 6.5 years I have had four catheter ablations to stop Afib plus a surgical ablation (Minimaze) for the same reason plus 13 DCCV (cardioversions) to stop and restart the heart in correct rhythm.   I’ve also been in hospital another five times with Afib, some of which reverted with chemical intervention and a couple that self-reverted.   My Afib (before ab...
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