Before I went into the forest I was warned that the food would be dreadful (here).  It seems only fair to report that, with one exception, the warning was largely unfounded - although maybe to my virtually salt-free, sugar-free palate things are acceptable that others might not enjoy.

When I ordered my porrige sans salt, sans sugar and sans milk I got some strange looks.  Moslty it came flooded with milk but it tasted fine.

The daily offerings of soup were excellent - tomato and basil, carrot and corriander, mushroom, Scotch broth... all 'home made' and very tasty.

I mostly opted for the veggie choice after a singularly foul shepherd's pie but also had some very acceptable fish and a decent chicken pie.  They even served some very acceptable rice pudding and a rhubarb crumble though otherwise the desserts were largely restricted to jelly or ice cream.

As a result most of my emergency supplies came home with me, to be topped up with further biscuits and chocolates from visitors.  No danger of going hungry!

It is suitably surreal that the food served in a Glasgow hospital was made in Wales and transported hundreds of miles to be heated up.  However, the hot food was always piping hot and the cold food properly cold.  I have a suspicion that being a fake veggie much of the time meant I got a better deal than had I opted for some of the meat dishes... the shepherd's pie tasted as if it was made with liver!

When we were children - I suspect I was around 6 or 7 at the time - my Dad encouraged all of us to learn to pick things up with our toes and even tried to get us to learn to write holding a pencil between our toes.  Whilst I never mastered the latter, I became pretty adept at using my feet to pick things up.  At the moment this 'circus skill' is proving very useful as bending down is not really a good idea.

I am also glad of my 'super strong' (or whatever the Wii called them) leg muscles which mean I can kneel and push myself up without using my arms and the strong abs gained by the endless 'crunches' I did in my youth.  In just over a week I can return to using my right arm more normally but for now I make a pretty good three-limbed human!

Amazing how the design/evolution of the human body allows for so much adaptability in times of need.

Btw, you will be relieved to know this is typed with my fingers not my toes - that would mean even more typos than usual!!

I guess I am pretty much through the forest now - loads of follow-up appointments in prospect, a very itchy set of scars (one worthy of a story-book pirate in length if not location) and restricted mobility for a while - but the forest itself is done.

In retrospect the forest metaphor was quite a good one.  Approaching the forest it loomed large and dark, a kind of uniform greenness and shadow.  Once I stepped into it, I began to see that it was far from uniform.  A few steps along the path and I began to hear the sounds of the forest - twittering birds, the wind in the trees and so on.  Looking around I saw the shapes of the trees, the tangle of roots, the gnarled branches and tender saplings.  Here and there tiny flowers peeked through the moss and grass and ivy clung tenaciously to the trunks of ancient trees.  Now and again the sunlight would penetrate the canopy sending shards of lights across the ferny floor.  Here a squirrel dashed across the path and up a tree; there a slug slithered towards a cool, dank stone.

You can only really see a forest from the inside.  The ruts in the paths, the dead ends, the fallen trees, the flora and fauna - these cannot be shown on a map nor can they be anticpated as the forest looms ahead on the road.

Forests can be dangerous - who can be sure what lurks in the shadows or round the next bend.  But you can't know unless you take the first step and enter the forest.

As I look back, was I daft to be apprehensive?  I don't think so, because the forest was unknown and could have been a very treacherous place.  So am I glad I went through it?  Yes, of course I am.  I am temporarily debilitated and permanently altered but the walk was essential in my quest for restored health.  Beyond the essential nature of the walk through the forest, it was one where I met some amazing people and had some special moments.  I am more tired by it than I could have imagined, but I have also gained more than I could have anticipated.

Apologies to those discomfited by yesertday's lack of a post - the blog platform was down.  This happens now and then with all blog platforms; I guess it is to do with maintenance.  Anyway, it's back today and so am I.

Lots of different owls in this forest.

Firstly the gentle, wise observation owl who spent my night in High Dependency watching over me and checking my obs.  Half-hourly and then hourly obs, coupled with incredibly high winds in Glasgow meant sleep was fitful and evasive.  If I wasn't woken by the automatic inflation of the blood pressure cuff then I was probably awake anyway.  In gentle but firm tones she urged me to 'get some sleep' and the time I was dozing when she came in did minimal obs and tiptoed away just as I began to stir.  This young nurse is doing a Masters in nursing and was keen to research patient experience for her dissertation - something the ethics committee were sniffy about.  A wise owl who wants to learn to be even wiser; a true blessing to the NHS.

The the screech owls!  I soon discovered each nursing team has its own characteristics an done night team was very noisy.  Gales of laughter rang along the corridor from the nursing station, penetrating the closed door of 'room' in which up to four of us tried to sleep.  Across the way an elderly woman with advanced dementia called for her parents, the nurse, her teacher, her friends; I was glad that most of the time I had room mates who would simply observe the sadness of this situation and who had a 'but for the grace of God' attitude to her.  And the lighter moments of the sleep talkers and snorers who has the rest of us rocking with silent laughter.

The forest never sleeps.  A roommate arrived at 4 a.m., someone needed pain relief in the early hours, someone pressed her buzzer what seemed like every hour... and the night creatures busily work.

He who keepeth Israel neither slumbers not sleeps...  Thank you God for this truth.

God to who night and day are alike, who created dark and light and declared each to be good, bless the people whose lives are nocturnal as they quietly fulfill the needs of those who wake by day.