My home’s balcony is a palette for magnificent sunrises, wild wind and rainstorms and the beauty that is overlooking Coffs Harbour from high on The Hill.
A gorgeous double rainbow greeted me as I arrived at 5pm from a Sydney trip.
Up at 4:30, I’d departed from Coffs at dawn on the puddle jumper aircraft all masked up. I had a 9am meeting with my incredible accountant of 30 years, Basil Linardos of Rosenfeld Kant, so that we could finalise last year’s return and get ready to close IMMEDIA! P/L down before June 30. Nothing but good news there–corporately I was sailing through and individually I’d have no tax liabilities so I’d survived the plague of coronavirus in swimmingly great health.
The grand entrance to St Vincent’s Private
But what could be the bad news was set to come a couple of hours later. Off to St Vinnies Private which was like entering the Starship Enterprise–it was truly a new world. I was about to learn my fate over the major open heart surgery that is planned for me at St Vincent’s Private Hospital by going down for the day to meet my cardiac surgeon, allegedly one of the best in the biz. In the 30 minute meeting, he told me his strategy for the operation, possible complications, a blow-by-blow of the cuts starting with cracking the chest open to all the mechanics of mitral valve replacement, a triple bypass and a general tuneup and lube. It was gory but I was prepared for it and accepted my fate readily.
The milling crowd in the bowels of the Heart & Lung Admisions area.
It was encouraging that he noted as I gamboled into his office that I seemed healthier than he had thought I’d be. Maybe it was the Jams World LOUD vintage aloha shirt with kinda matching colourful shoes. I was at peace with myself, not feeling any danger symptoms, breathing easily and able to walk about a half kilometre from plane to train without breaking a puff and also navigating the streets of Bondi and Darlinghurst with no strain. Blood pressure was fabulously low, no swelling in feet (a danger sign) and no chest flutters or pains. The good news is that I was booked in for early May for the surgery in order to have a few more ultrasounds and tests beforehand in Coffs. He figured I was in good enough health to take the gamble in order to find out more details on my body health and circulation. It’s also a chance to trim down some weight to increase my chances. Death is the greatest encouragement for life changes!
I’ll be spending a bit of time here at the Cafe.
It seemed like a long half hour but every question was answered. Surprisingly, Dr Watson is also a chilli afficiando like my other specialists and GP and I’ll be mailing him a package of green chilli sauce, 9 Pepper Salt and Chilli Vinegar to butter him up. So I then cruised around the hospital, first finding the basement cafe which was spacious and well equipped. The food looked smashing and their coffee bar was a real treat and cheap too with excellent lattes.
The spacious private room with full bathroom.
I had to scope out the rooms to figure how I am going to wire up a MacBook Pro, 12″ iPad Pro, Alexa Echo, headphones and two phones close to the bed while the bathroom will have an oral irrigator, Sonicare electric toothbrush, head clippers/shaver and second Echo for long shits. Other than the technology, which has all been approved, the only other tings I’ll take are a couple of pairs of socks and jock, a couple of aloha shirts and board short as well as a comfy rayon Reyne Spooner Hawaiian kimono to cover the butt crack of the gown. It may seem a little extreme but I am going to be in for a month or so.
Now the reason I have two phones is that my main one would be going off with the loud Hawaii 5-0 ringtone so that one will just be there to take messages and for callbacks. I don’t want to piss off the staff! The other is a private number for a few select friends, my lawyer, doctors, various work persons I may need and other vital contacts. I will be giving out that number by email only to selected individuals. So it can be left on with a quiet buzz to alert me.
As for visitors, I would prefer none as it is going to be a rough ride. A couple of weeks after the surgery, I can accept a few friends by appointment and no, you can’t bring food or pinot noir with you. But he will be waiting for me to return home (looped one second GIF) below Tap the arrow.
