Travel and consultation

Sunday 1st July

So here I am on the train setting off for Kaunas via Liverpool and Vilnius. I am staying overnight at Liverpool John Lennon Airport Hotel as the flight to Vilnius on Ryan Air is an 06:30 departure which means I have to be at the airport at 04:30; a tall order even for me.

I ordered the ticket online checking to see if there was an advantage in using split ticketing again, but with a return on the 11th July it was cheaper just to get the return at £43.50. Even though I could have joined the train at Rhosneigr, Catharine had to drive me to Holyhead so that I could pick up the pre-booked ticket. There is a noticeable difference in the weather as we crossed over onto the mainland with some high clouds and much less sunshine.So even sitting on the fairly full train is at least a little less stressful than firefighting. I have been quite conflicted about the surgery but I am sure that I am making the right decision. On my last walk before the operation down the Crigyll to the beach it is obvious that I am very constrained in my painless exercise.

I elected to stay on the train at Chester and change instead at Crewe catching the Virgin Train so just

a single change. The Virgin Train was a welcome change from the very noisy Arriva Trains Wales overcrowded train. The sunset as we went over Runcorn Bridge was quite spectacular.

From the station I caught the wrong bus and ended up at the airport rather than the hotel. The driver had said it was on her route but this turned out to be a mistake. This is evidently a common occurrence as the receptionist said it seemed to be happening a lot recently. The receptionist was great, friendly and helpful so I settled down with a beer and some Pringles, well deserved after the ¾ mile walk. Afterall I am on my way for knee surgery.

I retired to bed and messaged home to let Catharine know I was OK and settled in before writing up some of this blog and getting ready to leave at 05:00 in the morning when the taxi I had ordered, through reception, was due to arrive.

The room was hot and having to keep the window open meant it was quite noisy with police sirens going off at random times throughout the night.

Monday 2nd July

I woke at 04:00 even though I had set my alarm for 04:30 so I got up and showered had a cup of coffee in the room, I still do not like nescafe! The taxi was a little late but this still left ample time for getting through all the protocols at the airport security before having a coffee on my way to the gate. I was perhaps a little to relaxed so I was the last person to board! They insisted on removing my cabin bag which we had carefully selected from Argos to comply with their size guide so I had to hurriedly take out what I needed for the flight and of course being rushed I forgot to take my headphones.

The takeoff was fine and we’re now flying over the UK with a thin layer of cloud but minimal reduction for the view of the ground with its patchwork of fields and urban developments.

07:10 over the North Sea. 07:15 view of coastline guess this is the coast of The Netherlands 07:23 over the coastline. 08:10 flying over large lake or estuary with now a significant buildup of Stratocumulus clouds with thicker stratus cloud on the horizon. By 08:45 we were flying above dense Stratus clouds as we started our descent into Vilnius and on touchdown at 09:15 BST it was raining and a lot colder than I have been used to of late.






Once I had got to the exit gate Victoria from Nordorthopaedics was there to meet me and she escorted me and a Ukrainian lady with her son accompanying her. So Victoria conversed with her in Russian and with me in English! Quite a complex bit of translating while driving us to Kaunas on the A1, quite a busy road!

Vilnius Airport

The countryside in Lithuania is very different to what we are used to in Wales. The fields have no real boundaries, it is all low lying ground and every few metres there are advertising billboards. Apparently some fellow had booked these for a month for about a 5 mile stretch to ask his girlfriend if she would marry him!






Even where there are grazing stock there still seem to be no fences except against the main road.

Along the side of the highway where it passes housing areas there are extensive and high noise reduction fences. I think we should take all the AM’s that represent constituencies along the A55 to have a look at this as it is WAY better than what we have, certainly in North Wales! Let alone at the southern end of the RAF Valley Runway (310).


This photograph doesn’t show the highest sections but in the near distance beyond the streetlamp the fence is solid and VERY high.

Once we had dropped off the Ukrainian lady at her hotel we drove through Kaunas to the Kaunas Hotel where I am staying overnight. I was upgraded to the executive suite:

The main area

The bedroom

Fabulous! I had an hour or so to kill before Victoria came back to collect me to go for the Pre-Op tests and the consultation; this was all done in the clinic in the Kaunas Hospital and was fantastically efficient. From the time we arrived the Ukrainian lady and I waited no longer than 10 minutes before having bloods taken and an ECG. Then we were taken to the X-Ray room where a single female technician took the necessary X-Rays and printed them out for me to take with me back to the Surgeon. So I then met the surgeon and he was great made me feel very at ease and when reviewing the X-Rays talked about why I was having problems with the right knee implant. We agreed that he would deal with the Left Knee tomorrow at 09:00 with a TKR and then in a few months time I would come back for a TKR on the right too. I just wish that BCUHB could see how this is done!

Feeling much better about things I was then taken to their offices to pay for the procedure before Victoria took me back to the hotel.

Finally I went to the local Lebanese Restaurant and had a lovely meal; Chicken with Arabic spices, couscous and avocado sauce with side salad. VERY tasty. Now off to get some rest...