Duncan to the hospital...

... but it was only for a pre-operative visit.

Sorry if I scared you! He's getting his tonsils and adenoids out in two weeks, so we had a visit to the hospital today. Amazingly hospitals all seem to smell the same, regardless of country: that sour-sweet disinfectant odor, and they all seem to be as confusing to navigate, with buildings bizarrely joined together at haphazard angles and elevators tucked away in all sorts of different corners. After a few minutes it's easier to get your bearings, but the first time is tricky.

Duncan was a trooper, sitting still in the waiting room and reading his Picsou magazine (translation: "Scrooge McDuck") while we waited to be seen. The lab technician took blood; Duncan was cool as a cucumber, watching him insert the needle and collect the samples without a peep; he actually laughed a bit at the process, and said, "cool". Then we talked to the anasthesiologist, who asked him what he understood about the operation. Duncan explained that he'd get a needle, maybe a mask to breathe into; he'd go to sleep for a bit and they'd go in and clear out his ears and nose to help him hear better, and then he'd wake up a little bit later. Pas grave, he said (translation: "no big deal"). I can only hope that he's as cool as this in two weeks' time when we get up early for his trip to the hospital.

I know I won't be; cool, that is. This was his first visit to a hospital, ever, and I was reflecting on hospitals in general, you know, all the sick people. Not exactly a place one wants to spend time in, especially when one is as justifiably zealous about keeping healthy and avoiding infectious illness as I am. The good news is that he'll only be in for about six hours or so before coming home to be fêted like a king for the week. Malcolm is away at Nettine, and so he's going to have the run of the place, and nothing but ice cream to dine upon, for the first day or so anyway, and of course, strict direction to lie still and recuperate, so that means lots of movies and B.D. (translation "comic books") for sure. It will likely spoil him for weeks.

Now I've got to convince him that tomorrow morning, unlike today, he's got to get up at the regular time and go to school...