vivdunstan

Bumped this up my viewing list, because the play is going off streaming through National Theatre at Home at the end of this month. It can be viewed before then by people like me who subscribe to the service (I was lucky to nab a reduced price offer before Christmas), or on a short-term rental view.

The play was staged in early 2024 and is a dramatisation of the life of Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan, who spearheaded the launch of the National Health Service in the UK in 1948. The play tells Bevan's life, looking back from his final days in hospital, as sedated he dreams back to his youth as a miner's son in Wales, early political life, his courtship of his wife, Westminster politics of WW2, and then the fight to found the NHS.

The staging is creative, being set largely in a hospital ward, but repurposing the props - including beds - as well as patients and staff to take on the various roles of people Nye encountered in his life. This staging took a little getting used to, and the play runs briskly along. But it certainly grabs the viewer's attention.

The central performance of Michael Sheen as Nye Bevan is riveting, and ably matched by Sharon Small as his Scottish wife and fellow Labour politician Jenny Lee. Their relationship feels vital to the play as a whole, but is surprisingly underdeveloped after their first striking meeting.

The foundation of the NHS happens near the end of the play, and feels surprisingly rushed, and a story only partly told. There is very effective staging of a group of doctors seen above, debating whether to join the new NHS. The toing and froing here between Bevan and the doctors is gripping. But then it's over, the NHS is founded, and the play finishes soon after.

An admirable theatre experience, though I think the play script could have balanced some aspects of the story better. However the performances are gripping, and the staging held my attention throughout. Recommended.

Second of three appointments completed for my new root canal + new crown. Huge thanks to my lovely NHS dentist. I know I'm really lucky to have him. In awe at his skill which makes scariest things trouble free - I can even fall asleep during them! Also always good craic (he's from Northern Ireland). He trained at Dundee University, taught by among others my previous dentist, who's from the same West Yorkshire town as my dad. Small world.

I now have a temporary crown in place, and can eat fairly normally, but will be extra careful on that side for the next fortnight. After the dental appointment we treated ourselves to breakfast in a local coffee shop, including a soft breakfast roll of scrambled eggs and sausages for me. Felt really indulgent. And fun.

Extremely grateful to my NHS dentist who saw me at short notice. Problem identified, and the tooth is going to be saved with a root canal. Appointments booked for the New Year and a temporary medicated filling in the meantime. Very relieved.

Pleased that my temperature has stabilised finally 6 days after my latest double vaccines. It's continued swinging for ages, though I was feeling much less fragile overall by Monday afternoon. My arms are still sore, but improving a lot too. Enormously grateful to have got my protection. Even as I expect a very nasty and prolonged post Covid vaccine auto immune neurological illness flare to start shortly 🙁 But got my protection!

Had my first NHS mammogram 4 weeks ago. Got the results letter in the post today. Nothing untoward found. They’ll call me back in 3 years or so. Those results came through quicker than I expected. It seems hardly any time since the day of the scan, in Carnoustie, on the opening day of the Senior Open golf championship. Still waiting to get a letter for my very overdue DEXA bone density scan. I haven’t had one since my last one 8 years ago, that confirmed I had full blown osteoporosis. But one NHS thing done and dusted!

Martin has only an extremely faint positive today. And is feeling good. Though overnight he had extreme disco/sparkly visual effects, and a throat like a dagger in it. But good today. I am still testing negative. Though I may yet catch it from him, and get iller. But we are doing good for now. He is going to be working on the computer in the study today, and working from home all week.

He was masked up almost all the time we were in St Andrews on Friday, including in queues for the Cheesy Toast Shack and Jannettas. Both queues were phenomenally busy, and there were some scary coughs among the queuers. The first queue was outdoors, but unbelievably busy. The second queue was a mix of outdoors and indoors. So my theory now is that Martin probably picked it up in one of the queues (he hadn't been out of our house for over a week before). Which I was not queuing in. So I may yet catch Covid from him. And would, if I test positive, decide whether to ask for Paxlovid antivirals (very few people can get Paxlovid in the UK, but being severely immunosuppressed I am eligible). But if we're lucky it won't come to that ...

Was just reordering my repeat prescriptions. 13 different items just ordered (will get multiple boxes of each). There are another couple of repeats on my list, but those are 6 monthly HRT supplies, and I don't need to order those again this time. Hugely grateful to the NHS for these. I don't even pay a prescription handling fee, never mind not paying the drug cost. The medics have reviewed my prescriptions over the last 30 years, but always agree I need them all. I am very very ill. Huge thanks to the NHS for keeping me alive!

Checking in with another update re this. A bit ahead of the end of the month, because although I have several books well underway I won't finish any of them before April. I've just finished 2 more books since last time, and have included a cut over the earlier ones. The NHS book was good, but overly long for me, and some of the contributions seriously missed the point, and were far too self centred. It was also sad to read all the earnest thoughts about how much people appreciate the NHS (this book was written in the height of the pandemic), only for many thoughts like that, including government treatment of doctors and nurses etc. (especially in England) to plummet since. I loved the DWJ book, and read it for the book club I'm in.

( Read more... )
1. Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You edited by Adam Kay
2. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

We're officially a house of plague again. So far only Martin has tested positive - and so far only extremely faintly. But I woke in the afternoon with strong new Covid symptoms (not shingles vaccine ones). I'm going to keep testing, to help me decide what to do about my twice daily strong immunosuppression drug. I will probably pause it as last time, but haven't decided that quite yet - want to be sure enough before pausing vital medicine I really need to stay alive. Also will test again in case I test positive and can access anti virals. Meanwhile we're ok, especially Martin, who is currently symptom free. And food still - as I type this - tastes ok. We just enjoyed a pizza takeaway. Though that will all probably change over the coming days.

It's possible we picked up Covid at the Dundee vaccination centre early on Thursday morning, perhaps more likely than at the V&A where we were extremely spaced out from folk. Though there was one woman there we kept encountering in the exhibition who was constantly coughing … Both of us were masked up in both places, though no one else was. Alternatively Martin may have picked it up at the office or supermarket on Tuesday. Grrrr.

Just found that this year the shingles vaccination programme in the UK is being extended to include severely immunosuppressed people aged 50 or over. That’s in addition to non immunosuppressed vastly older folks. It’s a two part vaccine given over an especially short period to severely immunosuppressed. And not live, so safe for even immunosuppressed to have. So I can expect that this autumn too. Joy. Hoping I don’t get another neuro flare. Though I want the shingles protection. I’ve had shingles twice, including just before my PhD viva. And I was lucky to survive my only run in with chickenpox as a newly immunosuppressed 25 year old in 1998. I ended up in hospital on drips and in isolation for a week.